Twitch
Staff Sergeant
Who knows about this one?
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BLOHM VOSS ABTEILLUN FLUGZEUGBAU- HAMBURG
BV 40 GLIDER FIGHTER
We know Blohm Voss was famous for their huge flying boats but they also built a bizarre little crate called a glide-fighter. The FW 190 presented a frontal area of 17 square feet, a target an average bomber gunner could hit at 1,000 yards. Enter the BV 40 concept with half the frontal cross section. Dr. Richard Vogt designed the mini-ship largely from non-essential materials, which could be assembled by workers with no aircraft construction experience.
The narrow fuselage was metal while the wings and tail were wood. It was amply protected by armor plate accounting for 26-percent of its 2,094 lbs. loaded weight. A Bf 109G could tow it above the bombers at 344 MPH, release it and presumably watch the fun as it dived to attack at a 20-degree angle. A suspended explosive charge on a cable was considered but it necessitated the removal of one of the two Mk 108 30 mm cannon with its 35 rounds. With its 25.9-foot wingspan and 18.75-foot length the glide-fighter could dive at bomber formations at 560 MPH. The program was ended with seven prototypes built by autumn 1944 after fatal test crashes. By then the Me 163 was in service.
The Bv 40 would have probably been a debacle.
BLOHM VOSS ABTEILLUN FLUGZEUGBAU- HAMBURG
BV 40 GLIDER FIGHTER
We know Blohm Voss was famous for their huge flying boats but they also built a bizarre little crate called a glide-fighter. The FW 190 presented a frontal area of 17 square feet, a target an average bomber gunner could hit at 1,000 yards. Enter the BV 40 concept with half the frontal cross section. Dr. Richard Vogt designed the mini-ship largely from non-essential materials, which could be assembled by workers with no aircraft construction experience.
The narrow fuselage was metal while the wings and tail were wood. It was amply protected by armor plate accounting for 26-percent of its 2,094 lbs. loaded weight. A Bf 109G could tow it above the bombers at 344 MPH, release it and presumably watch the fun as it dived to attack at a 20-degree angle. A suspended explosive charge on a cable was considered but it necessitated the removal of one of the two Mk 108 30 mm cannon with its 35 rounds. With its 25.9-foot wingspan and 18.75-foot length the glide-fighter could dive at bomber formations at 560 MPH. The program was ended with seven prototypes built by autumn 1944 after fatal test crashes. By then the Me 163 was in service.
The Bv 40 would have probably been a debacle.
