Some origins of German jet power
 
Page – 3
 
Jet Propulsion, continued
 
  Argus
  By contrast the Argus company was making good progress with its pulsejet development and made the first pulsejet flight test earlier in 1941. This contrast in success between the intransient turbojet and the mechanically simple pulsejet must have lead to some overenthousiasm for the latter when, in January 1942, the He 280 V1 made its ill-starred and only flight under the power of four Argus 109-014 pulsejets.
 
Argus 014 pulse jet
1.Exhaust nozzle, 2.Valve control, 3.Fuel and air lines. 4.Orifice, 5.Inlet-diffusor, 6.Trunnion, 7.Spark plug.
The shutter controller of the Argus 014 engine showing the flat spring valves and injectors.
 
  Ramjet
  Mechanically even more simple, the ramjet was receiving only scant official attention from the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) althoug Otto Pabst (at Focke-Wulf), Eugene Sänger and others had by 1941 followed Walter’s lead in experiments to develop an aircraft ramjet. Trommsdorf, on the other hand, had full backing from the Army for development of ramjet-accelerated artillery missiles (which were reaching full succes in 1943).
 
Do 217 with Sänger ramjet
A Do 217E-2 employed to test a Säger ramjet with a 39.37-in. diameter combustion chamber during the summer of 1944. Thirty-two flight tests were conducted with this unit.
 
  Junkers 109–004
  The first flight test of Junkers 109–004 turbojet were made in March 1942, in which month two P.3302 engines powered the Me 262 V1 (see previous page). At this time, the BMW engine was only giving some 550 kp (1213 lb) thrust while the Junkers engine was giving 600 kp (1323 lb) or more. The less-advanced Junkers engine did, in fact, initially overhaul the BMW engine and two Junkers 109–004A turbojets powered the ME 262 V3 for the fighter’s first all-jet flight on July 18, 1942.
 
Me 262 V3
Me 262 V3 was fitted with extended wing leading edges between the fusulage and engines. Adolf Galland was particularly enthused with the design after flying it on 22 May 1943.
 
 
ME 262 V3 taking off ME 262 V3 taking off
ME 262 V3 taking off ME 262 V3 taking off
ME 262 V3 taking off ME 262 V3 taking off
Me 262 V3 taking off on July 18, 1942
 
  Fi 103, WNF 342, Ar 234
  Another first flight occured the following December when the first Fi 103 (V1) flying bomb was test launced with an Argus pulsejet.
 
Fieseler Fi 103
Possibly the best-preserved Fi 103 (V1) flying bomb, now in Canada. (National Aeronautical Collection – Ottawa).
 
 
He 111 with V1
An He 111 H-6 modified to carry a single FZG 76 (V1) missile under the port wing.
 
  New programmes instituted in 1942 inlcuded work on a 8.000 eshp turboprop engine at BMW and a research project for a jet helicopter under Doblhoff at WNF, Vienna. The prototype of this, the world’s first jet helicopter, the WNF 342, flew in the spring of 1943 and utilised compressed air and fuel burning in rotor-tip chambers to power its rotor.
 
WNF 342
The Doblhoff WNF 342.
 
  By January 1943, pre-production Junkers 109–004B turbojets were ready and two of these were used in June to power the prototype of the world’s firt jet bomber, the Ar 234 V1. The Arado Ar 234 V1 flew for the first time on June 15, 1943 with flight-cleared Junkers Jumo 004A engines.
 
Ar 234 V1
The Ar 234 V1 on its take-off trolly.
 
 
Ar 234 V1
The Ar 234 V1 taking-off on its initial flight.
 
  Me 328, He 280
  The year 1943 also saw the first pulsejet-powered fighter (the Me 328) tested and, in August, the first pure jet flights with BMW 109–003 turbojest (using the He 280 V4).
 
Me 328
One of the initial pre-production Me 328s used for gliding trials.
 
 
Me 328 with pulse jets
Me 328 on take-off dolly with pulse jets fitted.
 
  Long before this, the Heinkel He 280 had lost the competition contract, briefly on the grounds that the He 280 was short on range. From the start, an over optimistic estimate of the fuel consumption of Heinkel turbojets had led to internal fuel tanks of insufficient capacity.
  Me 262, Ar 234, He 162
  During 1944, the first pre-production Me 262 A-0 fighters and Ar 234 B-0 bombers began tests, experimental sorties and, finally, full operations. Most of these used the Junkers 109–004 turbojet since the BMW 109–003 turbojet was earmarked chiefly for the Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger fighter.
 
He 162 V1
He 162 V1 simplified fighter plane, powered by the BMW 003 A-1 engine. Only 74 days elapsed from the time the contract was awarded to the airplane’s maiden flight. Below He-162 V6 23 january 1945.
 
  Future development
  Apart from the Junkers 109–004 and BMW 109–003 turbojet engines, which were ready for operational aircraft by the end of the war, there were a great number of projects and developments in every stage. To finalize, the status of some of this work can be mentioned.
  The class II Heinkel-Hirth 109–011 turbojet, though being readied for mass-production, was not fully developed and a tuboprop derivative of this engine (the 109–021) was turned over to Daimler-Benz in May 1944 when that company abandoned its complicated 109–007 turbojet.
 
Db 109-007
DB 109–007 dual-flow turbojet engine with counter-rotating axial compressors was ready for static testing in 1943.
 
 
DB 109-021 turbojet
Uder the designation DB 109–021, Daimler Benz continued with the development of the HeS 021 turboprop which it had aquired from Heinkel-Hirth Triebwerkbau. The engine was claimed to have an output of 2000 hp and a standing thrust of 790 kp.
 
 
Me P.1101 with HeS 011
The P.1101 experimental design used for experimenting with wing sweep angles, fitted with a HeS 011 turbojet.
 
 
HeS 011
After the war ten HeS 011 V4, capable of producing 1300 kp of thrust, were built at the insistence of the Americans and sent to the USA and England for studies.
 
 
Drawing of the HeS 011
Drawing of the HeS 011.
 
  Other class II turbojets such as the Junkers 109–012 and BMW 109–018, together with their turboporp derivatives, saw less headway than the Heinkel-Hirth effort.
 
BMW 018
BMW 018, designed for 3500 kp thrust, was finished and ready for static testing when it was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1945.
 
  During 1944, the official priority was raised for development of aircraft ramjets (though only Sänger ramjets were actually flown using test beds) and also of expandable turbojet missiles. The BMW and Porsche companies made a start in the latter field. In the hybrid jet engine field, most headway was made with BMW’s 109–003 R turbojet/rocket unit which was tested by an Me 262 in March 1945.
 
BMW 003 R
The BMW 003 R is a combination of a BMW 003 A and a BMW 718 rocket engine, with a thrust ouput totalling 1800 kp.
 
  Another development was the Me 262C-1a (Werk-Nr. 130 186) Heimatschützer I which had a rocket moter (R II-211/3) mounted in the rear fuselage. It could attain an altitude of 11.704 meters from a standing start in 4,5 min.