Romantic Technofreak
7th April 2004, 06:33
The Scourges of the Seas – A Ficticious Story by Romantic Technofreak in Four Parts
Part III: The Messerschmitt P. 1073
Maybe you think crazy RTF is really taking off now, but this one really was a project, although, I have to admit, very unrealistic.
We already started the imagination of an intercontinental bomb war. From the first chances with the Me 261, with a surely „wet“ result, to harassment attacks by the Me 264 and imaginations of a really successfull intrusion of the north American airspace with the Me 364, there were even German plans for really heavy attacks on north American territory. For this, Messerschmitt draw the Project 1073. It was not intended as a ship hunter, although anti-ship actions might also have been imaginable.
Being exact, the P. 1073 was indeed two airplanes. P. 1073 A was a tremendous bomber with the dimensions of a today large-capacity airliner, which carried its own fighter protection, the P. 1073 B, together with a bomb load of unbelievable 20 tons, and still able to cross the Atlantic ocean back and forth. See picture and link:
http://www.europa1939.com/luftwaffe/proyectos/me1073.jpg
http://www.europa1939.com/luftwaffe/proyectos/me1073.html
The bomber does not look very special, just like a Dornier Do 217 with low wing and eight engines in tandem configuration. The fighter, with its stub wings, is designed to be carried within the bomber´s fuselage. A huge an complicated-looking gear is shown to release and catch the fighter again.
Here, at the latest, the troubles begin. There have been parasite fighter projects in the past, but they were not successfull. I remember the Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk for airships and the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin for B-29 and B-36. As much as I know, they were never really successfull, because they could not reach the performance of normal fighters of their time, and it was very troublesome especially to catch them again by their „motherships“. I also think, these big gears for to do that hamper the bombing.
So, again I could not help myself and want to propose an alternative plan of construction. First, we need an appropriate parasite fighter. Shortly after the war, a plane looking o.k. for that purpose was developed: a British one, the Folland Midge (I don´t like the look of contemporary Messerschmitt easy fighter projects, as the P. 1092, but the Midge really looks modern):
http://1000aircraftphotos.com/APS/1965.jpg
Second, for not sacrificing valuable internal space and not to hamper the bombing, why not carrying a foursome of Midges on the P. 1073 A´s roof?
Appropriate gears, at least for to carry and release one parasite plane, were in use in Germany. Look at the pictures of the DFS 228 high altitude reconoissater and the Messerschmitt Me 328 suicide attacker project carried by Do 217s:
http://www.luftarchiv.de/flugzeuge/dfs/dfs228_1.jpg
http://www.luftarchiv.de/flugzeuge/messerschmitt/me_328.jpg
To release the parasite planes from the clearly visible gear was no problem. But how would it be to catch them again? Of course, I would have changed the P. 1073 A´s tailfins to point more downwards for not to hamper the appoach of the Midges. And, of course, the gear should be retractable to make the Midges sit in touch with their mothership during travel flight. Can somebody imagine if this would have been technically possible, especially that this configuration must be able to keep four Midges in a close line, to start them and to catch them again in a short succession?
To be honest: I am pretty sure that it would not have been possible to produce such an airplane combination in the 1940s. But the thought of the combination of huge size, more than satisfying bombing capacity, intercontinental range and sufficient fighter cover for me is worth a serious consideration. Hope you enjoy such crazy thoughts too!
Part III: The Messerschmitt P. 1073
Maybe you think crazy RTF is really taking off now, but this one really was a project, although, I have to admit, very unrealistic.
We already started the imagination of an intercontinental bomb war. From the first chances with the Me 261, with a surely „wet“ result, to harassment attacks by the Me 264 and imaginations of a really successfull intrusion of the north American airspace with the Me 364, there were even German plans for really heavy attacks on north American territory. For this, Messerschmitt draw the Project 1073. It was not intended as a ship hunter, although anti-ship actions might also have been imaginable.
Being exact, the P. 1073 was indeed two airplanes. P. 1073 A was a tremendous bomber with the dimensions of a today large-capacity airliner, which carried its own fighter protection, the P. 1073 B, together with a bomb load of unbelievable 20 tons, and still able to cross the Atlantic ocean back and forth. See picture and link:
http://www.europa1939.com/luftwaffe/proyectos/me1073.jpg
http://www.europa1939.com/luftwaffe/proyectos/me1073.html
The bomber does not look very special, just like a Dornier Do 217 with low wing and eight engines in tandem configuration. The fighter, with its stub wings, is designed to be carried within the bomber´s fuselage. A huge an complicated-looking gear is shown to release and catch the fighter again.
Here, at the latest, the troubles begin. There have been parasite fighter projects in the past, but they were not successfull. I remember the Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk for airships and the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin for B-29 and B-36. As much as I know, they were never really successfull, because they could not reach the performance of normal fighters of their time, and it was very troublesome especially to catch them again by their „motherships“. I also think, these big gears for to do that hamper the bombing.
So, again I could not help myself and want to propose an alternative plan of construction. First, we need an appropriate parasite fighter. Shortly after the war, a plane looking o.k. for that purpose was developed: a British one, the Folland Midge (I don´t like the look of contemporary Messerschmitt easy fighter projects, as the P. 1092, but the Midge really looks modern):
http://1000aircraftphotos.com/APS/1965.jpg
Second, for not sacrificing valuable internal space and not to hamper the bombing, why not carrying a foursome of Midges on the P. 1073 A´s roof?
Appropriate gears, at least for to carry and release one parasite plane, were in use in Germany. Look at the pictures of the DFS 228 high altitude reconoissater and the Messerschmitt Me 328 suicide attacker project carried by Do 217s:
http://www.luftarchiv.de/flugzeuge/dfs/dfs228_1.jpg
http://www.luftarchiv.de/flugzeuge/messerschmitt/me_328.jpg
To release the parasite planes from the clearly visible gear was no problem. But how would it be to catch them again? Of course, I would have changed the P. 1073 A´s tailfins to point more downwards for not to hamper the appoach of the Midges. And, of course, the gear should be retractable to make the Midges sit in touch with their mothership during travel flight. Can somebody imagine if this would have been technically possible, especially that this configuration must be able to keep four Midges in a close line, to start them and to catch them again in a short succession?
To be honest: I am pretty sure that it would not have been possible to produce such an airplane combination in the 1940s. But the thought of the combination of huge size, more than satisfying bombing capacity, intercontinental range and sufficient fighter cover for me is worth a serious consideration. Hope you enjoy such crazy thoughts too!