Burmese Bandit
Senior Airman
- 474
- Dec 5, 2008
It is a question that has been asked by historical speculators probably from the day WW II ended: what could Germany have done in the area of aircraft design, production, and tactics combined, given her resources available in the period 1939-45, to have a plausible chance of winning the war?
Many, many are the threads that have been opened in this forum on this topic, including the latest "Time Machine Consultant" one.
This thread has a similar idea, but will take a radical approach, with an idea which I believe has not yet been explored yet.
We all know that the ME 262 was a potential war winner, or at least a stalemate bringer in the area of German aviation technology.
We also know that German jet engines of that time suffered from many weaknesses that limited the tactical use of early German jets. They were gas guzzlers. They had a short life of about 12 to 30 hours. They were expensive to produce. They produced very little thrust at low speeds. They could not be opened up quickly, meaning they needed a very delicate, steady hand on the throttle.
Thus the 262 was built around those engines had short legs, was very vulnerable on takeoff and landings, and was strictly a zoom and boom fighter with little to none dogfighting ability. These weaknesses are known to all.
My idea is: why not combine the best of both worlds, and build the Do 335...but with a Jumo jet engine in the rear?
THE PROPOSED BANDIT 435 AND 535
Engine: the 1400/1500 hp historical DB and Jumo engines on the 435. As the higher output DB and Jumo engines become available, they will be mounted in the nose of the next version, which we will call the 535. The extra weight forward will be offset by simply moving the rear jet engine backward.
Wing: as the historical 335. Same wing for both the 435 and 535.
Fuselage: as the historical 335, but with a cut down rear fuselage so that much better rear vision can be achieved. Forward vision is already excellent. Convetional tail, not the cruciform tail dictacted by the rear engine of the 335.
Landing gear: As historical, but with a shorter and therefore much stronger main landing gear. Nosewheel landing gear is also shorter. Aircraft now has a slight nose up configuration on landing, however enough separation between jet exhaust and ground still exists so that airfields are not damaged on takeoff.
The shorter front landing gear means that larger and longer underbelly stores are now possible.
Take off/landing characteristics: excellent, especially in bad weather. Ground taxi performance will be the best of all Luftwaffe aircraft.
Weights: as per the 335. The lighter weight of the jet engine will be countered by the need to carry more fuel for two different engines.
Performance: I would expect about 440 mph for the 435 and 460-70 mph for the 535.
Handling: I would expect the same handling characteristics as for the 335, which is to say very good. A heavy aricraft like this cannot of course be as nimble as a single seater, but I would expect this to be nimbler than, say, a Mosquito or a P-38 although clumsier than even a Heavy Mustang.
Aramament: I propose a heavy fighter configuration of one 20 mm on top of the cowl, two 20 mm in the wing roots, and one 30 mm Mk 103 firing through the propellor boss.
Underbelly bombs or fuel tanks can also be carried.
Design problems: I do not see any major ones.
Production: with only one jet engine per aircraft I believe that at least twice as much numbers as the 262 could be produced. If Werher Von Braun and the Army Rocket-o-crats are shot or assassinated early on four to six times as many.
Political: Since this fighter can also carry heavy bombs at high speeds (with the shorter forward landing gear fitting a central bomb bay is now possible) I foresee a much earlier green light for this design from Hitler than any other design.
Over to you, Gentlemen. Your thoughts.
Many, many are the threads that have been opened in this forum on this topic, including the latest "Time Machine Consultant" one.
This thread has a similar idea, but will take a radical approach, with an idea which I believe has not yet been explored yet.
We all know that the ME 262 was a potential war winner, or at least a stalemate bringer in the area of German aviation technology.
We also know that German jet engines of that time suffered from many weaknesses that limited the tactical use of early German jets. They were gas guzzlers. They had a short life of about 12 to 30 hours. They were expensive to produce. They produced very little thrust at low speeds. They could not be opened up quickly, meaning they needed a very delicate, steady hand on the throttle.
Thus the 262 was built around those engines had short legs, was very vulnerable on takeoff and landings, and was strictly a zoom and boom fighter with little to none dogfighting ability. These weaknesses are known to all.
My idea is: why not combine the best of both worlds, and build the Do 335...but with a Jumo jet engine in the rear?
THE PROPOSED BANDIT 435 AND 535
Engine: the 1400/1500 hp historical DB and Jumo engines on the 435. As the higher output DB and Jumo engines become available, they will be mounted in the nose of the next version, which we will call the 535. The extra weight forward will be offset by simply moving the rear jet engine backward.
Wing: as the historical 335. Same wing for both the 435 and 535.
Fuselage: as the historical 335, but with a cut down rear fuselage so that much better rear vision can be achieved. Forward vision is already excellent. Convetional tail, not the cruciform tail dictacted by the rear engine of the 335.
Landing gear: As historical, but with a shorter and therefore much stronger main landing gear. Nosewheel landing gear is also shorter. Aircraft now has a slight nose up configuration on landing, however enough separation between jet exhaust and ground still exists so that airfields are not damaged on takeoff.
The shorter front landing gear means that larger and longer underbelly stores are now possible.
Take off/landing characteristics: excellent, especially in bad weather. Ground taxi performance will be the best of all Luftwaffe aircraft.
Weights: as per the 335. The lighter weight of the jet engine will be countered by the need to carry more fuel for two different engines.
Performance: I would expect about 440 mph for the 435 and 460-70 mph for the 535.
Handling: I would expect the same handling characteristics as for the 335, which is to say very good. A heavy aricraft like this cannot of course be as nimble as a single seater, but I would expect this to be nimbler than, say, a Mosquito or a P-38 although clumsier than even a Heavy Mustang.
Aramament: I propose a heavy fighter configuration of one 20 mm on top of the cowl, two 20 mm in the wing roots, and one 30 mm Mk 103 firing through the propellor boss.
Underbelly bombs or fuel tanks can also be carried.
Design problems: I do not see any major ones.
Production: with only one jet engine per aircraft I believe that at least twice as much numbers as the 262 could be produced. If Werher Von Braun and the Army Rocket-o-crats are shot or assassinated early on four to six times as many.
Political: Since this fighter can also carry heavy bombs at high speeds (with the shorter forward landing gear fitting a central bomb bay is now possible) I foresee a much earlier green light for this design from Hitler than any other design.
Over to you, Gentlemen. Your thoughts.