X-PLANES: German Luftwaffe Prototypes 1930-1945

374 Pages·2012·30.4 MB·English

by  Manfred Griehl

First published in 2012 by Frontline Books,
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd.,
47 Church Street, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire, S70 2AS.

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Copyright © 2012 by Manfred Griehl
The right of Manfred Griehl to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
9781783034192
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
1 - Preface and Acknowledgements
2 - Aircraft Development by the RWM and RLM
3 - Germany’s Test Centres
4 - Experimental, Test and Trials Units
5 - Test Detachments and Squadrons
6 - General Aviation Research
7 - Development Projects in 1945
8 - Aircraft Prototypes
1
Preface and Acknowledgements
The development of civil and military aircraft in Germany between the years
1930 and 1945 was an impressive portent of things to come in the world of
aviation. The introduction and use of ever more highly advanced technology by
both the German aircraft industry and governmental research establishments
throughout the country led to huge strides forward in production and design.
Thanks to new construction techniques, the various manufacturers were in a
position to offer a whole host of modern, state-of-the-art aircraft and helicopters.
But very few of these projects were destined ever to be produced. The vast
majority of the outstanding, not to say revolutionary designs submitted to the
Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM: Reich Ministry of Aviation) were rejected by
those in authority. The diehards who inhabited the corridors of power in Berlin
were still blinkered by the criteria of World War I. In their minds all that was
required to ensure German air superiority were aircraft that were just a few miles
per hour faster than their British, French or Russian counterparts.
Ultimately it was the RLM, together with other state agencies – not least
Albert Speer’s omnipotent Reichsministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion
(Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production) and Heinrich Himmler’s all-
embracing SS-Wirtschafts-hauptamt (SS Central Office of Economics) – which
were to assume control over the development and production of all new
Luftwaffe aircraft. For, as Hermann Göring’s Luftwaffe lost one campaign after
the other, its fortunes went into terminal decline. Its authority was taken over by
the administrative departments of the RLM and the SS until, in the end,
Germany’s aircraft manufacturers were stripped of all freedom of choice.

Before going into the details of aircraft development and describing all the
important German designs of the 1930 – 1945 period – civil and military, fixed-
wing and rotary – I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who
have helped me in my work by supplying many of the photographs and much
invaluable data and information:
Mrs Peter Achs, Gebhard Aders, Claus Backmann, Michael Balss,
Heinz Birkholz, Paul E. Bezouska, Heinz Borgmann, Heinz
Borzutzki, Rick Chapman, Peter W. Cohausz, Eddie Creek, James C.
Crow, Hans-Peter Dabrowski, Andreas Duda, Manfred Franzke,
Hans Grimm, Hans Handig, Martin Handig, Peter Heck, Dieter
Herwig, Hans-Jochen Keilholz, Karl-Heinz Kens, Dr Volker Koos,
Dr Armin Kranzhoff, Dipl.-Ing. Karl Kössler, Werner Kossin,
Manfred Krieg, Gerhard Lang, Bruno Lange, Manfred Leihse,
Werner Lerche, Dipl.-Ing. Horst Lommel, Richard P. Lutz, Dr-Ing.
Heinz Mankau, Hans-Justus Meier, Josef Müller, Frederic Müller-
Romminger, Prof. Dr Sönke Neitzel, Heinz J. Nowarra, Dr Alfred
Price, Willy Radinger, Stephen Ransom, Christoph Regel, Philippe
Ricco, Heinz Riedinger, Ricco, Hans Ring, Ulrich Rohrbach, Simon
Schatz, Hanfried Schliephake, Leo Schmidt, Helmut Schubert,
Günter Sengfelder, Franz Selinger, Hans-Heiri Stapfer, Mag. Helmut
Stubner, Harald Thiele, Oliver Thiele, Fritz Trenkle, Udo Trümper,
Manfred Urschel, Bernd Vetter, Christoph Vernaleken, Gerhard
Wachtl, Helmuth F. Walther, John Weal, Eberhardt D. Weber, Hans
Willbold and Dipl.-Ing. Zucker.
Furthermore I would like to thank the following institutions and firms for their
assistance:
Airbus Deutschland, Blohm & Voss, Deutscher Aeroclub, Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Luft-und Raumfahrt Lilienthal-Obert, Dornier
GmbH, EADS, Flughafen AG Frankfurt/ Main, Heinkel GmbH,
Hubschrauber Museum Bückeburg, IHK Köln, MBB, MTU, USAF.
I should perhaps point out that a number of the official sources from the years
1930 – 1945 I have used for reference purposes contain conflicting information
as to the actual serial numbers and/or codes carried by certain aircraft. Likewise,
some pilot’s logbooks may quote different numbers or codes for a particular
machine. If any reader possesses reliable and verifiable information on the
subject, I would welcome it with a view to correcting any mistakes inadvertently
made.

Manfred Griehl,
Mainz, 2012
[email protected]
2
Aircraft Development by the RWM and RLM
After its defeat in World War I the former German Reich was forced to carry out
the development and evaluation of its future civil and military aircraft under
conditions of the strictest secrecy. A number of new designs, particularly
warplanes, were tested by German pilots and crews at bases in Italy, Sweden and
the Soviet Union. Once the Allies had lifted their ban on the production of civil
machines in Germany, several military types were developed under the guise of
commercial airliners or civil courier aircraft.
Until 1933 everything relating to civil aviation came under the control of the
Weimar government’s Reichsverkehrsministerium (Reich Ministry of Transport),
while all military aviation matters were the (clandestine) responsibility of the
Reichswehrministerium (RWM: Reich Ministry of Defence).