The Heinkel Lerche (English: Lark) was the name of a set of project studies made by German aircraft designer Heinkel in 1944 and 1945 for a VTOL fighter and ground-attack aircraft.
| Heinkel Lerche | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Tail-sitter Fighter |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Heinkel |
| Designer | |
| Status | Paper project only, never built |
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2011) |
The Lerche was an early coleopter design. It would take off and land sitting on its tail, flying horizontally like a conventional aircraft. The pilot would lie prone in the nose. It would be powered by two contra-rotating propellers which were contained in a doughnut-shaped, nine-sided annular wing.
The design was developed starting 1944 and concluding in March 1945. The aerodynamic principles of an annular wing were basically sound,[clarification needed][citation needed] but the proposal was faced with a host of unsolved manufacture and control problems which would have made the project highly impractical, even without the material shortages of late-war Nazi Germany.
Specifications (Lerche II)
edit- Figures below are given for the 'Lerche II' plan dated 25 Feb 1945.
Data from [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 4 m (13 ft 1 in)
- Wing area: 12 m2 (130 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 4,500 kg (9,921 lb)
- Gross weight: 5,600 kg (12,346 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Daimler-Benz DB 605D V-12 liquid-cooled direct fuel-injected piston engines 2,000 PS (1,500 kW)
- or 2 × Daimler-Benz DB 603E V-12 liquid-cooled direct fuel-injected piston engines 2,400 PS (1,800 kW)
- (1 PS (Pferdestärke) = 0.736 kW = 0.98632007272 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 800 km/h (500 mph, 430 kn)
- Cruise speed: 553 km/h (344 mph, 299 kn)
- Never exceed speed: 1,282 km/h (797 mph, 692 kn)
- Service ceiling: 14,300 m (46,900 ft)
- Rate of climb: 50 m/s (9,800 ft/min)
Armament
- Guns: 2 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannon
- Missiles: 3 × Ruhrstahl X-4 Air to Air Missile (Optional)
See also
editAircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
edit
- ^ Nowarra, Heinz J. (1993). Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933-1945 : Band 2 Flugzeugtypen Erla-Heinkel (in German). Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. pp. 259–260 & 272. ISBN 3763754660.
- Luftwaffe Secret Projects - Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft, D. Herwig & H. Rode, ISBN 1-85780-150-4