Unorthodox Heinkel/RRG reconnaissance biplane by A. M. Lippisch

[Stargazer]

Tailless or Canard?

That's the question that served as a title for a short article in Luftfahrt International about a little-known Heinkel reconnaissance project of 1932 developed with Rhön-Rossitten-Gesellschaft (RRG in short) under the supervision of (guess who?) Alexander M. Lippisch. And if you look at the pictures, you'll understand why, since nothing about this design was conventional. Considered a doppeldecker (biplane) I guess it could also be considered a sesquiplane because of the high stagger between the upper (rearward) straight wing and the lower (forward) swept wings.

A sub-scale free-flight model was test-flown as can be seen in the photos below. A Lippisch patent of the same year shows some features that were incorporated in the design.

Specifications for the unbuilt real-scale version
(NOTE: @ means "approximately", as it should...):

Wingspan: between 12 and 12.5 m
Wing chord: @ 14 m
Sweepback: @ 20-25 deg.
Wing area: @ 36 sq. m.

Length: between 7.5 and 8 m
Width (max): @ 1.15 m
Height (max): @ 1.75 m

Wheel diameter: @ 1 m
Track gauge: @ 2.4 m

Propeller diameter: between 3.6 and 4 m

 

[Wurger]

Very interesting find!! Anything on the intended power unit?

 

[Stargazer]

Very interesting find!! Anything on the intended power unit?

Unfortunately not. The article doesn't say a thing about it (but there is a page missing, so who knows? there might have been something there).

Just realized I mis-translated "Aufklärung". This was to be a reconnaissance (not observation) type, which is more or less the same, but...

 

[hesham]

Hi,


the aircraft was mentioned in Nurflugel site from while,but no more info about
it.


http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Lippisch_Nurflugels/lippisch_nurflugels.html

 

[Jemiba]

Just realized I mis-translated "Aufklärung". This was to be a reconnaissance (not observation) type, which is more or less the same, but...

At least during those times in German parlance it was, there only was the ditinction between long range and short range
reconnaissance aircraft.
What was called observation aircraft, to my opinion was designated as "Verbindungsflugzeug" (communications aircraft) then, like
the Fieseler F-156, maybe used for artillery spotting, but with greater emphasise to good short field performance.

 

[robunos]

It's almost a Box-Wing...

cheers,
Robin.

 

[hesham]

Hi,


here is anther Model to Heinkel-Lippisch unorthodox aircraft.


Waffen-Arsenal 18

 

[Wurger]

Hi Hesham, can you please develop on that Waffen Arsenal 18 article? Were there more images, technical specifications, histoty? Know we know that the engine was to be a BMW VI.

 

[hesham]

Hi Hesham, can you please develop on that Waffen Arsenal 18 article? Were there more images, technical specifications, histoty? Know we know that the engine was to be a BMW VI.

My dear Wurger,


here is all the article about it,but no mention for BMW VI engine.

 

[Wurger]

Thank you, Esh!

 

[cluttonfred]

Very interesting, especially as it made it to at least the point of a flying scale model. You can definitely see the appeal of the layout for visibility in a reconnaissance aircraft. I would really like to see a translation of the German text above if someone has the time. Cheers, Matthew

 

[Stargazer]

Please note that I forgot to indicate my source for the project. It was Luftfahrt International 10.

The very same source was used by a Russian website which included a couple of photos I'd left out and apparently translated the whole article (so it might be interesting for our Russian-speaking, non-German-speaking members, if there are any): http://alternathistory.org.ua/beskhvostka-ili-utka

As a footnote, the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft didn't disappear. The famous DFS was created simply by nationalizing the RRG.

 

[cluttonfred]

The Google translation of the Russian text makes it clear that the control surfaces were a central elevator with outboard ailerons, but the danger with that the raised elevator lowers the angle of attack of the center section at low speeds, which would encourage tip stall. Elevons would likely have made for more docile low-speed handling with a central flap for landing.

 

[Jemiba]

I would really like to see a translation of the German text above ...

"Ernst Heinkel, one of the best known German aircraft designers/producers saw the flight shows at Tempelhofentral airfield
[central airfield in Berlin], too. he was nterested in any innovation and thought about building his own delta winged aircraft.
His chief designers, the brothers Günter, rejected such ideas, but Hinkel remained interested in connections to Lippisch.
So the order by the RLM to develop a tailless recce biplane with clear arcs for fire and observation from the rear seat arrived
opportunely. Heinkel forwarded this order to Lippisch, who agreed, although biplane designs weren't typical for him. Probably for
Lippisch the connections to RLM officials had priority, something not possible before, because his monoplane designs were
rejected.
1932/33 a larger flying model was built with a swept lower and a straight upper wing. The quite unfamiliar looking model made
quite successful flight tests, but no production order for a full size aircraft followed.
Estimated dimensions:
span: 12 to 12.50 m, length 7.5 to 8 m, height about1.75 m."

 

[cluttonfred]

Many thanks, Jemiba.