Baade 152

Infobox Aircraft
name= Baade 152


caption= Sketch of the two prototype variants of the 152 that flew between 1958 and 1961.
type= Airliner
manufacturer= VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden
designer= Brunolf Baade - Fritz Freytag
first flight=December 4, 1958
introduced=
produced=
retired= 1961
status= Never entered service
primary user= Intended to be Interflug
more users=
number built=2 flight prototypes + 1 completed that never flew. Several abandoned while under construction.
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=

The Baade 152 also known as Dresden 152, VL-DDR 152 or simply 152 was the first German jet passenger airliner. It was built and tested in Dresden (East Germany) between 1956 and 1961. The "152" represents the final development in the Junkers aircraft family which ended with the "development planes" ("Entwicklungsflugzeug" - EF).

Design and development

Baade is the name of the designer of the plane, Brunolf Baade. Only two prototypes for flight were built. The first prototype V1/I (DM-ZYA) was derived from the Samoljot 150 or Alexejew 150 jet bomber designed by former Junkers engineers in the Soviet Union. It included a tandem landing gear and glazed nose for the navigator, which was a common feature in many Eastern Bloc aircraft. The 152's landing gear was unusual for a passenger plane in that the main gear was housed along the centerline of the fuselage with outrigger wheels in the wing-tips (similar to the more famous Boeing B-47).

The maiden flight of this aircraft took place December 4, 1958 and lasted 35 minutes. The aircraft was lost on its second flight in a crash at Ottendorf-Okrilla while beginning landing approach on March 4th, 1959 taking the lives of the entire crew. The reason or reasons for the crash were never made public, although issues with the fuel system were the most likely cause as the fuel system had never been tested on a tilt. [cite web | title=The Rise and Fall of the East German Aircraft Industry | work=Air & Space Magazine | url= http://www.airspacemag.com/ASM/Mag/Index/1996/FM/rfeg.html | accessdate=2006-07-06]

Test flights continued with the second prototype V4/II (DM-ZYB). This second prototype had a different landing gear configuration, with an unusual configuration of the main landing gear sharing the same pylon as the engines. This aircraft also had abandoned the glazed nose for the navigator.

The third prototype, V5/II (DM-ZYC), only served ground tests.

The flight testing for commercial use was nearly finished by early 1961 with four aircraft in production for the East German state airline Deutsche Lufthansa (later rebranded Interflug). At this time, the East German government stopped all aeronautical industry activities, as the Soviet Union who promoted their own design Tu-124 did not want to buy any of these aircraft nor supported any further development.

All examples of the aircraft were scrapped though currently there is a restoration of the abandoned 152/II #011 fuselage, which was begun in 1995 at EADS EFW (Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH) in Dresden, which is the direct successor of VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden.

Chronology

*October 12, 1956 - First test run of jet engine Pirna 014
*March 1958 - First presentation of airplane 152 and jet engine Pirna 014 at the Leipzig Spring Fair
*April 30, 1958 - Roll out of first 152/I V1 prototype plane
*December 4, 1958 - First flight of prototype 152/I V1 for 35 minutes
*March 4, 1959 - Second flight of prototype 152/I V1 for 55 minutes. Plane crashed at landing killing the crew.
*September 9, 1959 -Testing of Pirna 014 jet engines on test plane Ilyushin Il-28R
*July 30,1960 - Start of ground testing for 152/II V4 plane
*August 26, 1960 - First flight of prototype 152/II V4 for 22 minutes
*September 4, 1960 - Second flight of prototype 152/II V4 for 20 minutes
*December 1960 - End of ground testing of prototype 152/II V4
*March 1961 - End of Pirna 014 jet engine production
*June 20, 1961 - Last flight of Pirna 014 jet engine on test plane IL-28R
*Summer 1961 - Scrapping of all produced 152 planes

pecifications (152/II V4)

aircraft specification| 152/II V4
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet
ref=152 Homepage [cite web | title=152 Homepage | work=152 Homepage | url=http://www.skybird-ev.de/152/gp-152.htm | accessdate=2006-07-05]
crew=4+2
capacity= 48/57/72 (depending on configuration)
length main= 31.4 m
length alt= 103 ft
span main= 26.3 m
span alt= 86.3 ft
height main= 9.00 m
height alt= 29.5 ft
area main= 136 m²
area alt= 1,463 sq. ft
empty weight main=28,580 kg
empty weight alt=63,008 lbs.
max takeoff weight main= 46,500 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 102,514 lbs
more general=
engine (jet)=Pirna 014
type of jet=turbojet
number of jets=4
thrust main= 30.9 kN
thrust alt= 6,946.5 lbs
thrust original=
afterburning thrust main=
afterburning thrust alt=
max speed main= 920 km/h
max speed alt= 572 mph
cruise speed main= 800 km/h
cruise speed alt= 497 mph
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 2,000-2,500 km (depending on configuration)
range alt= 1242-1553 miles
ceiling main=
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Ju 287
* OKB-1 EF 140
similar aircraft=
* Avro Jetliner
* B-47 Stratojet
* Tupolev Tu-124
lists=
see also=

References

External links

* [http://www.skybird-ev.de/152/152.htm 152 Homepage] (most of it in German only)
* [http://www.airspacemag.com/ASM/Mag/Index/1996/FM/rfeg.html The Rise and Fall of the East German Aircraft Industry] Air & Space Magazine February/March 1996
* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunolf_Baade Brunolf Baade] at Wikipedia Germany
* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexejew_150 Alexejew / Samoljot 150] at Wikipedia Germany