- Amerika Bomber
The Amerika Bomber project was an initiative of the "
Reichsluftfahrtministerium ", the Nazi Germany Air Ministry, to obtain a long-rangebomber aircraft for theLuftwaffe that would be capable of striking the continentalUnited States fromGermany . Requests for designs were made to the major German aircraft manufacturers early inWorld War II , coinciding with the passage of theDestroyers for Bases Agreement .Conventional bombers
The most promising proposals were based on conventional principles of aircraft design and would have yielded aircraft very similar in configuration and capability to the Allied heavy bombers of the day. These included the
Messerschmitt Me 264 (an all-new design), theFocke-Wulf Fw 300 (based on the existing Fw 200),Focke Wulf Ta 400 and theJunkers Ju 390 (based on the Ju 290). Prototypes of the Me 264 were built, but it was the Ju 390 that was selected for production. Only two prototypes were constructed before the programme was abandoned. It is widely claimed (and widely disputed) that in early1944 the second prototype made a trans-Atlantic flight to within 20 km (12 mi) of the U.S. coast."Huckepack Projekt"
One idea similar to
Mistel-Gespann was to have aHeinkel He 177 bomber carry aDornier Do 217 , powered with an additional "Lorin-Staustrahltriebwerk", as far as possible over the Atlantic before releasing it. For the Do-217 it would have been a one-way trip. When plans had advanced far enough, the lack of fuel and the loss of the base atBordeaux prevented a test. The project was abandoned after the forced move toIstres increased the distance too much.Flying wings
Other proposals were far more exotic jet- and
rocket -powered designs, e.g. as aflying wing . TheHorten brothers designed theHorten Ho XVIII [http://www.luft46.com/horten/ho18a.html Horten XVIII page on luft46.com] , a flying wing powered by six turbojets based on experiences with their existing Ho X design. The Arado company also suggested a six-jet flying wing design, theArado E.555 . [http://www.luft46.com/arado/are555s.html Arado 555 page on luft46.com]Winged rockets
Other designs were rockets with wings. Perhaps the best-known of these today is
Eugen Sänger 's pre-war "Silbervogel ("Silverbird")"sub-orbit al bomber. While the A4b rocket, winged version of theV-2 rocket and probably its successor A9 rocket were tested several times in late 1944/early 1945, the A9/A10 "Amerika-Rakete", planned as a full 2-stagedICBM , remained a project. [http://www.luft46.com/misc/sanger.html Sänger page on luft46.com]All of these projects were deemed too expensive and ambitious and were abandoned, although the British Air Ministry considered development of the Ho XVIII for an airliner after the warFact|date=July 2007, and the theoretical groundwork done on the "Silbervogel" would prove seminal to
lifting body designs of the space age.References
Further reading
* Luftfahrt History Heft 4 - Messerschmitt Me 264 & Junkers Ju 390 *Atomziel New York - Geheime Großraketen- und Raumfahrtprojekte des Dritten Reichs
* Green, William. "Warplanes of the Third Reich". London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970. ISBN 0-356-02382-6.
* Herwig, Dieter and Rode, Heinz. "Luftwaffe Secret Projects - Strategic Bombers 1935-45". Midland Publishing Ltd., 2000. ISBN 1-85780-092-3.
* Smith, J.R. and Kay, Anthony. "German Aircraft of the Second World War". London: Putnam and Company, Ltd., 1972. ISBN 0-370-00024-2.ee also
*
Attacks on United States territory in North America during World War II External links
* [http://www.lautecmedien.de/messerschmitt_me_264_&_junkers_ju_390_-_amerikabomber_contra_grossraumtransporter_-_2_ungleiche_konkurenten.php link]
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