Klemm Kl 151

infobox Aircraft
name = Kl 151
type = Personnel transport and liaison
manufacturer = Klemm


caption =
designer = Dr. Hanns Klemm and Carl Bucher
first flight = 10 September 1942
introduction =
retired =
status = Cancelled
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 1
unit cost =
developed from = Messerschmitt Bf 108
variants with their own articles = The Klemm Kl 151 was a German prototype light passenger aircraft designed by Dr. Hanns Klemm and chief engineer Carl Bucher during World War II. Only one model was built.

Development

In 1940 Klemm received a request from the Reich Air Ministry (RLM) chief Ernst Udet to begin work on a version of the Messerschmitt Bf 108 "Taifun" using wood rather than aluminium for the airframe, since the metal was then in short supply.

One of the conditions was that the design of the Bf 108 would be used for the new aircraft. This created substantial difficulties. To speed up the project both the wings and the fuselage were based on already-built Kl 107 components. Since the fuselage was too short, Bucher extended it at the tail with a welded tubular steel framework covered with sheet metal, which also housed the tail landing gear. The wings were widened at the root and moved forward in order to accommodate additional fuel tanks, which replaced the two rear seats.

Flight tests

The prototype Kl 151 V1, designated TB+QK, made its first flight at Böblingen on 10 September 1942, with Klemm's chief pilot Karl Voy at the controls. The aircraft was powered by a 240 Pferdestärke (PS) (236 horsepower, 176 kW) Argus As 10P inverted V8 engine. The planned model Kl 151-B, fitted with a 355 PS (350 hp, 261 kW) Argus As 410 inverted V12 engine was not built.

On 19 February 1943 the V1 prototype was transferred to the "Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt" ("German Experimental Institute for Aviation") at Adlershof for testing, which was successfully completed on 1 March 1943.

The fixed undercarriage was a concern to the Luftwaffe, as the Bf 108 had suffered on the rough landing fields of the eastern front. Therefore the requirement now demanded a robust as well as a retractable undercarriage. In place of the fixed tricycle undercarriage, now the V1 received one in a Y-configuration, with two steel half-shellswelded together for the guidance of the shock absorbers on each side.

Further testing continued. Klemm used the aircraft as a personal transport until July 1944, when it was destroyed in an Allied air raid. The Air Ministry transferred the incomplete V2 prototype, and responsibility for further development and production, over to the Czech company Zlin. The problems caused by the demand for a retractable landing gear were finally solved, but the aircraft was never completed, nor put into full production.

After the war a revival of the project was considered, however Klemm instead decided on the Kl 107A.

pecifications (Kl 151 V1)

aircraft specifications/switch
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Fact|date=April 2008
crew=one, pilot
capacity=one passenger
payload main=
payload alt=
length main=
length alt=
span main= 40 ft 8 in
span alt= 12.4 m
height main=
height alt=
area main= 233.8 ft²
area alt= 20.8 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main=
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main= 3,300 lb
loaded weight alt= 1,500 kg
useful load main=
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more general=
engine (prop)= Argus As 10P
type of prop=inverted V8 engine
number of props=1
power main= 236 hp
power alt= 176 kW
power original= 240 PS
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Notes and references

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Messerschmitt Bf 108
similar aircraft=

sequence=
Go 149 -
Go 150 -Kl 151 -
Ta 152 -
Kl 152 -
Ta 153 -
Ta 154

lists=
* List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
* List of military aircraft of Germany
* List of WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft prototype projects
see also=