12.09.2010, 05:28
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triebfluegel
Bythe time this aeroplane was envisaged the war was one of defence of the Reich. Fighter air superiority had been lost and German airfields were now vulnerable targets, an sections of autobahn were being used as runways instead to avoid detection by allied reconnaisance.
German thinking had evolved toward missiles, both human and electro-mechanically guided. The idea was to reach target altitudes without dependence on airfield infrastructure.
A variety of ground to air missiles were developed by the Germans although none saw widespread service, as guidance was a new area of expertise that was being investigated for the first time, and results before the war's end were unreliable. It wasn't just the V2 that got fired. Holland was hit by three-stage artilleruy rockets (about 200 were fired) in the late war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wo ... of_Germany
So the Trieb was essentially an aeroplane designed to fulfill the role of surface to air missile but with a human pilot and a reusable philosophy. A vertical take-off, rapid climb, interception, and then recovery.
In practical terms it's difficult to see how this design would have been successful. The biggest problem is not so much flying it, but landing it. Experience gathered by American VTOL fighter research in the 50's suggests that aircraft such as the Trieb or the Lerche were beyond the capability of most pilots, and certainly beyond those of old men and children who were likely to be filling the ranks of the Luftwaffe in 1946, especially since the majority of flying schools had been shut down toward the end of the war.
Whilst we see these designs as exotic or downright wierd, bear in mind that the Germans were looking for a technical advantage that would stave off the destruction they were facing. There was no guarantee the Trieb was going to be taken seriously by the RLM. They might have considered it as too extreme, in much the way we do, or even a waste of resources, an aspect to aircraft production that was forcing the Germans to rationalise their air force with limited variety of future designs, such as the Emergency Fighter Program
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Fighter_Program
As for me, I'm glad I was never called upon to fly something like the Treib. That would have been one scarey aeroplane.
Bythe time this aeroplane was envisaged the war was one of defence of the Reich. Fighter air superiority had been lost and German airfields were now vulnerable targets, an sections of autobahn were being used as runways instead to avoid detection by allied reconnaisance.
German thinking had evolved toward missiles, both human and electro-mechanically guided. The idea was to reach target altitudes without dependence on airfield infrastructure.
A variety of ground to air missiles were developed by the Germans although none saw widespread service, as guidance was a new area of expertise that was being investigated for the first time, and results before the war's end were unreliable. It wasn't just the V2 that got fired. Holland was hit by three-stage artilleruy rockets (about 200 were fired) in the late war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wo ... of_Germany
So the Trieb was essentially an aeroplane designed to fulfill the role of surface to air missile but with a human pilot and a reusable philosophy. A vertical take-off, rapid climb, interception, and then recovery.
In practical terms it's difficult to see how this design would have been successful. The biggest problem is not so much flying it, but landing it. Experience gathered by American VTOL fighter research in the 50's suggests that aircraft such as the Trieb or the Lerche were beyond the capability of most pilots, and certainly beyond those of old men and children who were likely to be filling the ranks of the Luftwaffe in 1946, especially since the majority of flying schools had been shut down toward the end of the war.
Whilst we see these designs as exotic or downright wierd, bear in mind that the Germans were looking for a technical advantage that would stave off the destruction they were facing. There was no guarantee the Trieb was going to be taken seriously by the RLM. They might have considered it as too extreme, in much the way we do, or even a waste of resources, an aspect to aircraft production that was forcing the Germans to rationalise their air force with limited variety of future designs, such as the Emergency Fighter Program
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Fighter_Program
As for me, I'm glad I was never called upon to fly something like the Treib. That would have been one scarey aeroplane.
hock: