Heinkel Lerche
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The Heinkel 'Lerche' (German:"Lark") was the name of a set of project studies made by German aircraft designers Heinkel in 1944 and 1945 for a revolutionary VTOL fighter and ground-attack aircraft.
The Lerche was an early coleopter design. It would take off and land sitting on its tail, flying horizontally like a conventional aircraft. The pilot would lie prone in the nose. Most remarkably, it would be powered by two counter-rotating propellers which were contained in a donut-shaped annular wing.
The remarkably futuristic design was developed starting 1944 and concluding in March 1945. The aerodynamic principles of an annular wing were basically sound, but the proposal was faced with a whole host of unsolved problems of manufacture and control which would have made the project highly impractical even were it not for the materials shortages of late World War Germany.
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[edit] Specifications (Lerche II)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.- Figures below are given for the 'Lerche II' plan dated 25th Feb 1945.
General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
- Length: 10.00 m to wheels (32 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 4.55 m max width (14 ft 11 in)
- Height: ()
- Wing area: 12.00 m² (129 ft²)
- Loaded weight: 5,600 kg (12,320 lb)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 750-800 km/h (466-497 mph)
Armament 2 × MK 108 cannon
[edit] Trivia
A virtual version of the Heinkel Lerche is available as a flyable aircraft in the simulation game IL-2 Sturmovik 1946
The virtual version is equipped with 2 30mm MK 108 cannons and 3 experimental X-4 Proximity rockets which explode when near another aircraft. It can exceed 550 km an hour, and is highly maneuverable.
[edit] References
- Luftwaffe Secret Projects - Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft, D. Herwig & H. Rode, ISBN 1-85780-150-4
- Heinkel Lerche at Luft46.com
[edit] See also
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
- List of military aircraft of Germany
- List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
- List of WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft prototype projects
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