The Weserflug P.1003, was a two-seat

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

aircraft designed in 1938 by

Weserflug Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH, known as Weserflug, was an aircraft manufacturing company in Germany. History The company was founded in 1934 as a subsidiary of the ship and machine company Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG (DESCHIMAG). It began prod ...

. The aim of the project was to construct a military tilt rotor aircraft with

VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...

characteristics for use in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At the beginning of 1938 plans for a tilt rotor aircraft were drawn up, and the project, named P.1003, was supported by the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. The aircraft was a monoplane featuring a fairly conventional fuselage. The aircraft was built with high mounted wings that could be hinged halfway along, and with a propeller at each wing tip. A single

Daimler-Benz DB 600 The Daimler-Benz DB 600 was a German aircraft engine designed and built before World War II as part of a new generation of German engine technology. It was a liquid-cooled inverted V12 engine, and powered the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Heinkel He ...

engine was mounted in the middle of the fuselage, and drive shafts connected the engine to the propellers, which were abnormally large with a diameter of 4 metres, where for a similar aircraft the propellers would have had a diameter of 2 metres. The initial plans included the aircraft being fitted with retractable landing gear. For takeoff, the entire outer part of the wing could be rotated 90 degrees so that the propellers pointed straight up, lifting the aircraft off the ground in a manner similar to that of a helicopter. Once in the air, the wing and the propeller would be rotated to a horizontal position, so the plane could go into horizontal flight. The aircraft was never constructed due to the complexity of the VTOL system.

References

{{reflist German military aircraft World War II aircraft of Germany