The Focke-Wulf ''Volksjäger'', meaning "People's Fighter" in German, was a

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 **Ge ...

emergency fighter An emergency fighter is an aircraft designed or adapted for use as a fighter aircraft, fighter during an emergency period in war. While useful as a broad concept or definition, it is not easy to make the category of emergency fighter clear cut, as m ...

project for the ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

''. It was designed by Focke-Wulf industries towards the end of

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 opposing ...

as part of the defense effort against the devastating Allied bombing raids.

History

In mid 1944 the Nazi Ministry of Aviation launched a ''Volksjäger'' program and in the months that followed Focke-Wulf presented two consecutive projects. The variants presented were a

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, an ...

and a

rocket-powered A rocket-powered aircraft or rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket engine for propulsion, sometimes in addition to airbreathing jet engines. Rocket planes can achieve much higher speeds than similarly sized jet aircraft, but typicall ...

design, corresponding to project number one and project number two. Neither of them was given an RLM aircraft designation.Jean-Denis G. G. Lepage, ''Aircraft of the Luftwaffe, 1935–1945: An Illustrated Guide'', McFarland, p. 256-257

Variants

''Volksjäger'' 1

The initial ''Volksjäger'' competition in the second half of 1944 required the use of the

BMW 003 The BMW 003 (full RLM designation 109-003) is an early axial turbojet engine produced by BMW AG in Germany during World War II. The 003 and the Junkers Jumo 004 were the only German turbojet engines to reach production during World War II. W ...

powerplant. The Focke-Wulf ''Volksjäger'' 1, the first model of the Focke-Wulf project, was an innovative-looking single-jet aircraft. It was designed to be powered by one BMW 003 A1 turbojet as an actual contract competitor to the He 162A ''Spatz'', the winner of the ''Volksjäger'' design competition and the selected ''Volksjäger'' aircraft to be mass-produced. The air intake of the turbojet engine was placed in the front and the engine itself in the lower fuselage. Two possible

shoulder wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

configurations were designed for the Fw ''Volksjäger'' 1, straight and swept back. The wings of the swept back version spanned 7.5 m (26 ft 7 in) and had an area of 13.5 m² (161 ft²). The tail was supported by a projecting boom over the exhaust of the engine. This fighter aircraft was planned to be armed with two

MK 108 cannon The MK 108 (German: ''Maschinenkanone''—"machine cannon") was a 30 mm caliber autocannon manufactured in Germany during World War II by Rheinmetall‑Borsig for use in aircraft. The cannon saw widespread use as an anti-bomber weapon during the ...

, placed in a frontal position on both sides of the air intakes. In some postwar English language publications, the Fw ''Volksjäger'' 1 project is referred to by the bogus name ''"

Volksflugzeug The ''Volksflugzeug'' (People's Aircraft) was a grand Nazi-era scheme for the mass-production of a small and simple airplane in the 1930s. It was one of the attempts of the Nazi regime to use consumer technologies as a propaganda tool. Unlike th ...

"'', a name that is not found in any German-language source referring to this aircraft, but referring instead to a very different Nazi aviation project.

''Volksjäger'' 2

Designed for early 1945 RLM requirements the Focke-Wulf ''Volksjäger'' 2 was a small rocket-powered

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

. It had a wingspan of and a length of . Power was to be provided by a

Walter HWK 109-509 The Walter HWK 109-509 was a German liquid-fuel bipropellant rocket engine that powered the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet and Bachem Ba 349 aircraft. It was produced by Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft (HWK) commencing in 1943, with licensed p ...

A-2

rocket engine A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accorda ...

that would enable it to reach speeds nearing 1000 km/h. Armament was to be two 30 mm (1.18 in)

located under the fuselage. In order to save strategic materials, the wings of the Fw ''Volksjäger'' 2 were built of wood and covered with a thin metal layer. The wings, swept back and mounted on mid-fuselage, as well as the

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane ...

, were similar to those of the

Focke-Wulf Ta 183 The Focke-Wulf Ta 183 ''Huckebein'' was a design for a jet-powered fighter aircraft intended as the successor to the Messerschmitt Me 262 and other day fighters in Luftwaffe service during World War II. It had been developed only to the extent ...

. The aircraft had no wheels, only a landing skid. It was designed to take off on a detachable dolly. Once airborne it would speed almost vertically towards the bomber

combat box The combat box was a tactical formation used by heavy (strategic) bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. The combat box was also referred to as a "staggered formation". Its defensive purpose was in massing the firepower of the b ...

where it would fire its cannon. Although the Fw ''Volksjäger'' 2 was planned to reach an altitude of 5,900 m in one minute, its effectiveness as an interceptor was curtailed by the fact that it would have only about 15 minutes of combat action time. Test flights for this aircraft were scheduled to be carried out between May and June 1945. Three units of the Fw ''Volksjäger'' 2 were under construction at the time of the Surrender of Nazi Germany.Ernst Heinrich Hirschel, Horst Prem, Gero Madelung et al. ''Aeronautical Research in Germany: From Lilienthal Until Today,'' Volume 147

Specifications

''Volksjäger'' 1

''Volksjäger'' 2

Bibliography

*Walter Schick , ''Geheimprojekte der Luftwaffe- Jagdflugzeuge 1939–1945'', Motorbuch Verlag; 1st edition (1994)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Focke-Wulf Volksjager Super Lorin Abandoned military aircraft projects of Germany Rocket-powered aircraft World War II fighter aircraft of Germany Mid-wing aircraft T-tail aircraft

History

Variants

''Volksjäger'' 1

''Volksjäger'' 2

Specifications

''Volksjäger'' 1

''Volksjäger'' 2

See also

Bibliography

References

External links