The Škoda-Kauba SK P14 was a

ramjet A ramjet is a form of airbreathing jet engine that requires forward motion of the engine to provide air for combustion. Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around and can operate up to . Ramjets can be particularly appropriat ...

-powered emergency fighter project for the ''

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

''. It was designed by the

Škoda-Kauba The Škoda-Kauba Flugzeugbau was a Czechoslovak aircraft manufacturer, formed during World War II as a joint venture between Otto Kauba and the Škoda Works. Kauba produced a number of innovative designs and the company built several prototypes, ...

industries towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as part of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

defense effort against the devastating allied bombing raids.

Design and development

Engineer

Eugen Sänger Eugen Sänger (22 September 1905 – 10 February 1964) was an Austrian aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology. Early career Sänger was born in the former mining town of Preßnitz (Příse� ...

worked on this

René Lorin René Lorin (24 March 1877 – 16 January 1933) was a French aerospace engineer and inventor of the ramjet. In 1908 Lorin patented, FR390256, the first subsonic ramjet design. He published the principles of a ramjet in articles in the journal '' ...

ramjet fighter project after his

Silbervogel Silbervogel (German for "silver bird") was a design for a liquid-propellant rocket-powered sub-orbital bomber produced by Eugen Sänger and Irene Bredt in the late 1930s for The Third Reich. It is also known as the RaBo ( – "rocket bomber"). ...

proposal for a suborbital glider to the

Reich Air Ministry The Ministry of Aviation (, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany (1933–45). It is also the original name of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus building on the Wilhelmstrasse in central Berlin, Germany, which ...

was rejected. The fighter was an approved project in line with the 1944 designs of the High Command of the Luftwaffe for basic interceptors. The Škoda-Kauba Aircraft Industries, located in a suburb of Nazi-occupied

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, designed the SK P14 as a single-seat monoplane powered by a Sänger ramjet engine. Since the ramjet had a diameter of 1.5 m and a length of 9.5 m, the massive engine and its tubular air-intake duct formed most of the fuselage structure. The cockpit had the pilot flying the aircraft in a

prone position Prone position () is a body position in which the person lies flat with the chest down and the back up. In anatomical terms of location, the dorsal side is up, and the ventral side is down. The supine position is the 180° contrast. Etymology T ...

above the air intake. Its landing gear was a retractable skid. In order to bring the ramjet to a speed where it would work, take off was by means of

booster rocket A booster is a rocket (or rocket engine) used either in the first stage of a multistage rocket, multistage launch vehicle or in parallel with longer-burning sustainer engine, sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and p ...

s fitted to a three-wheel detachable dolly. Only parts of the aircraft had been built when the project was terminated.

Variants

The Skoda-Kauba SK P14 project had two different variants. Both of them would be powered by a single Sänger ramjet that would give the aircraft a speed nearing 1000 km/h.

SK P14.01

Ramjet-powered interceptor with a wingspan of 7 m and a length of 9.85 m. Its armament was a

MK 108 cannon The MK 108 (German: ''Maschinenkanone''—"machine cannon") is a 30 mm caliber autocannon manufactured in Germany during World War II by Rheinmetall‑Borsig for use in aircraft. Development The weapon was developed as a private venture by the c ...

located above the cockpit.

SK P14.02

A similar interceptor project similar to the Sk P.14.01 but with a shortened fuselage and swept back wings set in a more forward position.

References

External links