jfb@ihlpm.att.com (Joseph F Baugher) (07/24/90)
From: jfb@ihlpm.att.com (Joseph F Baugher) In view of all the discussion of "twin" aircraft, I thought that you might be interested in the case of the Messerschmitt Bf 109Z "Zwilling" (Siamese Twin) of 1943. Again, I am indebted to William Green's "The Warplanes of the Third Reich" for most of the details. The Bf 109Z was conceived as a cheap means of developing a heavy "destroyer" aircraft without having to disrupt production lines by producing an entirely new design. The proposal was to take two standard Bf 109 airframes and attach them to a single wing. The project promised to provide the Luftwaffe with a heavy fighter having a performance markedly superior to that of existing types, without incurring the penalty of requiring a lengthy and costly development cycle. Two Bf 109F airframes were allocated to the project. The fuselages were virtually unchanged, with the exception of moving the landing gear attachment points to the center of the fuselage. The outer wings were identical to those of the standard Bf 109F. A new wing center section was built, containing a strongpoint capable of carrying a single 1100-pound bomb. A parallel- chord tailplane was provided. Only the port cockpit was to be retained, with the starboard cockpit being faired over and used to provide space for additional fuel. The drawings for the project showed that the Bf 109Z would have ended up looking much like the famous North American P-82 Twin Mustang of 1945. Production models of the Bf 109Z were to be based on the Bf 109G airframe, and were to be powered by either DB 605A or Jumo 213E engines. Five 30-mm cannon were to be carried (one in each engine, one in a pod under each outer wing, and one in the wing center section). The projected performance was impressive: maximum speed of 374 mph at sea level, maximum speed of 462 mph at 26,000 ft, initial climb rate of 5080 ft/min, and range of 1050 miles. The first prototype was completed in 1943 and was virtually ready for its first test flight when it was heavily damaged in an Allied bombing raid. Before the damage could be repaired, the entire project was cancelled. I don't think that the Bf 109Z ever flew. Had such a heavily-armed high- performance destroyer aircraft been available in quantity to the Luftwaffe, the bomber offensive on Germany may well have been even more costly to the Allies in terms of lost lives and lost airplanes than it actually was. There was a similar "twin" modification proposed for the Me 309 fighter. It was given the designation Me 609, and consisted of two Me 309 fuselages linked together by a single wing center section. This design never got past the drawing board. Joe Baugher ************************************** AT&T Bell Laboratories * "Round up the usual suspects." * 200 Park Plaza ************************************** Naperville, Illinois 60566-7050 (708) 713 4548 ihlpm!jfb Who, me? Speak for AT&T? Surely you jest! jfb200@cbnewsd.att.com