Focke-Wulf Triebflugel by Amusing Hobby

1/48 scale
Kit No. 48A001
Price: $35.00
Decals: Four versions – all Luftwaffe WWII
Comments: Engraved panel lines, two- piece canopy

History

The Focke-Wulf Triebflugel, or Triebflugeljager, literally meaning “thrust wing hunter,” was a German concept for a VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) fighter/interceptor designed in September 1944 to help address the pressing need for fighters to counter the Allied bombing onslaught, which by then had extended its reach into central Germany. It was intended for point defense of important factories or areas which had airfields too small for combat operations, or none at all.

The three untapered wings served as rotor blades which rotated around the fuselage on a ring assembly supported by ball bearings. They had a gradually decreasing pitch towards the wingtips, and in horizontal flight would have acted like a giant propeller. At the end of each wing was a Pabst ramjet. Since ramjets do not operate at slow speeds, the rotor either had to be driven by a fuselage mounted takeoff-booster, or small Walter rocket engines could have been fitted to each ramjet pod.  Its fuel system would have been complex, with the ramjets fed from tanks in the fuselage through lines that would somehow have navigated the spinning, central support ring that allowed the wings to rotate.

The pilot sat in a cockpit near the nose and the armament consisted of two MK 103 30mm cannon with 100 rounds each plus two MG 151/20 20mm cannon with 250 rounds. Although the Triebflugel was never built, a wind tunnel model was tested up to a speed of Mach 0.9. Wind tunnel data reportedly showed that forward flight would have required a slight nose-up pitch to provide some upward lift as well as forward thrust. For this reason, the 20mm nose cannon would have been angled slightly downward in relation to the horizontal center line of the fuselage.

All four tailplanes would have had movable ailerons, functioning as combined rudders and elevators and controlling pitch, roll and yaw as well as counteracting an anticipated tendency of the fuselage to rotate in the same direction as the main rotor. A large, sprung wheel at the tail end of the fuselage provided the main landing gear, with four smaller castoring wheels at the end of each tailplane. All wheels would have been covered by streamlined clamshell doors while in flight.

Had it entered production, the Triebflugel would have been an innovative and spectacular development in combat aircraft. A hint of how it would have looked and maneuvered in operational service is provided by a few brief, exciting computer-generated moments near the end of the 2011 film Captain America, when the Red Skull achieves his escape from a stricken flying wing bomber (bearing a remarkable resemblance to an Arado E.555) in a Triebflugel.

What is unclear about this fascinating design is whether the trio of ramjets would have been able to develop and maintain sufficient thrust not only to stay airborne, but to engage in effective air combat manuevers. As for the Triebflugel’s vertical take-off and landing capabilities, its dependence on a separate take-off booster or supplemental rocket engines to get airborne would have been a disadvantage. As it was never built, it is not clear whether German engineers ever successfully tackled the problem of achieving a safe landing procedure.

At a minimum, subsequent American development of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet, the Convair XFY-1 “Pogo plane” and the Lockheed XFV-1 Salmon proved that while vertical take-off and landing were both feasible, there would be attendant limits in the performance of such an aircraft, including its vulnerability during landing in particular. Finally, pilots reported the awkwardness of landing while positioned on one’s back and trying to gauge the approach to the ground, a significant factor in the U.S. military’s ultimate decision not to pursue development of this type of design.

Specifications

Wingspan: 11.5 m (37′ 8.8″)
Length: 9.15 m (30′ 0″)
Max. Speed: 1000 km/h (621 mph)
Armament (planned): Two Mk 108 Rheinmetall-Borsig 30mm cannon and two Rheinmetall 20mm cannon

The Kit

Amusing Hobby’s Focke-Wulf Triebflugel is injection molded in light tan and consists of 91 parts, including two clear plastic parts for the canopy. The fish-like fuselage bears engraved panel lines and recessed rivet detail, along with meticulously machined apertures in the nose for the main armament of two 30mm and two 20mm cannon. The cockpit features a rather plain bucket seat but with a separately mounted headrest. The main instrument panel includes raised relief for its multiple dials. In addition, there are separate parts for the two side instrument panels, which themselves bear extensive raised relief. In a rare bit of detail, there is a two-part gunsight. Once the cockpit assembly is completed, the two halves of the nose are to be cemented around it.

The next component of the fuselage is the large rotating ring which spins the three wing rotors. The ring assembly consists of three parts, and although it would have rotated on the actual Triebflugel, it is to be cemented in place to the rear of the nose section. The tail section is next and is of simple construction, consisting of the two halves of the tail along with a four-part main wheel assembly.

Four part ramjets with intake fan faces are to be cemented to each of the wing rotors. The four identical tail units with their individual wheels and clam shell doors are assembled next, followed by affixing two larger clam shell doors to the tail of the fuselage proper. If the Triebflugel is depicted in flight, each of the clam shell doors must be cemented closed. The assembly instructions are clear and easy to follow, but do not include a paint guide of any kind. Instead, two fold-out color plates are included which provide paint schemes for four versions of the Triebflugel, all of which identify colors in the MIG acrylic paint line only. Fortunately they also make reference to corresponding RLM colors.  As the Triebflugel never got past the wind tunnel model stage, no specific Luftwaffe units are identified for any of the four versions.

Conclusion

This kit appears to be a quantum leap above the 1/72 scale version by Huma, owing to its crisp detail and what may well be its superior fit.  Modelers can anticipate that it will build up quickly so that they can focus upon the paint scheme.  Highly recommended.

References

• www.luft46.com
• Triebflugel instructions