Blohm & Voss Bv P.211

Fighter

Engine: 1x BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet making 800 kg of thurst

Wing Span: 7.60 m

Length: 8.06 m

Height: 3.30 m

Weight: Empty 1,930 kg / Loaded 2,760 kg

Maximum Speed: 767 km/h

Ceiling: 11,000 m

Range: 550 km

Crew: 1

Armament: 2x 30mm cannons

History:

Designed for the 1944 Volksjager competition (which was to find an aircraft suitable for rapid mass production using the minimum of strategic materials possible and yet have a performance equal to the best piston engined fighters at the time). The Bv 211 was designed by Dr R Vogt it started life as a swept wing design but because of uncertainty and the need to keep to the tight schedules imposed by the competition the aerodynamic design was greatly simplified. An interesting aspect of the design was the use of a steel air-intake / load-bearing structure, to which parts of the aircraft would have being bolted, i.e. engine, wings, tail, undercarriage and cockpit.

The air-intake / load-bearing structure for the Bv 211 (Image from Dan Jonson)

The Bv 211 was judged to be the best design. How ever there were disadvantages with the design when compared with to eventual winner the Heinkel He 162.

1) Inferior performance due to the long air intake.

2) Significant drag induced by the rectangular design.

3) Danger of foreign body being ingested because of height of air-intake.

4) High risk of damage to engine in the event of a belly landing.

These points negated it's undisputed advantages in terms of ease of assembly and maintenance, so in the end the contracted was given to Heinkel and the He 162 mainly because it could be put in to production quickly.