Four engine fighters

Justo Miranda said:
Focke-Wulf Super Lorin

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To solve the problem of the excessive landing speed of the Ta 283, the project team led by the Dipl.-Ing.von Halem sent to the OKL the dossier Baubeschreibung Nr.246 describing a short-span STOL variant of the Super TL with an auxiliary turbojet providing vertical lift, one bi-propellant rocket and two ramjets. This project has been commonly described in the literature as Focke-Wulf Super Lorin



Built in light alloy, the fuselage housed the pressurized cockpit with ejector seat, two MK 108/30 heavy cannons, the landing gear, one 270 litre tank containing the B.4 petrol for the turbojet, two K1 heavy kerosene fuel tanks of 650 and 845 litres for the ramjets, one C-Stoff rocket propellant tank of 345 litres, one T-Stoff rocket propellant of 575 litres, one HeS 8 turbojet with 720 kp static thrust and one bi-propellant rocket Walter 109-509 A-1 rocket with 1,700 kp peak thrust. The wings, spanning 7.6 m and with a 15 sq. m area, were built in wood/plywood/steel and housed six K1 fuel tanks with 150 litres each.



The tail planes were built of steel and served as support for two Pabst ramjets of 10,850 kp thrust each. The landing gear was of the same type than that developed for the Super TL. The exhaust nozzle of the turbojet was located on the fuselage belly to the purpose of generating lift thrust during take-off and landing. High altitude performances could also be improved, although a shorter wing span might make the airplane very fast at lower altitude, where the ramjets could produce the maximum thrust.
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Superb.
 
Northrop N-176, 1956. Eight engines, in two clusters of four. Renders by Jozef Gatial.
 

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Rhinocrates said:
Northrop N-176, 1956. Eight engines, in two clusters of four.
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Hmm, I missed the news about Northrop subcontracting Gerry Anderson. ;)
Now I want a plastic model kit of that in either or both 1/72 and 1/48 scales.
But only if it has a nicely done pilot figure engaged in flying the plane, posing for beauty shots on the tarmac doesn't count.
 
Well, pretty but, could it stay in the air long enough to get out of it's own way?
 
Justo Miranda said:
Boeing YB-40
theaviationgeekclub.com

The Boeing YB-40: how the B-17F strategic bomber was turned into a four-engined escort fighter - The Aviation Geek Club

The Boeing YB-40: how the B-17F strategic bomber was turned into a four-engined escort fighter
theaviationgeekclub.com theaviationgeekclub.com
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Which was slower and shorter-ranged than the bomber type B-17s.

Slowing the rest of the formation so as to not leave their "escort bomber" behind made all of them easier to intercept and attack and reduced the targets it could attack ... which is why the USAAF dropped the concept like a live grenade with the pin pulled.

fightingirish said:
Likewise, a single Consolidated XB-41 Liberator was modified for the long-range escort role during WW2.
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The B-24 version was also slower and shorter-ranged than the B-24s it was to "escort" - although not to the same degree as the B-17 prototype.
 
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Throughout its developmental and operational history, there have been proposals for the Rockwell B-1 Lancer to carry and fire long-range AAMs such as the AMRAAM, Phoenix, SRAM, or Standard. Very little information about these proposals exist aside from occasional references scattered across different threads on Secret Projects Forum.
 

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