Zeppelin Fliegende Panzerfaust
The
Starrschlepp system for towing gliders consisted of one rigid pole with articulated ends.
After the launch of the glider the piston fighter that carried it had to detach from the pole before entering combat, but sometimes the mechanism did not work properly and the plane was forced to land with the pole fixed to the tail, damaging the tail surfaces.
To solve the problem and avoid a waste of resources the design team of Flugzeugbau Zeppelin Company, led by Dipl.-Ing. Arthur Förster, proposed the construction of a miniature fighter with shoulder wing, butterfly tail and a nose mounted towing pole that also served as support for a retractable skid.
In the summer of 1944 the project was proposed to the OKL under the code-name
Fliegende Panzerfaust.
To adapt it to the technical specifications of the
Verbrauchsflugzeug competition, the aircraft was designed to carry out two attacks and was completely expendable. But it was also equipped with flaps to land conventionally to suit the
Bordjäger formula.
The fuselage was to be built of steel and light alloys. The armored cockpit housed the pilot lying in prone position with 120-mm thick windscreen.
The forward section of the fuselage contained the
Starrschlepp pole and four launch tubes for 73-mm RZ 65 rocket projectiles with a system for laterally discharging the gases produced during shooting, called
Abgasleitung openings, located on either side of the cockpit.
The center section of the fuselage contained six Schmidding 109-563 rocket engines with 26-degree angled nozzles and a single central wheel that protruded from the belly.
The rear section of the fuselage, constructed of light alloy, served as support for the wooden butterfly tailplane.
The wood/plywood shoulder wing was only 120-mm thick and contained the ailerons and flaps.
This midget fighter was to be towed into battle by one conventional interceptor Messerschmitt Bf 109 G.
The separation mechanism and the devices for deploying the skid and flaps were manually operated by the pilot.
After separating from the towing plane, the
Fliegende Panzerfaust made a first attack on the bomber stream firing two RZ 65 projectiles, then the pilot ignited two Schmiddings to regain altitude. The second attack had to follow the same scheme and the third pair of Schmiddings was reserved to flee from the allied escort fighters.
One mock-up was completed at Friedrichshafen in January 1945.
Zeppelin
Fliegende Panzerfaust technical data
Wingspan: 4.5 m. Lenght: 6 m. Height: 1.5 m. Wing area: 3.75 sq. m. Max weight: 1,200 kg. Max speed: 850 km/h. Armament: four 73-mm RZ 65 spin-stabilized rocket projectiles. Power plant: six Schmidding 109-563 rocket engines with 500 kg peak thrust each.
