Focke-Wulf Ta 183
Encyclopedia
The Focke-Wulf
Ta 183 Huckebein (Hunchback) was a design for a jet-powered fighter aircraft
intended as the successor to the Messerschmitt Me 262
and other day fighter
s in Luftwaffe
service during World War II
. It was developed only to the extent of wind tunnel
models when the war ended, but the basic design was further developed post-war in Argentina
as the FMA Pulqui II
. The name Huckebein is a reference to a trouble-making comic strip raven.
(RLM) became aware of Allied jet developments, and were particularly concerned that they might have to face the Gloster Meteor
over the continent. In response, they instituted the Emergency Fighter Program
, ending production of most bomber
and multi-role aircraft in favor of fighters, especially jet fighters. Additionally, they accelerated the development of experimental designs that would guarantee a performance edge over the Allied designs, designs that would replace the first German
jet fighters Messerschmitt Me 262
and Heinkel He 162
.
The result was a series of advanced designs, some using swept wing
s for improved transonic
performance, others instead using the tailless design to lower drag to the same end. Since German aircraft engineers were aware that tailless
designs might encounter serious stability problems in the transonic, a variety of stabilization methods such as brakes on the wings were considered for such aircraft or simply adding conventional tail surfaces. Kurt Tank
's design team led by Hans Multhopp
designed in 1945 a fighter known as "Huckebein" (a cartoon raven that traditionally makes trouble for others), also known as Project V (Project VI in some references) or Design II at Focke-Wulf.
assembled a team to design a new fighter, based on his understanding that previous Focke-Wulf design studies for jet fighters had no chance of reaching fruition because none had the potential for transonic
speeds. The aircraft was intended to use the advanced Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet, although the first prototypes were to be powered by the Junkers Jumo 004
B. Early studies also included an optional 1,000 kgf
(10 kN) thrust rocket engine
for takeoff and combat boost, much as the special "003R" version of the BMW 003 jet engine was meant to use, with fuel and oxidizer for up to 200 seconds of burn time stored in drop tank
s under the wings.
The wings were swept back at 40° and were mounted in the mid-fuselage
position. The wings appear to be mounted very far forward compared to most designs, a side effect of attempting to keep the center of pressure
(CoP) of the wing as a whole as close to the middle of the fuselage as possible. Reflecting the dilemma of a shortage of strategic materials, the first option of using aluminum
in the construction of the main spar
consisting of two tapered I-beams attached together on the top and bottom with thin steel sheeting, led to a reappraisal. Multhopp chose to use wood instead of metal throughout the wing structure with wooden rib
s were attached to the front and back of the I-beams to give the wing its overall shape, and then covered with plywood
. The box-like structure contained six fuel cells, giving the aircraft a total fuel load of 1,565 L (413 US gal).
The original design used a T-tail
, with a notably long vertical stabilizer
and a seemingly undersized horizontal stabilizer
. The vertical tail was swept back at 60°, and the horizontal tail was V-shaped and dihedralled. The horizontal surface was used only for trimming, the main pitching force being provided by the aileron
s, which were well behind the center of gravity
and thus could provide both pitch and roll control, functioning as elevon
control surfaces. Many problems beset the project, including the chance of a Dutch roll
. Work therefore concentrated on the much less problematical Focke-Wulf Project VII. However, when the RLM eventually rejected that design, Huckebein was again brought to the fore.
The Ta 183 had a short fuselage with the air intake passing under the cockpit
and proceeding to the rear where the single engine was located. The pilot sat in a pressurized
cockpit with a bubble canopy
which provided excellent vision. The primary armament of the aircraft consisted of four 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannon
s arranged around the air intake.
It was also possible to carry a bomb load of 500 kg (1,100 lb), consisting of one SD or SC 500 bomb, one BT 200 bomb, five SD or SC bombs or a Rb 20/30 reconnaissance camera. The weapons load would be carried in the equipment space in the bottom of the fuselage and thus partially protrude about halfway from the fuselage, possibly allowing for other armament packages such as the Ruhrstahl X-4 wire-guided missile.
Multhopp's team also seriously explored a second version of the basic design, known as Design III, a modified Design II (it is unknown what Design I referred to). The first of these had only minor modifications, with slightly differently shaped wingtips and repositioning of the undercarriage
. The second version had a reduced sweepback to 32°, allowing the wing and cockpit to be moved rearward. The tail was also redesigned, using a short horizontal boom to mount the control surfaces just above the line of the rear fuselage. This version looks considerably more "conventional" to the modern eye, although somewhat stubby due to the short overall length of the HeS 011.
The second of these two schemes was entered in the official competition ordered by the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe at the end of 1944. On 28 February 1945, the Luftwaffe High Command examined the various Emergency Fighter proposals and selected the Junkers EF128 to be developed and produced; the Focke-Wulf team gained second place. However, in the last few weeks of the war, it was decided that the Huckebein was really the best design and, at a meeting in Bad Eilsen
, Tank was told to arrange mock-ups and to plan for full production. It had a planned speed of about 1,000 km/h (620 mph) at 7,000 m (22,970 ft) and it was estimated that 300 aircraft per month would be delivered when production got into its stride, each aircraft being produced in 2,500 man hours.
A total of 16 prototype
s were to be built, allowing the tail unit to be interchanged between the Design II and III variations. Of the Versuchs (experimental test series) aircraft, the Ta 183 V1-V3 were to be powered by the Jumo 004B turbojet, pending delivery of the HeS 011 jet engine. The Ta 183 V4-V14 were 0-series pre-production aircraft and V15-V16 were to be static test aircraft. The first flight of the aircraft was projected for May 1945, but none was completed by 8 April 1945, when British
troops captured the Focke-Wulf facilities.
Historians including David Myrha have made claims that the famous Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
was, at least, inspired by the Ta 183, because the Soviets captured plans of the Ta 183 from the Germans at the end of World War II. The MiG-15 does bear a superficial resemblance in layout, sharing the high tailplane, bubble canopy and nose mounted intake and guns, although the aircraft are different in structure, detail shapes and proportions. The MiG-15's design shared features common to fighter designs of that era and were derived from combat experience and aerodynamic considerations (for example, the Republic F-84B/F
, the French Dassault Ouragan
and Mystère or the SAAB Tunnan
).
A detailed design history of the MiG-15 has been published by the noted Russian aviation historian Yefim Gordon which refutes any connection between the Ta 183 and the MiG-15 and confirms that the MiG-15 was an entirely independent development. According to the designers, the MiG-15 was indeed an indigenous design, their choice of swept wings (first flown in the Soviet Union on the MiG-8
) being due to their desire to move ahead of most Western designs which were not intended for the 966 km/h+ (600 mph+) speed range. Mikoyan's own immediate post-war development of the late war German Me 263
rocket fighter plane prototypes, the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270
, may have been a more likely "in-house" inspiration, in some specific smaller details, for the later MiG-15.
After the end of the war, Kurt Tank
, in exile in Argentina, resurrected the Ta 183 project, resulting in the derivative IAe Pulqui II. This version was modified to place the wings at a shoulder-mounted position, in order to avoid a heavy fuselage spar pass-through structure going around the engine, which resulted in deep stall problems at high angles of attack. This seemed solvable, however, and a newer version correcting these problems was planned. However, the financial crash of 1953, and the fall of Juan Peron
, ended the project temporarily. By 1955, the project was permanently shut down. The final nail in the coffin for the Pulqui II project was the cheap availability of surplus combat-proven F-86 Sabres from the end of the Korean War
, at a fraction of the cost of the troubled and expensive Argentine aircraft.
Another aircraft to be indirectly influenced by the Ta 183 was the Saab 29 Tunnan. SAAB engineers received German research studies in swept wings in the immediate post-war period via contacts in Switzerland
, and incorporated it into the Tunnan design, which was still limited to paper studies at the time. The start of a series of jet fighter aircraft from Sweden
, the Tunnan served into the 1970s.
Focke-Wulf
Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.-History:...
Ta 183 Huckebein (Hunchback) was a design for a jet-powered fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
intended as the successor to the Messerschmitt Me 262
Messerschmitt Me 262
The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944...
and other day fighter
Day fighter
A day fighter is a fighter aircraft equipped only to fight during the day. More specifically, it refers to a multi-purpose aircraft that does not include equipment for fighting at night , although it is sometimes used to refer to some interceptors as well.Examples of planes that were classified as...
s in Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
service during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was developed only to the extent of wind tunnel
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
models when the war ended, but the basic design was further developed post-war in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
as the FMA Pulqui II
FMA IAe 33 Pulqui II
The FMA IAe 33 Pulqui II was a jet fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1940s in Argentina, under the Perón government, and built by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones...
. The name Huckebein is a reference to a trouble-making comic strip raven.
Development
In early 1945, the ReichsluftfahrtministeriumReich Air Ministry
thumb|300px|The Ministry of Aviation, December 1938The Ministry of Aviation was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany...
(RLM) became aware of Allied jet developments, and were particularly concerned that they might have to face the Gloster Meteor
Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. It first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force...
over the continent. In response, they instituted the Emergency Fighter Program
Fighter Emergency Program
The Emergency Fighter Program was the program that resulted from a decision taken on July 3, 1944 by the Luftwaffe regarding the German aircraft manufacturing companies...
, ending production of most bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
and multi-role aircraft in favor of fighters, especially jet fighters. Additionally, they accelerated the development of experimental designs that would guarantee a performance edge over the Allied designs, designs that would replace the first German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
jet fighters Messerschmitt Me 262
Messerschmitt Me 262
The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944...
and Heinkel He 162
Heinkel He 162
The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Designed and built quickly, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft, the He 162 was nevertheless the fastest of...
.
The result was a series of advanced designs, some using swept wing
Swept wing
A swept wing is a wing planform favored for high subsonic jet speeds first investigated by Germany during the Second World War. Since the introduction of the MiG-15 and North American F-86 which demonstrated a decisive superiority over the slower first generation of straight-wing jet fighters...
s for improved transonic
Transonic
Transonic speed is an aeronautics term referring to the condition of flight in which a range of velocities of airflow exist surrounding and flowing past an air vehicle or an airfoil that are concurrently below, at, and above the speed of sound in the range of Mach 0.8 to 1.2, i.e. 600–900 mph...
performance, others instead using the tailless design to lower drag to the same end. Since German aircraft engineers were aware that tailless
Tailless aircraft
A tailless aircraft traditionally has all its horizontal control surfaces on its main wing surface. It has no horizontal stabilizer - either tailplane or canard foreplane . A 'tailless' type usually still has a vertical stabilising fin and control surface...
designs might encounter serious stability problems in the transonic, a variety of stabilization methods such as brakes on the wings were considered for such aircraft or simply adding conventional tail surfaces. Kurt Tank
Kurt Tank
Kurt Waldemar Tank was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot, heading the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931-45. He designed several important aircraft of World War II, including the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.-Early life:Tank was born in Bromberg , Province of Posen...
's design team led by Hans Multhopp
Hans Multhopp
Hans Multhopp was a German aeronautical engineer/designer. Receiving a degree from the University of Göttingen, Multhopp worked with the famous designer Kurt Tank at the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG during World War II, and was the leader of the team responsible for the design of the Focke-Wulf Ta...
designed in 1945 a fighter known as "Huckebein" (a cartoon raven that traditionally makes trouble for others), also known as Project V (Project VI in some references) or Design II at Focke-Wulf.
Design
Development of the Ta 183 started as early as 1942 as Project VI, when the engineer Hans MulthoppHans Multhopp
Hans Multhopp was a German aeronautical engineer/designer. Receiving a degree from the University of Göttingen, Multhopp worked with the famous designer Kurt Tank at the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG during World War II, and was the leader of the team responsible for the design of the Focke-Wulf Ta...
assembled a team to design a new fighter, based on his understanding that previous Focke-Wulf design studies for jet fighters had no chance of reaching fruition because none had the potential for transonic
Transonic
Transonic speed is an aeronautics term referring to the condition of flight in which a range of velocities of airflow exist surrounding and flowing past an air vehicle or an airfoil that are concurrently below, at, and above the speed of sound in the range of Mach 0.8 to 1.2, i.e. 600–900 mph...
speeds. The aircraft was intended to use the advanced Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet, although the first prototypes were to be powered by the Junkers Jumo 004
Junkers Jumo 004
The Jumo 004 was the world's first turbojet engine in production and operational use, and the first successful axial compressor jet engine ever built. Some 8,000 units were manufactured by Junkers in Germany during late World War II and powered the operational Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter,...
B. Early studies also included an optional 1,000 kgf
Kilogram-force
A kilogram-force , or kilopond , is a gravitational metric unit of force. It is equal to the magnitude of the force exerted by one kilogram of mass in a gravitational field...
(10 kN) thrust rocket engine
Rocket engine
A rocket engine, or simply "rocket", is a jet engineRocket Propulsion Elements; 7th edition- chapter 1 that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law...
for takeoff and combat boost, much as the special "003R" version of the BMW 003 jet engine was meant to use, with fuel and oxidizer for up to 200 seconds of burn time stored in drop tank
Drop tank
In aeronautics, a drop tank is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks externally carried by aircraft. A drop tank is expendable and often jettisonable...
s under the wings.
The wings were swept back at 40° and were mounted in the mid-fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
position. The wings appear to be mounted very far forward compared to most designs, a side effect of attempting to keep the center of pressure
Center of pressure
The center of pressure is the point on a body where the total sum of a pressure field acts, causing a force and no moment about that point. The total force vector acting at the center of pressure is the value of the integrated vectorial pressure field. The resultant force and center of pressure...
(CoP) of the wing as a whole as close to the middle of the fuselage as possible. Reflecting the dilemma of a shortage of strategic materials, the first option of using aluminum
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
in the construction of the main spar
Spar (aviation)
In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings whilst on the ground...
consisting of two tapered I-beams attached together on the top and bottom with thin steel sheeting, led to a reappraisal. Multhopp chose to use wood instead of metal throughout the wing structure with wooden rib
Rib (aircraft)
In an aircraft, ribs are forming elements of the structure of a wing, especially in traditional construction.By analogy with the anatomical definition of "rib", the ribs attach to the main spar, and by being repeated at frequent intervals, form a skeletal shape for the wing...
s were attached to the front and back of the I-beams to give the wing its overall shape, and then covered with plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
. The box-like structure contained six fuel cells, giving the aircraft a total fuel load of 1,565 L (413 US gal).
The original design used a T-tail
T-tail
thumb|right|Grob motor gliderA T-tail is an aircraft tail stabilizer configuration in which the horizontal surfaces are mounted to the top of the vertical stabilizer. Traditionally, the horizontal control surfaces are mounted to the fuselage at the base of the vertical stabilizer...
, with a notably long vertical stabilizer
Vertical stabilizer
The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...
and a seemingly undersized horizontal stabilizer
Tailplane
A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer , is a small lifting surface located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes...
. The vertical tail was swept back at 60°, and the horizontal tail was V-shaped and dihedralled. The horizontal surface was used only for trimming, the main pitching force being provided by the aileron
Aileron
Ailerons are hinged flight control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll, which results in a change in heading due to the tilting of the lift vector...
s, which were well behind the center of gravity
Center of gravity
In physics, a center of gravity of a material body is a point that may be used for a summary description of gravitational interactions. In a uniform gravitational field, the center of mass serves as the center of gravity...
and thus could provide both pitch and roll control, functioning as elevon
Elevon
Elevons are aircraft control surfaces that combine the functions of the elevator and the aileron , hence the name. They are frequently used on tailless aircraft such as flying wings. An elevon that is not part of the main wing, but instead is a separate tail surface, is a stabilator...
control surfaces. Many problems beset the project, including the chance of a Dutch roll
Dutch roll
Dutch roll is a type of aircraft motion, consisting of an out-of-phase combination of "tail-wagging" and rocking from side to side. This yaw-roll coupling is one of the basic flight dynamic modes...
. Work therefore concentrated on the much less problematical Focke-Wulf Project VII. However, when the RLM eventually rejected that design, Huckebein was again brought to the fore.
The Ta 183 had a short fuselage with the air intake passing under the cockpit
Cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin...
and proceeding to the rear where the single engine was located. The pilot sat in a pressurized
Cabin pressurization
Cabin pressurization is the pumping of compressed air into an aircraft cabin to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers when flying at altitude.-Need for cabin pressurization:...
cockpit with a bubble canopy
Bubble canopy
A bubble canopy is a canopy made like a soap bubble, which attempts to provide 360° vision to the pilot.-History:Bubble canopies have been in use since World War II. The British had already developed the "Malcolm hood", which was a bulged canopy, but the British Miles M.20 was one of the first...
which provided excellent vision. The primary armament of the aircraft consisted of four 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannon
MK 108 cannon
The MK 108 was a 30 mm caliber autocannon manufactured in Germany during World War II by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use in aircraft.-Development:...
s arranged around the air intake.
It was also possible to carry a bomb load of 500 kg (1,100 lb), consisting of one SD or SC 500 bomb, one BT 200 bomb, five SD or SC bombs or a Rb 20/30 reconnaissance camera. The weapons load would be carried in the equipment space in the bottom of the fuselage and thus partially protrude about halfway from the fuselage, possibly allowing for other armament packages such as the Ruhrstahl X-4 wire-guided missile.
Multhopp's team also seriously explored a second version of the basic design, known as Design III, a modified Design II (it is unknown what Design I referred to). The first of these had only minor modifications, with slightly differently shaped wingtips and repositioning of the undercarriage
Undercarriage
The undercarriage or landing gear in aviation, is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land...
. The second version had a reduced sweepback to 32°, allowing the wing and cockpit to be moved rearward. The tail was also redesigned, using a short horizontal boom to mount the control surfaces just above the line of the rear fuselage. This version looks considerably more "conventional" to the modern eye, although somewhat stubby due to the short overall length of the HeS 011.
The second of these two schemes was entered in the official competition ordered by the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe at the end of 1944. On 28 February 1945, the Luftwaffe High Command examined the various Emergency Fighter proposals and selected the Junkers EF128 to be developed and produced; the Focke-Wulf team gained second place. However, in the last few weeks of the war, it was decided that the Huckebein was really the best design and, at a meeting in Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen is a municipality in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 11 km southwest of Stadthagen, and 13 km southeast of Minden.Bad Eilsen is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Eilsen....
, Tank was told to arrange mock-ups and to plan for full production. It had a planned speed of about 1,000 km/h (620 mph) at 7,000 m (22,970 ft) and it was estimated that 300 aircraft per month would be delivered when production got into its stride, each aircraft being produced in 2,500 man hours.
A total of 16 prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s were to be built, allowing the tail unit to be interchanged between the Design II and III variations. Of the Versuchs (experimental test series) aircraft, the Ta 183 V1-V3 were to be powered by the Jumo 004B turbojet, pending delivery of the HeS 011 jet engine. The Ta 183 V4-V14 were 0-series pre-production aircraft and V15-V16 were to be static test aircraft. The first flight of the aircraft was projected for May 1945, but none was completed by 8 April 1945, when British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
troops captured the Focke-Wulf facilities.
Influence
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was a jet fighter developed for the USSR by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in...
was, at least, inspired by the Ta 183, because the Soviets captured plans of the Ta 183 from the Germans at the end of World War II. The MiG-15 does bear a superficial resemblance in layout, sharing the high tailplane, bubble canopy and nose mounted intake and guns, although the aircraft are different in structure, detail shapes and proportions. The MiG-15's design shared features common to fighter designs of that era and were derived from combat experience and aerodynamic considerations (for example, the Republic F-84B/F
F-84F Thunderstreak
The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American-built swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design. The RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version....
, the French Dassault Ouragan
Dassault Ouragan
The Dassault M.D.450 Ouragan was the first French-designed jet fighter-bomber to enter production, playing a key role in resurgence of the French aviation industry after World War II. The Ouragan was operated by France, Israel, India and El Salvador...
and Mystère or the SAAB Tunnan
Saab Tunnan
The Saab 29, popularly called Flygande tunnan , was a Swedish fighter designed and manufactured by Saab in the 1950s. It was Sweden's second turbojet-powered combat aircraft, the first being the Saab 21R...
).
A detailed design history of the MiG-15 has been published by the noted Russian aviation historian Yefim Gordon which refutes any connection between the Ta 183 and the MiG-15 and confirms that the MiG-15 was an entirely independent development. According to the designers, the MiG-15 was indeed an indigenous design, their choice of swept wings (first flown in the Soviet Union on the MiG-8
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-8
|-See also:-References:Bibliography* Gordon, Yefim and Komissarov, Dmitry. OKB Mikoyan: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing, 2009 ISBN 1-85780-307-5...
) being due to their desire to move ahead of most Western designs which were not intended for the 966 km/h+ (600 mph+) speed range. Mikoyan's own immediate post-war development of the late war German Me 263
Messerschmitt Me 263
-See also:http://www.aviastar.org/air/germany/me-263.php-References:* David Myhra, "Messerschmitt Me 263", Schiffer Publishing, 1999...
rocket fighter plane prototypes, the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270
Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270
|-See also:-References:* Belyakov, R. A. and J. Marmain. MiG: Fifty Years of Secret Aircraft Design. Shrewsbury, UK:Airlife Publishing, 1994. ISBN 1 85310 488 4....
, may have been a more likely "in-house" inspiration, in some specific smaller details, for the later MiG-15.
Kurt Tank
Kurt Waldemar Tank was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot, heading the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931-45. He designed several important aircraft of World War II, including the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.-Early life:Tank was born in Bromberg , Province of Posen...
, in exile in Argentina, resurrected the Ta 183 project, resulting in the derivative IAe Pulqui II. This version was modified to place the wings at a shoulder-mounted position, in order to avoid a heavy fuselage spar pass-through structure going around the engine, which resulted in deep stall problems at high angles of attack. This seemed solvable, however, and a newer version correcting these problems was planned. However, the financial crash of 1953, and the fall of Juan Peron
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
, ended the project temporarily. By 1955, the project was permanently shut down. The final nail in the coffin for the Pulqui II project was the cheap availability of surplus combat-proven F-86 Sabres from the end of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, at a fraction of the cost of the troubled and expensive Argentine aircraft.
Another aircraft to be indirectly influenced by the Ta 183 was the Saab 29 Tunnan. SAAB engineers received German research studies in swept wings in the immediate post-war period via contacts in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and incorporated it into the Tunnan design, which was still limited to paper studies at the time. The start of a series of jet fighter aircraft from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the Tunnan served into the 1970s.