Alexander Lippisch

Alexander Lippisch

Alexander Martin Lippisch was a German pioneer of aerodynamics. He made important contributions to the understanding of flying wings, delta wings and the ground effect. His most famous design is the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor.Lippisch was born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria...

's Delta IV was a continuation of his work on delta wing

Delta wing

The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta .-Delta-shaped stabilizers:...

 designs pioneered in his Delta I, Delta II and Delta III aircraft. The project began with an order from Gerhard Fieseler

Gerhard Fieseler

Gerhard Fieseler was a German World War I flying ace, aerobatics champion, and aircraft designer and manufacturer....

 for a design that his company

Fieseler

The Gerhard Fieseler Werke was a German aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 40s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.-History:...

 could build for him to fly in the 1932 Europarundflug air rally. The result was a highly unorthodox design, sporting large delta wings, canard

Canard (aeronautics)

In aeronautics, canard is an airframe configuration of fixed-wing aircraft in which the forward surface is smaller than the rearward, the former being known as the "canard", while the latter is the main wing...

s, and an engine and propeller mounted in both the nose and tail of the plane.

Fieseler built this design as the F-3 Wespe ("Wasp"), but it proved highly unstable, causing Fieseler to crash it on his first flight. Further refinements were unable to correct these deficiencies, and after one final crash, Fieseler abandoned the aircraft.

Lippisch continued to believe that the problems were surmountable, and found an ally in Professor Walter Georgii of the DFS (Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug

Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug

The Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug, or DFS was formed in 1933 to centralise all gliding activity in Germany...

 - German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight). Georgii secured funding from the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium - Reich Air Ministry) to purchase the aircraft from Fieseler and work on perfecting it. At the DFS, Lippisch rebuilt the aircraft, removing the canards and the rear engine and renaming it the Delta IVa.

Although this flew much better than its predecessor, it was still involved in a very serious crash which led to an investigation of Lippisch's endeavours. The RLM and the DVL (Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt - German Aviation Research Institute) eventually concluded that the Delta series was not only dangerous, but an aeronautical dead end. Only Georgii's continued support prevented them from ordering the discontinuation of the research.

The aircraft was rebuilt again, this time incorporating new aerodynamic refinements based on Lippisch's experiences with his recent Storch X glider

Glider (sailplane)

A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding. Some gliders, known as motor gliders are used for gliding and soaring as well, but have engines which can, in some cases, be used for take-off or for extending a flight...

. The new incarnation, dubbed Delta IVb proved to be a step in the right direction.

Success finally came with a last round of changes. The aircraft was rebuilt yet again, making the sweep of its wings less severe, and adding small, downturned fins at their tips. And the fuselage was lengthened somewhat, and a small rudder was added to it. Now called the Delta IVc, the result was finally what Lippisch had been looking for. In 1936, the aircraft was taken to the 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....

 flight-testing centre at Rechlin

Rechlin-Lärz Airfield

Rechlin-Lärz Airfield is an airfield in the village of Rechlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, which is certified for aviation equipment up to 14 tons weight...

 where test pilot Heini Dittmar

Heini Dittmar

Heini Dittmar was a German glider pilot.Inspired by the example of his glider flying brother Edgar, Dittmar took an apprenticeship at the German Institute for Gliding , and won first prize in his class in the 1932 Rhön Glider Competition, when he was 21 years old, with a self-built glider,...

 put it through its paces, gaining an airworthiness certificate for the type and an official RLM designation - DFS 39.

It proved to be an extremely stable and well-behaved design, and now attracted the interest of the RLM as a starting point for "Project X" - the programme to develop a rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

-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...

. This would eventually lead to the development of the Messerschmitt Me 163

Messerschmitt Me 163

The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, designed by Alexander Lippisch, was a German rocket-powered fighter aircraft. It is the only rocket-powered fighter aircraft ever to have been operational. Its design was revolutionary, and the Me 163 was capable of performance unrivaled at the time. Messerschmitt...

.

Specifications (DFS 39)