Heinkel He P.1077 (Julia)

History

1944 was a pivotal year for Germany and its fabled Luftwaffe. Once masters of air supremacy, the advanced products heavily used by the Allies soon began to eradicate the German initiative. The Allied sphere of influence had expanded to unacceptable lengths, capable of attacking all German-controlled areas, even the German mainland - no part of the European empire was safe right now. This called into question the level of German defenses, especially the work done against the threat of American heavy bombers during the day and British heavy bombers at night.

As a result, various plans were developed - primarily through the "Emergency Fighter Plan" of July 3, 1944, to find viable, defense-conscious interceptors capable of responding quickly to incoming enemy air groups and bombers , and equipped with appropriate weapons to attack.

Ernst Heinkel leads the Heinkel AG group, best known for its He 111 medium bombers during the Battle of Britain. The German Aviation Ministry (RLM) commissioned all interested German air carriers to submit a bid for a low-cost single-seat turbojet interceptor.

Four companies responded with different designs, including Heinkel, Messerschmitt, Bachem and Junkers. Heinkel's submission - P. 1077 - was selected before the others. However, the Bachem P.20 went further along a different path than the operational Ba 349A "Natter" ("Viper").

The design of the P. 1077 came from Wilhelm Benz and was named "Julia".

The P. 1077 "Julia" developed in two directions: in one form, the pilot was mounted in a prone position to keep the fuselage as thin (and small) and aerodynamic as possible under the thrust of rocket performance ; In another form, the pilot sits upright in the traditional way. The former design trend was eventually chosen for further development - the engineers were convinced of the advantages of the layout.

To further simplify manufacturing, the Julia will not be equipped with a traditional landing gear - instead it will be launched from rails and slide down to land on integrated skids provided under the fuselage. The cockpit will contain only the most basic instruments to keep manufacturing/procurement costs low and facilitate training of potential pilots.

The key to Julia's success was its intended rocket-propelled-based powerplant. The Walter HWK 509C series two-chamber liquid dual-fuel rocket engine, which promises 3,750 pounds of thrust, is being questioned.

Due to the need to start launches as soon as possible (hopefully to intercept incoming bomber formations in time), the airframe is also equipped with four 533-series Schmidding booster rockets, each rated at 2,650 pounds of thrust, used only during launch and discarded in their After the fuel supply is exhausted.

When attacking bombers, the Germans knew early on that the firepower of artillery was better than that of machine guns. With this, many German aircraft incorporated some form of artillery armament into their attack plans, including the famous Messerschmitt BF 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters. - The gun was installed on both sides of the cockpit by means of dome airbags, the barrel was recessed along the channels on the sides of the hull.

Each cannon will receive a 60 x 30mm projectile for multiple passes over the target.

Body uses conventional components and basic configuration. The cockpit is located at the front of the fuselage, which itself is mostly tubular. Because the pilot is prone, the nose cone is the canopy, allowing only a minimalist view of the action ahead. The pilot was unable to see the stern, although this was acceptable at expected speeds. The wings are tall mounted straight components with the tips pointing down.

The stern has a basic T-shaped structure with a wide horizontal plane connecting a pair of vertical rudders. The rocket engine components are buried in the rear of the fuselage and expelled through a circular opening in the rear of the design.

Estimated performance specifications for the P. 1077 design include a top speed of 560 mph and a cruising speed of nearly 500 mph. Due to the very short flight times allowed by rocket technology, the P. 1077's combat radius was limited to 40 miles.

However, it can operate from ceilings close to 49,000 feet, requiring pressurization of the cockpit and oxygen for the pilot. All told, the P. 1077 had a takeoff weight of 4,000 pounds, a wingspan of just 15.5 feet, and a barrel length of 22.5 feet.

Although the P.1077 was a promising post-war missile weapon, it was not implemented fast enough to enter production, let alone complete a prototype. As such, P. 1077 existed primarily as a paper design, and ended up in the annals of history as one of Hitler's "wonder weapons." In contrast, the competing Bachem Ba 349 "Natter" rocket-powered interceptor successfully entered limited production for flight testing at the end of the war in May 1945.

A related Julia variant called the He P. 1077 "Romeo" was also planned, with a pulse jet engine instead of the Walter HWK rocket engine.

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