Heinkel He P.1078B

History of Heinkel He P. 1078B

Germany's various wartime fighter programs during World War II spawned a series of fantastic design moves. Heinkel developed a series of jet fighters under the project name P. 1078, starting with the P. 1078A, a more traditional development with swept wings, swept upwards near the wingtips, a nose-mounted intake Air vents to aspirated single jet engines and one person's seat is a light framed canopy that provides good visibility.

The stern has a traditional design with a single tail and a low-set tail. The tricycle landing gear is fully retractable and powered.

The evolution of the P. 1078A became the asymmetric P. 1078B, a concept tailless interceptor using the same 40-degree wing sweep, single-engine mount, powered landing gear, and single-seat cockpit. However, this design proved to be a big departure from its predecessor, as it lacked a rear wing assembly, meaning no vertical or horizontal rear wing was installed. In addition, the fuselage was in a double cabin arrangement, with the cockpit set on the port side nacelle projecting from the forward fuselage, while the weapons (with radar display) were set on the starboard side nacelle. This arrangement allows the use of shorter hull lengths. The jet engine would be sucked in through an air intake located between two nacelles at the front of the fuselage.

Another notable design feature is that the nose gear is located under the starboard nacelle. Power will be provided by HeS 011 series turbojets, while armament will consist of 2 x 30mm MK-108 cannons. Airborne radar will enable the P. 1078B to function as a night fighter.

Estimated performance includes a top speed of 1,025 km/h (637 mph).

At the beginning of the design of the P. 1078B, the aircraft was intended to be an all-wing aircraft in order to have the smallest possible fuselage. The fuselage will house the engines, cockpit, avionics and weapons. The large surface area also improves interior space for fuel storage.

Heinkel engineers proposed the concept to Ernst Heinkel himself, although opinions are divided. Some features, such as the sloping wings, proved to be worth further study, while others, such as the double nose arrangement, proved to be rather limited for a more eye-dependent fighter pilot (starboard nacelles would obstruct the view) on the right side ). cockpit side view).

As such, P. 1078B was only developed in paper form and was never ready for prime time testing or production. The P. 1078 series appeared in another iteration as the P. 1078C fighter - another tailless interceptor design with a robust fuselage, single-engine mount and swept wings with improved resilience.

The end of the European War in May 1945 marked the end of all development work on the P. 1078 project.

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