Lippisch P.13A

Lippisch p. 13A History

Alexander Lippisch (1894-1976) became an important figure in aviation research after winning his "wings" as an aerial photographer during the First World War (1914-1918). Lippisch is best known for the famous Messerschmitt Me 163 "Komet" rocket-powered interceptor, which served in the Luftwaffe during World War II (1939-1945).

Throughout the war, Lipipsch continued his pioneering work, developing some of the more fantastical designs of German "paper airplanes"he believed in his creations to the end, and delved deeper and deeper into delta and wing flying. world. Lippisch would eventually work for America in the postwar world and further develop his concepts before his death in Iowa at the age of 81.

Lippisch Li P. 13A is a project focused on supersonic flight with thrust provided by a unique fuselage shape and ramjet. Lipipsch set out to work on a special model different from war, with an overall shape similar to a rhombus or a triangle to combine swept airfoils and the low aspect ratio required for supersonic flight at speeds in excess of Mach 1 The requirements needed to fly supersonic are 0. The P. 13A was the embodiment of his ideas, placing the single-seat cockpit at the center of the design and as part of the large rear rudder front. The fuselage is flat when viewed from the side and triangular when viewed from above. If the rudder is removed, it is basically a tailless "flying wing".

The wings are swept back at a 60-degree angle to provide the best balance between high-speed flight and stability at those speeds. The engines will be buried in the fuselage under the cockpit floor, and the pipes will be connected to the pipes. The nose is a cylindrical air intake, and the engine exhausts through conventional nozzles at the base of the rudder.

The fuselage will house the required avionics and fuel depots. Designed from the outset as a technology demonstrator aimed at proving the viability of multiple qualities (supersonic flight, excellent range through a streamlined design, and low-cost operation), the P.13A looks set to become the most important aviation product one in history.

May 1944, tested with a small P.13A outside Vienna. By this time, the war in Europe was over, and U.S. ground forces had entered to claim most of Lipisch's work on his P.13A.

He and his design team were commissioned by U.S. authorities to complete the P.13A project for the benefit of American research. To this end, a coal-fired power plant was built and successfully tested, and the airframe proved to be operational.

Lippisch was eventually accepted into the U.S. aeronautical research program devoted to high-speed flight in the 1950s and 1960s, primarily employed by Convair. His "Triangle" fighter theory was later realized by the prototype XF-92 and the upcoming F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart interceptors, both products of Convair.

For the P.13A, the war was over before the prototype was completed and flown - the DM-1 glider undoubtedly provided most of the data needed for subsequent prototypes. Weapons can only be guessed at, although the compact size of the P-13A may preclude the use of a cannon, leaving only large-caliber machine guns as a viable option.

By this point in the war, however, all newer German fighter designs were equipped with cannons to shorten the workload of Allied bomber formations. In a way, Lipisch's delta fighter design proved to be reliable and unquestionably ahead of its time, leaving the fortunate America to benefit the most from his research.

The P. 13B became a somewhat related project development that attempted to combine the best attributes of the DM-1 glider and P. 13A projects with a new airframe and ramjet configuration. However, this design is only available in paper form. The P. 13B had a more traditional layout, with a separate cockpit position mounted at the very front of the fuselage, side-mounted air intakes built into the leading edge of the wing, and a new delta wing plane with a truncated triangle. The fuselage is equipped with a pair of vertical tails, in contrast to the single large rear unit of the previous P.13A.

Power will be provided by a single Kronach Lorin Duct ramjet.

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