Messerschmitt Me P.1106

History

German engineer Dr. Woldemar Voigt and his team at Messerschmitt AG recognized the limitations of the P.1101 jet fighter with variable wings and tried to fundamentally rewrite the product to improve in several areas . The effort coincides with a new request by the Luftwaffe for a longer-range interceptor with a range beyond the roughly 40 minutes observed with existing jet fighter types.

Using the P. 1101 design as a starting point, Messerschmitt engineers embarked on a redesign that would become the Me P. 1106 project, but ultimately did not progress as well as its P. 1101 counterpart.

The design team needed to add additional internal volume to the P.1011 to store fuel, so the entire cockpit was forced to sit back on the bottom of the tail, the stance was embedded into the tail, and the pilot sat under the hinges to frame the canopy. For simplicity, the P. 1101's variable wing pivot mechanism was removed from the new design, but the 40-degree swept wings were retained.

The fuel tank is mounted on the existing turbine assembly, and the main wing elements are driven through the space between the fuel reservoir and the engine. A "T-shaped" tail was initially chosen, and the tricycle landing gear was inherited from the P. 1101, as were the nose air intakes needed to inhale the turbine engine.

The engine nacelles extend from under the belly of the aircraft to the middle of the design. The rearrangement of the cockpit makes the P. 1106 look awkward, to say the least, from the side.

Suggested specs include a wingspan of 21' 10" and a length of 30' 2". With the Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet selected, the top speed is closer to 615 mph - of course this is only an estimate and is still highly theoretical.

The proposed weapon centers on a nose-mounted 2 x 30mm MK 108 automatic cannon. This was sufficient against Allied fighters and bombers, although their rate of fire was slower than that of machine guns.

The 30mm projectile has significant penetrating and destructive power and can shoot down any well-positioned aircraft. Ammunition is of course limited due to the size of the individual 30mm shells required and the limited space on the P. 1106 design.

With the design approaching late 1944, P. 1106 has little to recommend. It was an ugly looking plane that retained some of the same aerodynamic issues as the original P.1101 design, but also brought with it the problem of poor pilot visibility. Its location aft midship means its field of view is focused on the long barrel fuselage spine and nose section, as well as the upper surfaces of the wings - a lethal for any fighter design where situational awareness is a key quality of.

In addition, the rear view is blocked by the cockpit, which is embedded in the tail unit.

In a final effort to make P. 1106 feasible, Voigt and his team attempted to modify the paper design again, potentially saving it for hypersonic research. This will require an extended fin to accommodate the proposed 2 x Walther HWK 509A rocket kits to replace the HeS 011 turbojets. Because the rocket doesn't need to inhale like a turbojet, the open-nose air intake is wrapped in a tapered assembly to improve aerodynamic efficiency.

The proposed T-tail should then give way to a "V-tail" arrangement, freeing the cockpit from being integrated into the tail section. This will allow the bubble top to replace the original frame unit for better visibility.

Needless to say, this revamp didn't go any further as the entire program was eventually shelved forever.

Specification

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Performance

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Changes