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Blohm and Voss Bv P.194

History of Blohm and Voss Bv p. 194

Despite the success of the Luftwaffe with its famous Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers in the early years of WWII (1939-1945), the system was almost unavoidable in the middle of the war and the search for a successor of. This led to new requirements for the RLM in February 1944 for a multirole tactical bomber capable of reproducing the combat results of the aging Ju 87.

Blohm and Voss submitted several designs for this request, one of which became P. 194. Like many other Luftwaffe B&V submissions, the P. 194 was designed by aeronautical engineer Richard Vogt.

The B&V design became some of the more unorthodox aircraft designs of the war, and Vogt's main achievement on this batch became the "asymmetrical" Bv 141. The Bv 141 featured an unconventional layout, with the aircraft using a typical tubular fuselage to house the engines, while the cockpit was housed in a separate cabin. Both the hull and the cockpit are off centerline, with the hull to port and the cockpit to starboard. A main wing aircraft is driven by design and provides traditional functions to the aircraft.

The tail is attached to the UAV fuselage section and has a horizontal plane (set to port) and a vertical tail. The result was a plane believed to be better balanced, and despite its aggressive design, around 28 examples of this type are said to have been built. The aircraft first flew on February 25, 1938, and was used in small numbers for light bomber/reconnaissance missions. The limited production range was mainly due to the availability of the required engines, but the asymmetrical design proved sufficient for military service.

The aircraft was also directly challenged by the more traditional Focke-Wulf Fw 189 "Eagle Owl" ("Owl"), a twin-engine, two-arm product, 864 of which were eventually procured by the Luftwaffe.

In this context, the cornerstone of P. 194 was laid. The new aircraft received roughly the same asymmetric treatment and included an offset main fuselage (to port) to accommodate the engines and tail. Unlike the Bv 141, the P. 194 used a "combined" propulsion scheme consisting of a conventional "draw rod" engine in the forward fuselage and a turbojet mounted on the starboard side nacelle. This starboard cabin is also intended to showcase the cockpit and standard fixed armament. The conventional engine is an air-cooled 1,600 hp BMW 801D 14-cylinder radial piston engine mounted in the front of the fuselage.

The turbojet became a Junkers Jumo 109-004 engine with a 2,000-pound power output. The fins on the fuselage tubes are a traditional arrangement with a single fin structure and a pair of mid-mounted fins.

The P. 194 was designed to carry a crew member in the cockpit nacelle. The wing main aircraft is a straight assembly with a truncated tip that passes through the fuselage tube and cockpit nacelle. The cockpit is located at the front of the cabin, the armament is below, and the turbojet is also located in the structure. Therefore, the main fuselage can be reserved for conventional engines, necessary fuel supplies and internal bomb bays.

A "trailer" with wheels and retractable landing gear was envisaged for the aircraft. Dimensions include a length of 12 meters, a wingspan of 15.3 meters and a height of 3.7 meters. Curb weight is estimated at 14,330 lbs and total weight is 20,615 lbs.

The proposed weapons to meet the ground attack requirements are 2 x 30mm MK 103 guns and 2 x 20mm MG 151/20 guns - all concentrated in the cockpit nacelle. For bombing, the plane was designed to carry up to 1,100 pounds of bombs through the fuselage's internal bomb bay.

It is also possible that the aircraft could carry externally mounted items, such as missiles, under the wings.

Blohm and Voss designed several variants for the P. 194 project, including the P. 194. 00-101 with a wingspan of 52 feet. The air intake for the jet engine is located under the cockpit. P. 194. 01-02 appeared with a 50-foot wingspan and had a more useful bubble cap. P. 194. 02-01 The turbojet should be mounted under the cockpit, not aft. P. 194.

03-01 had turbojet air intakes mounted on the wing roots on either side of the cockpit nacelles, and also had a 50-foot span and bubble roof.

As the P. 194 proposal was blocked and no working prototype ever materialized, only performance specs are estimated - a top speed of 485 mph, a range of up to 665 miles, and a service ceiling of 36,420 feet. The RLM continued to favor the competitive Messerschmitt design, which became the famous Me 262 "Schwalbe" - the world's first fighter jet.