Blohm and Voss Ha 137

History of Blohm and Voss Ha 137

During the build-up of the German army in the 1930s, many types of aircraft were developed to perform specific battlefield missions. These included dive bombers, eventually filled with classic Junkers Ju 87 "Stukas" (described in detail elsewhere on this page).

However, before Stuka became the heart of Germany's precision bombing force, there was a rivalry between several design firms, dating back to the 1934 claim, involving Henschel and Blom and Voss.

Blohm and Voss developed the "Ha 137" through their Hamburg aircraft manufacturing division. The design director becomes a Ph.D. Richard Vogt just returned from developing Kawasaki-branded fighter jets for Imperial Japan. The new aircraft has gull-wing monoplanes, a conventional monoplane tail, an enclosed cockpit and fixed (tail-trailed) landing gear.

At the nose of the aircraft, a single BMW XV inline-piston engine will power the three-bladed propeller unit. Crew space allowed for a single crew member. The plane is dubbed "Project 6" by the company.

Overall length is 31 feet, with a wingspan of 36.6 feet and a height of 9.1 feet. The curb weight is 4,000 pounds and the MTOW is 5,325 pounds.

The original design submission for Vogt was requested to be revised as the BMW XV engine was not. This instead led to the selection of the BMW 132, a licensed production version of the American-made Pratt & Whitney "Hornet" air-cooled radial engine. Then modify the design to "Project 6A".

The British Rolls-Royce "Kestrel" engine also entered the competition as part of "Project 6B".

The Luftwaffe transferred three prototypes based on earlier work (V1 to V3), which led to the first flight of one on 18 January 1935. The third prototype (V3) was mounted on one engine with the Kestrel, and three more prototypes were ordered, powered by in-house developed Junkers Jumo 210 series engines.

Development continued until 1936.

As the competing Junkers Ju 87 had flown in September 1935 and entered service the following year, the Ha 137 had little hope of success at the time (while retaining a close support role and a naval version). The remaining three prototypes (V4 to V6) were still being built and were launched in 1937, but ultimately these were used for Blohm and Voss testing campaigns.

In flight, the Ha 137 (V4 prototype) reached a top speed of 185 mph at a cruising speed of 180 mph. Range is 360 miles and service is capped at 23,000 feet. The climb rate is 1,640 feet per minute.

If it were to be used in military service, standard armament would consist of 2 x 7.92mm MG 17 machine guns in the front hull and 2 x 7.92mm MG 17 machine guns in the bottom fairing. Alternatively, the latter can be replaced with 2 x 20mm MG FF autocannons.

In addition to this stationary weapon, 4 x 110 lb conventional SC50 series drop bombs are also envisaged.

Specification

Basic

Production

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Dimensions

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Performance

Performance

Armor

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