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Focke-Wulf Ta 183 (Huckebein)

History

By the end of World War II, the German authorities had firmly committed to producing fighter jets rather than bombers. Models such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf 190 realized that they would be fighting a more or less defensive war for some time to come and were increasingly important factors in keeping the German cause going. So, with the successful testing of the first rocket engines and turbojets, it's no surprise that attention has also been paid to jet fighter designs. The Ta 183 design - a fighter jet design that appeared on the drawing board as early as 1942 - was revised and further developed after another Focke-Wulf fighter project (referred to simply as "Project VII") was officially rejected by the RLM.

However, German pressure meant that the Ta 183 "Huckebein" would not reach the design stage until the end of World War II in Europe.

The Ta 183 was designed to replace all front-line fighters in service with the Luftwaffe at the time, including the relatively new first-generation jet Messerschmitt Me 262 "Schwalbe" and Heinkel He 162 "Volksjager". The Ta 183 was designed by the Kurt Tank team led by talented engineer Hans Multhopp in response to the RLM initiative calling for a high-performance jet fighter as part of its growing Emergency Fighter Program. Tank was a longtime engineer at Focke-Wulf and has proven himself to the company that he was allowed to use the first two letters of his surname in the names of several post-war aircraft (including the production Ta-152 Hohenjager, its successful Fw 190 Hunter variant).

However, the war will be over before the mighty Ta 183 comes along - which will limit the aircraft to several advanced wind tunnel models for evaluation.

The design of the Ta 183 was very revolutionary, featuring a nose-mounted air intake under the canopy. A wing swept back from 40 degrees, a tricycle landing gear and a recognizable high-mounted T-tail are also part of the progressive look. The pilot sits firmly in the central cockpit area behind the nose air intake, above the front, center-mounted monoplane.

The engine - a 3,500 lbf Heinkel HeS 011 series turbojet - exits directly from the underside of the empennage. Overall, the design presents a sleek, flexible look and its functionality seems limited only by the imagination. The basic armament is a string of heavy 30mm serial 4 x Mk 108 guns, all mounted on the nose, capable of attacking a fighter or bomber with the same zeal.

Weapon capabilities will include up to 1,000 pounds of external ammunition for strike fighter roles - the centerline of the hull will allow for semi-submerged ammunition, while a total of about five hardpoints can be allocated depending on individual ammunition loads.

Various ideas were considered during the initial stages of the design, including the use of rocket-assisted launch. The building is mainly composed of aluminium, steel sheet and wood. While there were a number of issues during development that would plague the aircraft for any foreseeable career, the design's focus was on controlling the aircraft's center of gravity. A total of two designs were seriously considered and referred to as Design II and Design III. The former features repositioned landing gear and subtle styling changes.

The latter - and the design ultimately chosen for the competition - has slightly less sweep of the wings and repositioning of the wings and cockpit.

The Ta 183 design ultimately (on paper at least) lost out to the Junkers design (in the form of the EF128). When it became clear that the Ta 183 was indeed the better of the two designs, the Ta 183 was back in the spotlight, and prototypes and production numbers were given serious consideration.

This got Kurt Tank and his specialists to work on a working model, but the end of the war meant the end of all further development - the tanks were later flown to Argentina to avoid being punished for their role in the war any form of prosecution.

While in exile in Argentina, Tank began to complete the design of the Hans Mulhopp Ta 183 for the Argentine government. The country's financial crisis prompted the country to look for budget alternatives to new, laborious and expensive designs, so the North American F-86 Saber was chosen, which appeared in some numbers on the market after the Korean War. To this end, the Ta 183 came in the form of the Argentine IAe "Pulqui II", but only five of these models were completed by Fabrica Militar de Aviones.

This incarnation of Multhopp's design was largely seen as a failure, largely due to Tank's changes to the original configuration.

It is also believed that the Soviet MiG-15 "Fag" was inspired by the Ta 183 document obtained from Germany after the war. The planes appear to be similar in appearance, but are generally considered to be quite different in many ways. It is also believed that the Swedish SAAB Tunnan was inspired by the Ta 183. Still, the design of the Ta 183 itself proved to be a daunting task, given its ambitious layout and the baby-jet technology required to power this design.

While none was fully built, its "paper" form could still be considered an inspiration for other designs.

By the way, the term "Huckebein" refers to the comedy crow of the day - a character who did as much mischief as possible to others. Appropriate name given the design goals of the German contingency fighter program.