Focke-Wulf Fw 534 A-1 (P.1301)
Guess who's back at it again, with two posts in about two weeks for the first time in probably a year?!
By late 1961, the Luftwaffe had seriously exhausted the usefullness of their Arado-Messerschmitt series of aircraft, with the latest K-6 variant providing only marginal improvements over the last two variants.
The RLM, having enough of reusing the same decade-old and outdated design called upon a new competition for major aircraft designers; a new supersonic jet fighter that took advantage of the newest super turboJet engine collaboratively designed by Daimler-Benz and Heinkel, as well as new advancements of airframe and airfoil designs that spurred from experimental Ar 217 designs.
Messerschmitt, Focke-Wulf, Arado, and Henschel were offered contracts for the competition, but various other companies and individuals of note offered designs for the RLM.
Come early 1963, Focke-Wulf, Arado, Heinkel, and Daimler-Benz had entered designs for the new supersonic jet, while other companies (Messerschmitt, Gotha, Reimar & Walter Horten, Kurt Tank, Ulrich & Wolfgang Hütter, Dornier, and Focke-Achgelis)
had entered theirs months later.
Focke-Wulf's design beckons back to the Second World war, using few "strategic materials" as possible, despite the country having been in a sorts of peace for the past two decades, and surplus of "strategic materials".
Due to this design idea, a majority of the aircraft was made using aluminum alloys, higher quality wood (when compared to plywood), and high quality aluminum was saved for the most vital parts of the aircraft (cockpit, wing spars, landing gear, etc).
The outcome of saving materials was the creation of a lightweight and cost-effective supersonic jet that was quite capable in mock combat scenarios. It was able to be transported on ordianry roads by tugs without worrying about damaging said roads, could be disassembled and carried by civilian flat bed trucks if needed (excluding engine, of course), and easily assembled by civilians on long stretches of road so that pilots could take off and get into combat quickly. Not to mention, repairs were absurdly easy and cheap to make due to the materials used. The wooden wings could be repaired with civilian plywood if needed, while the stronger metal spars and engine has numerous spare parts that could be sourced from airbases thanks to Rheinmetall manufacturing surplus parts en mass for the 109-050 engine.
The downsides of the design, though, was prevalent even in early test flights; the wings were very prone to warping in supersonic speeds and making high-speed manouvers. It was noted that if prolonged flight in supersonic speeds continued, it was possible that the wings would be too damaged to keep the aircraft in air, or completly sheer off in maneuvers.
Due to this unfortunate design, the aircraft's top speed was somewhat elusive, and dangerous to fully attain. It's estimated to be around 1650 kilometers per hour, but most pilots prefer to stay at, or well below 1300km/h.
Despite this glaring flaw in the P.1301 design, it was still chosen by the RLM, likely something with it's "strategic material" initiative and the cost effectove nature of the aircraft.
The P.1301 was then given the RLM designation 8-534 (Fw 534), and mass production was planned for the aircraft in the hopes that a variant down the line would solve issues with the aircraft.
Ultimately, not long after the first batch of A-1 airframes were produced (during the first year of production and use), and after two pilots lost control during supersonic speeds and crashed into residental areas, the aircraft was shelved while a B-1 variant was being designed.
With the disastrous aircraft having reduced the RLM and Luftwaffe's trust in supersonic aircraft, the need for such an aircraft was prevalent, the RLM requested another design from several of the major aircraft companies personally, hoping they'd have an improved aircraft that would become the new backbone fighter jet of the Luftwaffe.
Well, thats a wall of text!
This was an extraordinarily fun aircraft to build, and not to mention I had fun with the idea of having a plane you could actually see down the center of! If you pull out the cockpit, and engine, you'd be able to see whatever's behind your plane from the front!
There aren't any special controls for this aircraft, with AG-8 controlling nav lights.
Also, keep throttle between 65% and 80%, cause the mod engine doesn't work with the fuel indicator, for some reason, and the engine is most efficient between those throttle percents.
(Also, I couldn't get the custom missiles to work, so stock will do for now)
Specifications
General Characteristics
- Predecessor 1Prototyp
- Created On Android
- Wingspan 32.5ft (9.9m)
- Length 31.4ft (9.6m)
- Height 10.0ft (3.0m)
- Empty Weight 9,669lbs (4,385kg)
- Loaded Weight 12,428lbs (5,637kg)
Performance
- Wing Loading 48.5lbs/ft2 (236.7kg/m2)
- Wing Area 256.3ft2 (23.8m2)
- Drag Points 3821
Parts
- Number of Parts 171
- Control Surfaces 4
- Performance Cost 633
Required Mods
-
Jet Engine
by MOPCKOE_DNISHE
Version 1.0 (4/22/2019 3:37:47 PM)
View Mod Page
Kiitos kaveri!
@MrVaultech
Lovely, would enjoy seeing you about here and there in the Baltics
@Awsomur
Finland sounds awesome. It’s a nice place and I could always use a good ally country like yours. I’ll get a name and basic framework and make a post in a few hours.
@MrVaultech
Lithuania is part of my territory, but there is Finland available right near my country.
And yeah, theres an official Discord. I recall making a forum about it somewhat recently
@Awsomur
By the way, is there an official Discord?
@MrVaultech
Hmm, Castro 2.0 doesn’t sounds good to me. What about something in North Europe? Maybe Lithuania?
@MrVaultech
I'm terribly glad to hear such wonderful words from ya, for sure.
And I'd hate to say, but I believe Florida is taken. There were a number of central American states unclaimed.
@Awsomur
I just wanted to say, I think it’s great what you’re doing to oversee the roleplay community. You’ve taken charge when they needed a leader the most.
.
Seeing as you are the RP boss now, I will wanted to tell you that I may create a nation soon. I wanted to ask if the U.S state of Florida was taken? I’d do my utmost to make the nation fair and realistic. If Florida is taken, then what area could I found the nation in?