| Plane type & model |
Heavy jet-bomber (JU287-V1) |
The Ju 287 project started in June 1943. The aircraft was to have had swept-back wings and four turbojets, one beneath each wing and one on either side of the forward fuselage. However, the low speed stability problems of swept wings had at that time not been solved, so in order to retain the high-speed capabilities of sweep, while at the same time avoiding low-speed stalls, the designers compromised by giving the wings 25 degrees of forward sweep. The wings were attached to the fuselage at about it s midpoint, giving the aircraft the appearance of having an exaggeratedly long nose. The testbed aircraft flew on 16 August 1944. It was constructed from various different types of other aircraft. Included were the nose wheels from two B-24 Liberators, the fuselage of an He 177, mainwheels of a Ju 352 and the tail was constructed of Ju 388 parts. 17 test flights proved the concept to have excellent handling characteristics but with some signs of wing twisting. The V2 had six engines placed in a certain way in order to counter the wing twisting effect. The Ju 287 would undoubtedly have proved a problem had the Allies not overrun the testing airfield, capturing the V1 and the nearly completed V2. The V3 failed to get off the drawing board and would have featured further improvements. |
