Blohm and Voss Bv P.163

History

Founded in 1877, Blohm and Voss became a famous German shipyard even before the conquest of Europe in World War II (1939-1945). The company also has an aircraft division, where one of the major contributors became a Ph.D. Richard Vogt.

Vogt presented the Luftwaffe with multiple designs for consideration during the war - many with long-range targeting and a futuristic approach - and demonstrated a particular fascination with asymmetrical airframes, the Bv 141 being a good one example of.

The Bv 141 first flew fewer than 30 prototypes in 1938, but its layout did set it apart from its contemporaries - the engines were housed in a streamlined tail boom, offset from centerline to port . To starboard is a short cabin that accommodates the cockpit and crew. Wing The main aircraft passes through these two components, only the tail boom section contains the tail (vertical and horizontal surfaces). The asymmetric approach worked in Bv 141 and provided a stable but unorthodox operating platform.

The Bv 141 was known to perform well in brief air tests, but few were so interested in this odd design that no quantitative production was ordered.

Vogt continued to pursue several asymmetric aircraft designs throughout the conflict, with another project becoming the P. 163 Project Aircraft. In the center is a streamlined fuselage/tail boom through which the low-wing main aircraft passes.

The boom holds the engine, which is designed to drive a dual counter-rotating propeller system on the nose. A traditional rear wing with a rear wing is attached to this boom.

Unique to the design was the placement of the cockpit nacelles - along the wingtips of the main aircraft in port (which housed the pilot, radio operator (who doubled as navigator) and gunner). The starboard wingtip of the main aircraft contained another crew nacelle, which provided only self-defense weapons (and had two dedicated gunners).

Despite having two cabins and separate crew quarters, the aircraft can be flown from either wingtip pod when needed.

The aircraft was designed to perform bomber missions as planned and was designed for 2,000 kg airdrops. Known dimensions are a wingspan of 20.5 meters and a length of 15.5 meters.

Proposed weapons include up to six 20mm MG151/20 cannons. Two will be mounted aft of each wingtip nacelle. A forward-facing 20mm mount is also installed in each nacelle.

There are two main forms of P.168, P.163.01 and P.163.02. Version 01 contains 2 Daimler-Benz DB613C linked engines that will drive counter-rotating propellers on the nose, these engines are located next to each other in the frame. The estimated top speed is 545 km/h. Version 02 will be powered by 2 connected BMW 803 series engines, driving the contra-rotating propellers simultaneously.

The expected top speed has been raised to 570 km/h.

The P.163 never materialized because it ended up being just another business jet that never made it past the paper stage.

Specification

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