1-TL-Jäger – Heinkel
P.1078 1-TL-Jäger – Heinkel
Almost as soon as the 1-TL-Jäger competition had begun, the main effort of Heinkel’s design department was diverted towards what would rapidly become the He 162 Volksjä äger. er. Nevertheless, N th l it persevered d with ith its it more complex single jet fig ghtter design.
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t is likely that the first design presented by Heinkel for the 1-TL-Jäger competition on September 8-10, 1944, was a variant of the company’s P.1073 design. However, as with the other companies, by the time of the February 27-28 meeting, Heinkel was proposing a very different layout for its HeS 011-powered fighter. The German report prepared in advance of this meeting, Comparison of Designs for 1-TLJäger, indicates that Heinkel’s submission, the P.1078, is new or a substantial redesign when it notes: “The design of EHF (Heinkel) was not included in the comparison of performance and weight, as it was not ready at the time.” The data that was to hand, including drawings, showed a “tailless mid-wing plane with swept back wings and controls at the end of the wings. Wings contain the total fuel supply. Nothing further known. Fuselage: In the point of the fuselage above the flattened out, curved and elongated inlet pipe, the pilot’s cabin is situated, the same applies to both the MK 108s, and under it is the nose wheel housing. “The main undercarriage is under the wings and the equipment above it. This is completed by the engine. The function of the controls (elevators, lateral controls and
ailerons) is performed by the downward sloping wing tips.” The part of the report focusing on the P.1078’s engine acknowledges differences from designs previously submitted for the type: “The engine built into the fuselage is different from those previously supplied in copies, as it has a new location for the generator and starter. Air is carried from the point of the fuselage through a flat curved inlet pipe.” Armament was to be a pair of MK 108 30mm cannon, one on either side of the pilot. Fuel load was 1450 litres and bullet-proofing was “in hand”. Details of the earlier P.1078 design, probably presented for the first time at the December 15, 1944, meeting, are not known for certain. Immediately after the war, however, the Americans compelled Heinkel’s designers to reproduce some of their earlier designs – many of which had been lost when they were forced to relocate from Vienna
RIGHT: A drawing of the Heinkel P.1078A made for the Americans by captive Heinkel staff. Evidence suggests that the P.1078A was the company’s replacement for the P.1073 in the 1-TL-Jäger competition after it was chosen to become the Volksjäger. GDC 064
Luftwaffe: Secret Jets of the Third Reich
ABOVE: The Heinkel P.1078C as it might have looked in Romanian service. Art by Chris Sandham-Bailey in a hurry to avoid the advancing Red Army. Among the reports produced was Jagdeinsitzer mit Strahltriebwerk HeS-11 by Eichner and Hohbach – two Heinkel designers. The document seems intended to give an insight into the P.1078 project during the war, although it has been suggested that the P.1078A and P.1078B it outlines were in fact entirely new designs concocted for the Americans’ benefit. The P.1078 design submitted to the February 27-28 meeting is labelled the ‘P.1078C’ in the British report German Aircraft: New and Projected Types of January 1946. Eichner and Hohbach’s report seems to suggest the P.1078A and B are earlier, even though the only known drawings of them were produced later. It begins: “Summary: The extraordinary shortcoming of our oil production forced us to design lighter single-place fighters with reduced equipment. Armament: 2 x MK 108 30mm calibre, the rate of fire would be increased to 900 rounds/min per gun, also, a radar aiming mirror.
ABOVE: Drawing of the P.1078 from the report compiled in advance of the 1-TL-Jäger meeting on February 27-28, 1945. TNA