Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun и Me 208

Накануне Второй мировой войны M.35 конструкции Вилли Мессершмитта зарекомендовал себя как один из лучших пилотажных самолетов мира. M.35 стал основой для создания революционного M.37, более известного как Bf 108 Taifun. История Taifun восходит к 4-м соревнованиям ДальшеMore>>> "Challenge deTourisme Internationale", проходившим в 1 934 году. Для них в соответствии с контрактом построили шесть самолетов. Испытания прототипа начались весной 1934 года. Самолет был низкопланом, с крылом консольного типа, закрытой кабиной и убираемым шасси и оснащался мотором Hirth HM 8U в 250 л.с. Машина также летала с мотором Argus As 17 в 220 л.с. Серийный Bf 108A на соревнованиях выступил неудачно, уступив более легким, хотя и менее совершенным, машинам. Однако высокие летные данные Bf 108A позволили установить на нем в конце 1930-х годов несколько рекордов и победить в ряде воздушных гонок. Люфтваффе выбрали Bf 108A в качестве связного самолета и буксировщика мишеней. Bf 108A экспортировался в Болгарию, Венгрию, Японию, Румынию, СССР, Швейцарию и Югославию. Накануне Второй мировой войны посольство Германии в Лондоне "зондировало почву" на предмет поставок Bf 108A британским ВВС. Два Taifun с британской гражданской регистрацией получили местное наименование Aldon. Несколько трофейных машин использовали в Королевских ВВС после окончания войны. В Германии самолет серийно строился до 1942 года, затем производство перенесли на завод "SNCAN" под Парижем. Всего до конца войны было выпущено 885 самолетов. Компания "SNCAN (Nord)" продолжила совершенствовать конструкцию и после, построив в общей сложности 285 машин Bf 108 и Me 208. Несколько самолетов германской и французской сборки в настоящее время находятся в летном состоянии.


Варианты

   Bf 108B: основной серийный вариант с хвостовой колесной опорой шасси вместо костыля и мотором Argus As 10C мощностью 270 л.с.
   Bf 108C: проект скоростного варианта самолета с мотором Hirth HM 512 мощностью 400 л.с.; не строился
   Me 208: улучшенный вариант с убираемым шасси с носовой опорой; два прототипа построены в годы войны французской "SNCAN", один из которых разбился


ТАКТИКО-ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЕ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ

   Messerschmitt Bf 108B Taifun

   Тип: четырехместный моноплан с закрытой кабиной
   Силовая установка: один мотор Argus As 10C мощностью 240 л. с.
   Летные характеристики: максимальная скорость 300 км/ч; практический потолок 5000 м; максимальная дальность 1000 км
   Масса: пустого 880 кг; максимальная взлетная 1385 кг
   Размеры: размах крыла 10,50 м; длина 8,30 м; высота 2,30 м; площадь крыла 16,40 м2

Nord 1000 Pingouin и 1100 Noralpha

В начале 1942 года выпуск самолетов Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun был переведен на фирму "Societe Nationale de Constructions Aeronautiques du Nord" (SNCAN), больше известную как "Nord", во французском Ле Мюро. До освобождения Франции в 1944 году здесь было построено 170 Bf 108 для Германии. После освобождения компания "Nord" продолжила выпуск самолета под обозначением Nord 1000, в 1945 году заменив стандартный двигатель Argus на 233-сильный (174 кВт) Renault 6Q 11 и присвоив трехместной машине новое обозначение Nord 1001 Pingouin I. Следующий вариант, Nord 1002 Pingouin II, был оснащен ПД Renault 6Q 10 такой же мощности, но стал четырехместным. Всего построили 250 самолетов Pingouin I и II, главным образом использовавшихся французскими военными в качестве связных и разъездных.
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Flight, November 1934

THE FOURTEENTH PARIS AERO SHOW

THE EXHIBITS DESCRIBED

Small Civil Types

   THERE are at the Salon many machines, some of great interest and some already well known, which may be classed under this heading.
   On the German stand there are two in particular which are well worth study, these being the Fieseler and Messerschmitt Me 108, both being built to fulfil the requirements of the Challenge de Tourisme held recently in Warsaw.
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   Rather different is the Messerschmitt. In this machine the flap is a very long one of the normal type which droops from the trailing edge of the wing and extends along its span as far as the aileron, but in this case the ailerons are about twelve inches in width and very little deeper in chord. Reports from one who witnessed the trials at Warsaw suggest that they were not adequate in rough weather - a statement with which no one will quarrel after seeing the machine.
   Both these machines were specially designed with a view to scoring marks in the competition, and their cabins are certainly more comfortable than anything so far seen in this class. Each has extensive transparent panels both above and at the sides so that passengers and pilot have an unrestricted outlook and a sense of space and airiness. The seats are, in each case, arranged in two pairs facing forward, and appear to be very comfortable.
   The Fieseler, with its 225 h.p. "Argus AS17" engine, claims a top speed of 250 km.p.h. (155 m.p.h.) and a landing speed of 60 km.p.h. (37 m.p.h.), while the Messerschmitt, using a "Hirth" eight-cylinder inverted 250 h.p. engine, flies at 310 km.p.h (193 m.p.h.), and lands at 60 km.p.h. (37 m.p.h.).
   Another point of interest to which we have not yet become accustomed, except perhaps in some of the more modern large commercial aircraft, is the almost vertical front used on the windscreen of both machines. Remembering that they were designed for high speed, among other things, it would appear that there is considerable truth in the assertion that a blunt nose of the correct shape often produces less drag than one smaller but more pointed.
   As in the case of most machines in the competition, full advantage was taken of the rule whereby the pitch of the airscrews was allowed to be altered according to the necessities of each test. Although the weight limit under which the machines had to be built did not allow the use of airscrews which were variable in the air, those variable on the ground were used, and each of these had light Elektron blades. The B.F.W. airscrew is three-bladed.
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Flight, April 1937

AN ANGLICISED NEWCOMER
The German B.F.W. Messerschmitt Taifun to be Introduced to the British Market: Gipsy Six II Optional

   THE fact that the B.F.W. Messerschmitt Taifun (Typhoon) is to be handled in this country by A.F.N., Ltd., of Falcon Works, London Road, Isle worth, Middlesex, has already been recorded in Flight. This concern, the directors of which are Messrs. H. J. and D. A. Aldington, is responsible for the excellent Frazer Nash cars.
   The Typhoon is a four-seater, low-wing, cantilever monoplane embodying Handley Page slots, flaps and a retractable undercarriage. Its speed range is from 45 m.p.h. to 187 m.p.h. (with the 240 h.p. Argus engine) and the machine is claimed to handle well throughout, notably at the lower end.
   Stressed-skin construction is used for the wings, which have mass-balanced ailerons and flaps interconnected with the Handley Page slots, the slots and flaps being operated from the pilot's cockpit.
   A monocoque stressed-skin structure, the fuselage is of fine aerodynamic form. The two front seats of the four provided can be adjusted horizontally, and all four have recesses for parachutes. Complete dual controls are fitted. The two large doors can be discarded bodily in case of emergency. Soundproofing is applied to the walls and floors.
   The undercarriage is a laterally retracting cantilever type with oleo-spring shock absorbers and hydraulic, brakes.
   In Germany the normal power plant is the 240 h.p. Argus As 10-C eight-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted vee, but an alternative installation, which should appeal to prospective purchasers in this country, is the Series II D.H. Gipsy Six, driving a de Havilland variable-pitch airscrew. The engine is fed from fuel tanks built into the wing roots.
   The following data relate to the machine fitted with the 240 h.p. Argus: Span 34 ft. 7 in., length 27 ft. 3 in., height 7 ft. 7 in., wing area 177 sq. ft., weight (empty) 1,621 lb., gross weight 2,834 lb., wing loading 17.3 lb./sq. ft. Maximum and cruising speeds are, respectively, 187 and 162 m.p.h., and at a weight of 2,464 lb. the machine is claimed to land at 45 m.p.h. Fully laden it will climb to 10,000 ft. in 13.10 minutes. The service ceiling with four up and ri2 lb. of luggage, etc., is 21,300 ft. Cruising at 156 m.p.h., a range of 620 miles is obtainable.
   In this country the Typhoon will sell at ?3,250.

Flight, June 1939

SOMETHING EXCEPTIONAL
The New Messerschmitt Me.108 with c.-p. Airscrew : Control in Fortissimo

   IN the midst of a large number of very worthy, but somewhat normal, aeroplanes one does occasionally come across something outstanding in individual characteristics. The majority of these ordinary machines have at least one very good feature, but it can be said without exaggeration that the B.F.W.Me.108, or Taifun, tends to make every other machine in the civil class appear humdrum.
   The latest 108, one of which has recently been bought by Mr. H. J. Aldington, of A.F.N., Ltd., the agents for the machine in this country, has been made still more remarkable by the fitting of a multi-position controllable-pitch airscrew. Furthermore, the particular Argus in this machine gives rather more power than that in the Taifun which was demonstrated over here two years ago - and every little helps in a type as clean, aerodynamically, as this. The Argus is one of the new As.10E type, giving a maximum of 270 h.p. for take-off.
   This fully controllable-pitch airscrew is a comparatively new one developed by the B.F.W. people themselves. It is manually operated by means of an easily turned crank below the dashboard, and the action is entirely mechanical. In fact, it appears to come somewhere near the ideal in c.p. airscrews for smaller civil types, which was advocated by "Indicator" in last week's issue. The infinite range of adjustment between fine and normally coarse pitch is covered in two or three seconds by half a dozen turns or so of the crank, and the "fineness" is registered by a little red indicator which is part of the control.
   The new c.p. airscrew has removed the one criticism which could be made of the Me. 108 in its original form - that the take-off, at least when fully loaded, was not quite as good as it might have been. The run now is of the 200-yard order, and the climb appears to be in the region of 1.300ft. per min.

Responsiveness
   But the Taifun’s really outstanding qualities are those of control and stability. Certainly, no other civil machine (except, perhaps, one very light single-seater now out of production) has aileron control which is so absolutely positive and light. Even at maximum speed, lateral movement of the control column is finger-light, and the machine can be tipped over from vertical to vertical in the time it takes to move the column itself. At the other extreme the weight of the control remains very much the same at 80 km./h. (50 m.p.h.), and even at this speed there is a very reasonable amount of control left. The ailerons are of the slotted type. It might be reasonably said that the ailerons are lighter than the rudder and elevator controls, and such lack of proportion used, in the old days, to be considered as a very serious fault. In the machine of to-day, however, lateral control is by far the most important, and the criticism can no longer be fairly applied.
   More remarkable is the machine’s absolute stability in all axes. Apart from any hands-and-feet-off flying, if the rudder is moved while the control column is left to itself the nose swings round, but as soon as the pressure on the pedal is released the machine settles down on its original course after one or two oscillations. The effect is rather as if tne machine was directionally spring-loaded. Once put into a turn, too, the Taifun remains turning at the same rate if the hands and feet are taken off the controls, and this applies both to level and climbing turns.
   The machine has Handley Page slots and flaps, the latter being directly operated by means of a wheel, which is on the same axis as that used for fore and aft trim. The flap angle is shown in a little dial above the wheel, and Herr Brindlinger, who demonstrated the machine over here last week, uses about 15 deg. for take-off. His approach method was to bring the machine in quite fast while applying the flaps, so that one did not obtain a very direct idea of their effect on the gliding angle, but their action as air brakes was quite obviously very considerable. Probably the flaps are rather more effective than those of any machine normally flown over here, and without the wing-tip slots they might cause a certain amount of difficulty for inexperienced pilots. Because the ground angle is comparatively slight, landing is a simple matter, and the tail-down view on the ground is much better than is normally expected in larger single-engined types.
   So far as performance is concerned with the c.p. airscrew and additional power, the Taifun appears to have a ground-level maximum of 315 km./h. (196 m.p.h.). and cruises at an indicated airspeed of 265 km./h. at 2,000 m. (8.000-odd feet) on full throttle at 1,800 r.p.m. When allowance has been made for correction and translation this speed is equivalent to 187 m.p.h. Curiously enough, no manifold pressure indicator was fitted. With standard tanks the cruising range is 1.000 km. (620 miles) at 265 km./h. (165 m.p.h ) in still air. Needless to say, the Taifun has a hydraulically operated retractable undercarriage, the pump lever (with “up” and “down” twist-grip handle) being placed between the two front seats.
   With all-metal stressed-skin structure, a very clean finish, and monocoque fuselage, the Taifun is far from being a cheap machine - but it seems to me to be worth it.

H.A.T.