Для транспортировки Ba 349 к пусковой установке использовалась тележка. На фотографии около Ba 349A виден один из твердотопливных стартовых ракетных двигателей.
A pre-series Natter mounted on a transport trader and found by the Allies at Waldsee. One of the Schmidding take-off booster rockets may be seen in the foreground.

A captured Bachem Ba 349 Natter at Freeman Field in the USA. This semi-expendable rocket-propelled single-seat interceptor fighter was fitted with an ejection seat and had an initial climb rate of around 35,000ft / min. Armed with either 24 or 33 rocket projectiles, the Ba 349 was a desperate late-war attempt to combat USAAF intruders.

The vertically launched, rocket powered Bachen Ba 349A represented the ultimate in German World War II manned local, or point air defence capability. Armed with twenty four 73mm rocket projectiles in its nose, the Ba 349A's single 3.748lb Waiter HWK 509A-2 liquid fuel rocket was augmented for launching with two 2,756lb solid fuel jettison-able boosters. Top level speed with the nose fairing ejected ready for firing, as seen here, was around 400mph during the attack phase, after which speed decayed to 155mph and it was here that pilot/airframe separation took place, both then descending by parachute. From launch to 40.000 feet and back down to separation took less than 2 minutes! First flown under tow from a Heinkel He 111 in October 1944, the Ba 349's general handling was considered admirable, but subsequent powered testing led to at least one pilot fatality.

Трофейный "Наттер", доставленный в США

The Natter M 1 on the towing trolley for mounting beneath an He 111 bomber for air-launching trials

The Natter M 3 fitted with a rudimentary fixed undercarriage.

"Наттер", захваченный американцами в австрийских Альпах

Natter M52 (prototype examples were initially referred to as Baumuster - construction type - with a number, subsequently shortened to just M plus number) was used for unmanned trials with the Zundstangen-Lafette (ignition pole platform) - essentially a stripped-down tree trunk with rudimentary launch equipment attached - in April 1945. Note the yellow monitoring symbol on the wing.

Пусковая установка Ва 349

An unmanned Natter being readied for its first successful vertical take-off, on December 22, 1944. No Walter 109-509 rocket motor was then available, so the much-lightened aircraft took off on the thrust of the four booster rockets only.

Упрощенный вариант пусковой установки на основе деревянного столба

Заправка "Наттера" компонентами топлива перед запуском

Ground crewman filling the lower C-Stoff tank prior to the first unmanned launch of a Natter under full rocket power on February 25, 1945.

An unmanned Natter being readied for flight, showing the extent of the launcher. Note the three channelled rails which guided the wings and lower fin.

The full-weight test flight of the Natter on February 25 with a dummy pilot was completely successful and the rear fuselage of the Natter airframe made a soft landing by parachute.

An unmanned Natter completes a vertical take-off (VTO) launch test, with the rear section of the fuselage and dummy pilot returning to earth via parachute. Leather dummies were used in most trials, and only one manned Natter flight was ever made, on March 1, 1945, by test pilot Lothar Sieber. It lasted less than a minute, and ended with Sieber losing his life.

Series of photos taken on February 28, 1945, during the first manned flight test of the Natter:
The pilot, Oberleutnant Lothar Siebert, discussing the flight with Erich Bachem.

Series of photos taken on February 28, 1945, during the first manned flight test of the Natter:
Siebert going through the precarious procedure for boarding the aircraft.

Беспилотный (???) испытательный пуск "Наттера" с использованием пороховых ускорителей
Series of photos taken on February 28, 1945, during the first manned flight test of the Natter:
Raising a cloud of dust, Siebert’s Natter lifted clear of the launcher.

Series of photos taken on February 28, 1945, during the first manned flight test of the Natter:
Shortly afterwards the canopy broke away and the aircraft tilted on its back, before arcing into the ground with the pilot still on board.

A pair of externally mounted Schmidding SG 34 booster rockets, one each side of the fuselage, are seen here being tested on an early Natter airframe that has been strapped to a wheeled cart in a shed at the Bachem factory. A rather crude curved metal shield has been fitted to the boosters’ aft ends to offer some protection for the wooden fuselage. Four jettisonable boosters were to be fitted to operational Natters.

Operational Ba 349A Natter airframes under construction at the Bachem works at Waldsee in the Black Forest. The aircraft in the foreground has yet to befitted with the nose cone and shows the space assigned for the battery of unguided rockets.

Pre-series Natter under construction at Waldsee.

Деревянный каркас "Наттера"

Самый дорогой агрегат "Наттера" - ракетный двигатель "Вальтер" HWK 109-501A-1

The HAS-16 high-altitude bale-out oxygen system was to be standard issue for operational Natter pilots, and comprised a parachute pack and oxygen mask supplied by ten miniaturised steel oxygen cylinders in a box, the latter as seen in the photograph to the right.

The Dragerwerk light pressure suit was far in advance of any contemporary Allied prototype suit, incorporating ball-bearing joints at the shoulders, hips and upper arms and articulated glove fingers. Flexibility at the elbows and knees was provided by tucked fabric joints which would not be used again until 1956 in the US Navy’s Goodrich Mk II suit.

The sparsely appointed instrument panel of the Natter carried airspeed indicator, altimeter, fuel pump rpm gauge, combustion chamber pressure gauge, fuel gauge and a novel type of attitude reference indicator.

Erich Bachem examines a model of the Bachem-Werk Projekt 20 (BP-20), as the company referred to it before it was officially designated Ba 349.

A Bachem technician tests the positioning of the pilot’s seat in an early mock-up of the Natter’s cockpit, mounted on a frame-and-pivot arrangement enabling the section to be tilted to various angles for trials.

Commissioned by the author for his new definitive book on the Natter, this speculative painting by BARRY SPICER © 2019 (www.barryspicer.com) depicts a test pilot in pressure suit and helmet preparing to launch in the Ba 349B-0 (which never flew) from its test site at Heuberg in south-western Germany in 1945.

Bachem Ba 349A (BP 20A Natter)

This cutaway illustration shows the Natter’s interior configuration, with the pilot seated ahead of the propellant tanks, the uppermost of which contained T-Stoff, with the C-Stoff tank below it. The rocket motor was directly behind the tanks, with a thrust tube running aft to the combustion chamber at the rear of the fuselage.

Bachem Ba 349 Natter. Ракетный истребитель-перехватчик обьектовой ПВО Ba 349 запускался с вертикальной направляющей длиной 24.38 м. Начальная скороподъемность самолета составляла 11 280 м/мин; ее обеспечивал жидкостный реактивный двигатель тягой 19.61 кН и четыре твердотопливных ракетных ускорителя. Типовой профиль полета предусматривал переход в горизонтальный полет на высоте порядка 6100-7600 м. Затем летчик, предварительно выключив двигатель, выполнял атаку воздушной цели. До боевого применения истребителя дело не дошло, но программа его разработки способствовала созданию мощного двигателя, пригодного для выполнения вертикального взлета.

This sketch by Bachem shows an early iteration of the definitive Natter concept, illustrating how the machine comprised three basic components: a nose section with armament; mid-section with cockpit (note crouching pilot with parachute) and two propellant tanks (T1 = T-Stoff, T2 = C-Stoff) and rear section with rocket motor and fuselage-recovery parachute (marked S).

Sketches of three variations of pilot position considered by Bachem, left to right: prone, crouched and seated. The numbers mark the positions of the windows.

This artwork by GINO MARCOMINI shows Natter M23 on its steel tower before the launch of the type’s only manned flight, by Lothar Sieber on March 1, 1945. The aircraft completed a successful VTO before pitching backwards, at which point the canopy broke off and Sieber was probably knocked unconscious, the Natter arcing into the ground.

Ba-349A Германия 25.02.1945

349V; Ba 349A; 349A; Ba 349B

Three-view drawing of the Bachem Ba 349A Natter with side view (bottom) of the Ba 349B. The nose cone has been removed in the front view to illustrate its rocket armament.