×
Aircraft / Aviation Vehicles & Artillery Infantry Arms Warships & Submarines Military Pay Chart (2023) Military Ranks
Advertisements
HOME
AIRCRAFT / AVIATION
MODERN AIR FORCES
COUNTRIES
MANUFACTURERS
COMPARE
BY CONFLICT
BY TYPE
BY DECADE
WORLD WAR 2
X-PLANE
Aviation / Aerospace

Junkers Ju P.009 (Hubjager)


Jet-Powered Interceptor Proposal [ 1943 ]



The proposed Junkers P.009 interceptor of wartime Germany would have taken off vertically and landed on a fuselage-mounted skid arrangement.



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 11/18/2017 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]
Advertisements
The situation for Germany during World War 2 (1939-1945) was taking a turn for the worse during the campaigns of 1944 as Allied warplanes hammered all reaches of the Hitler's once-proud empire. This led to various initiatives enacted by authorities to help stem the tide of defeat that included both rocket- and jet-powered interceptors designed to meet the high-altitude threat head-on in short order. A plethora of designs emerged before the end with many never to see the light of day. One such interceptor under brief consideration was the Junkers Ju P.009 intended to succeed the famous Messerschmitt Me 163 "Komet".

The Me 263 was a single-seat rocket-powered interceptor aircraft which offered exceptional performance while being compact and reusable. Its performance, particularly its rate-of-climb, was second-to-none and its construction largely conventional - both good qualities to have in a wartime aircraft. However, its failings lay in its volatile rocket fuel mixture, which held an inherent tendency to ignite, and its precarious landing procedure which required the pilot to land the plane on its belly-mounted skid. The Me 163, it seemed, was more of a threat to its operators than it was to any one Allied bomber.

Junkers revisited the Me 163 approach and began in-house development of a possible successor. A teardrop fuselage was designed that incorporated the pilot in a reclined position at the nose. The nose would be covered over in a large, clear plastic cone for maximum vision - the cockpit full pressurized for the rigors of high-altitude flying. The tail unit was traditional with a single vertical fin and low-mounted horizontal tailplanes. The wing mainplanes would be mounted low along the fuselage sides just ahead of midships. Proposed armament became 2 x 20mm MG 151 cannons fitted over and under the nose (one over the starboard side and the other under port). It was thought that these guns could be easily replaced by 2 x 30mm MK 108 cannons if requested.©MilitaryFactory.com
Advertisements
To remedy the failings of the Me 163's rocket propulsion system, the Junkers design team centered on using ten small turbojet engines arranged in three individual clusters - three engines sat over the starboard side of the forward fuselage, three over the port side and the remaining four under the belly. The end result would appear as if a circle of jets fitted all around the fuselage just aft of the cockpit. This was to supply the necessary rate-of-climb required to meet incoming waves of bombers as quickly as possible. The small turbojet engines would come from an in-house Junkers design.

Take-off would be accomplished by the interceptor being set vertically, this allowing the aircraft to get into the air as fast as possible - in essence what we call today a Vertical Take-Off (VTO) aircraft. Its compact design also lent itself well to transport - a squadron of these systems could be moved to defend critical locations within the German territories. Landing and recovery of the aircraft was similar in scope to the Me 163 - a skid system would be employed from under the fuselage. Landing speeds were just below 100 miles per hour, still making for quite the challenge to even the most veteran of pilots.

There were plenty of limitations already witnessed with the Junkers project - designated as "P.009". It lacked sufficient internal volume at the fuselage for the needed fuel stores to feed the thirsty turbojet installations. Instead, the wings were earmarked for fuel stores but even this supply would limited total powered flight to an estimated six minutes - barely enough to complete one or two passes against an enemy bomber formation. By this point in the war, Junkers was already committed to its medium Jumo 004 series turbojet engine as well as development of larger and more powerful systems still to come - as such there lay little interest in committing critical resources to development of a small engine to meet the P.009 powerplant requirement. As war was good business, Junkers also had to keep in mind BMW's stake in the war - the Junkers competitor was also a key participant in the emerging turbojet market.

With little left to recommend itself, the P.009 fell to the pages of World War 2 history as nothing more than another German paper project. Some structural dimensions defined included a fuselage length of 16.4 feet and a wingspan of 13 feet. Estimated values included a Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of 4,410 pounds, a maximum speed of 620 miles per hour, a rate-of-climb of 15,160 feet per minute, and a service ceiling of 51,515 feet.©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.
Advertisements

Specifications



Service Year
1943

Origin
Nazi Germany national flag graphic
Nazi Germany

Status
CANCELLED
Development Ended.
Crew
1

Production
0
UNITS


National flag of modern Germany National flag of Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
Interception
Ability to intercept inbound aerial threats by way of high-performance, typically speed and rate-of-climb.
X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.


Length
16.4 ft
(5.00 m)
Width/Span
13.1 ft
(4.00 m)
Height
9.8 ft
(3.00 m)
Empty Wgt
2,205 lb
(1,000 kg)
MTOW
4,409 lb
(2,000 kg)
Wgt Diff
+2,205 lb
(+1,000 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Junkers Ju P.009 (Hubjager) production variant)
Installed: 10 x Junkers "miniature" turbojet engines of unknown thrust output (proposed).
Max Speed
621 mph
(1,000 kph | 540 kts)
Ceiling
51,509 ft
(15,700 m | 10 mi)
Range
466 mi
(750 km | 1,389 nm)
Rate-of-Climb
4,620 ft/min
(1,408 m/min)


♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)
Sub
Trans
Super
Hyper
HiHyper
ReEntry
RANGES (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Supersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hi-Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: >19030


(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Junkers Ju P.009 (Hubjager) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)
PROPOSED:
2 x 20mm MG 151 cannons OR 2 x 30mm MK 108 cannons in nose.


Supported Types


Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon


(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
Hardpoint Mountings: 0


P.009 - Base Project Designation


Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force
Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain
Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway
Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift
Military lapel ribbon for the Chaco War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War
Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War
Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War
Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight
Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War
Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars
Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War
Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War
Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War
Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency
Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft
Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor
Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War
Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War
Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War
Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis
Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War
Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War
Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era
Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1
Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2
Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War
Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft


Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery



1 / 1
Image of the Junkers Ju P.009 (Hubjager)
Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.


Advertisements




Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies


2023 Military Pay Chart Military Ranks DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world, WDMMA.org (World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft), WDMMW.org (World Directory of Modern Military Warships), SR71blackbird.org, detailing the history of the world's most iconic spyplane, and MilitaryRibbons.info, cataloguing all American military medals and ribbons.


©2023 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2023 (20yrs)