Blohm & Voss of Germany produced several notable seaplanes and flying boats in the lead-up to World War 2 (1939-1945) and one of these was the Bv 138 "Sea Dragon". However, before this aircraft was formally adopted, company engineers penciled out a fall-back design in the P.111 project. This product was one of Dr. Richard Vogt's many designs for Blohm & Voss during the war and continued his fascination with asymmetric arrangements. The P.111 was not adopted nor furthered beyond paper drawings.
In the P.111, the wing mainplane would be the focal point as all three powerplants would be affixed to its leading edge. Similarly, the fuselage nacelle was to fit under the wing span near centerline and a single tailboom was to sit along portside running from leading edge to trailing edge (the boom fitted traditional horizontal planes and a single rudder fin). This forced the fuselage nacelle too be slightly offset to starboard and, between the boom and fuselage, was to be located one of the three engine installations. The second engine would head the boom assembly to portside and the third engine would sit to starboard away from the fuselage nacelle. A sole pontoon was to be situated under the portside wing mainplane outboard of the boom assembly for stabilization on water. The fuselage nacelle would be designed with a boat-like hull for water landings and take-offs and hold all key components of the aircraft - crewspaces, avionics, cockpit, defensive armament, etc...
Power was to come from and arrangement of 3 x Junkers Jumo 208 piston engines driving three-bladed propelled units in a puller configuration. Each engine would output 1,500 horsepower.
Defensive-minded armament was to include a gun position at the nose (ahead of the flightdeck), one at the rear of the fuselage section (with relatively unobstructed views due to the offset tail boom) and a dorsal mounting seated just aft of the tail turret near center mass. Based on the weaponry fitted to the Bv 238, it is assumed the P.111 would have carried a 20mm cannon in the nose and one in the tail section. The dorsal position would have fielded a 13mm heavy machine gun. Underwing hardpoints would have carried naval mines, torpedoes and conventional drop bombs for the maritime role.
The P.111 was abandoned when the German Air Ministry put their hopes on getting the Bv 138 product into the air instead. Two-hundred ninety-seven of the Bv 138 were produced from 1938 into 1943 with service introduction following in October of 1940. It served in maritime patrol and long-range reconnaissance roles.
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(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
✓Ground Attack (Bombing, Strafing)
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.
✓Special-Mission: Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
Equipped to search, track, and engage enemy underwater elements by way of specialized onboard equipment and weapons.
✓Special-Mission: Anti-Ship
Equipped to search, track, and engage enemy surface elements through visual acquisition, radar support, and onboard weaponry.
✓Special-Mission: Search & Rescue (SAR)
Ability to locate and extract personnel from areas of potential harm or peril (i.e. downed airmen in the sea).
✓Maritime / Navy
Land-based or shipborne capability for operating over-water in various maritime-related roles while supported by allied naval surface elements.
✓Transport
General transport functionality to move supplies/cargo or personnel (including wounded and VIP) over range.
✓Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout
Surveil ground targets / target areas to assess environmental threat levels, enemy strength, or enemy movement.
✓X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.
Length
65.1 ft (19.85 m)
Width/Span
88.4 ft (26.95 m)
Height
19.4 ft (5.90 m)
Empty Wgt
24,251 lb (11,000 kg)
MTOW
35,274 lb (16,000 kg)
Wgt Diff
+11,023 lb (+5,000 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Blohm and Voss Bv P.111 production variant)
(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Blohm and Voss Bv P.111 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:
1 x 20mm MG 151 cannons in nose turret.
1 x 20mm MG 151 cannons in tail turret.
1 x 13mm MG 131 heavy machine gun in dorsal position.
Conventional drop stores most likely to center on drop bombs, naval mines and torpedoes (between 300kg and 500kg along underwing hardpoints).
Supported Types
(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
Hardpoint Mountings: 4
P.111 - Base Project Designation
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.
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Nazi Germany (cancelled)
