Aviation / Aerospace

Henschel Hs P.130

Single-Seat Tailless Pusher Fighter Concept [ 1944 ]

The tailless Henschel Hs P.130 concept fighter of the World War 2 period failed to achieve interest from German Luftwaffe authorities.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 11/08/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

Like other German companies of the World War 2 (1939-1945) period, Henschel offered up various aircraft designs for the Luftwaffe. The situation grew particularly dire in 1944 as losses mounted and the Allied bombing campaign was taking its toll. As such, the company had been proposing, for some time, a series of "tailless" single-seat fighter designs driven by a multi-bladed engine set in "pusher" configuration at the rear of the fuselage. Beyond the better known P.75 project fighter was the lesser-known "P.130" (the related P.135 existed as a jet-powered form).

The P.130 was a somewhat radical design for its time and utilized a configuration proving somewhat popular for the time - the Americans attempted it with the developmental XP-55 "Ascender" by Curtiss to no avail. The German approach with the P.130 seated the pilot under a largely unobstructed two-piece canopy aft of the nosecone. The nosecone housed a proposed armament scheme involving four automatic cannons (most likely 4 x 30mm MK 108 weapons) in recessed installations suitable for bomber-destruction. Views to the rear were blocked by the raised fuselage spine which was needed to increase internal volume for avionics and fuel. The wings were large-area surfaces with intakes embedded at the roots. As the design was a true "tailless" aircraft, only a single rudder was featured with no horizontal planes were in play.

Buried within the airframe was a proposed coupling of Daimler-Benz DB603 series engines to achieve optimal performance. These two powerplants (designated collectively as "DB613") would drive a three-bladed propeller unit at the rear. One key beneficial quality of this arrangement was that it left the nosecone completely available to house the powerful cannon battery. Total output power was set to reach 3,500 horsepower.

Despite the promising performance, the tailless concept fell to naught for Luftwaffe authorities were not sold on the concept of the propeller of any fighter fitted to the rear of the airframe. Beyond this, the war effort claimed much in the way of material and financial resources negating the need for a novel concept fighter. Some wind tunnel testing was completed and Henschel engineers stood at-the-ready to take the design further - but none of the tailless aircraft proposed by the company were furthered to any useful degree.

Figures featured on this page are estimates made on the part of the author.©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.

Specifications

Service Year

1944

Origin

Nazi Germany

Status

CANCELLED
Development Ended.

Crew

1

Production

0
UNITS

Henschel - Nazi Germany

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Nazi Germany (cancelled)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.

✓ X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.

Length

32.8 ft
(10.00 m)

Width/Span

32.8 ft
(10.00 m)

Height

14.1 ft
(4.30 m)

MTOW

15,873 lb
(7,200 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Henschel Hs P.130 production variant)

Installed: 1 x Daimler-Benz DB 613 (2 x Daimler-Benz DB 603 coupled engines) engines developing 3,500 horsepower.

Max Speed

466 mph
(750 kph | 405 kts)

Ceiling

32,808 ft
(10,000 m | 6 mi)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Henschel Hs P.130 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)

PROBABLE:
4 x 30mm MK 108 cannons in forward fuselage (two pairs of two guns).

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

P.130 - 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 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 copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.