Engineering:Fliegende Panzerfaust

The Fliegende Panzerfaust, meaning 'Flying Bazooka' (literally 'Flying Armor Fist') in the German language, was a project for a Third Reich very-short-range interceptor designed by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. The Fliegende Panzerfaust project was part of the Nazi propaganda-based Wunderwaffe ('wonder weapon') concept. It was proposed to the Emergency Fighter Program against the allied bombing raids over Nazi Germany in the last years of World War II.

Description

The Fliegende Panzerfaust was a rocket-powered design meeting the demand for a low-cost aircraft in a very-short-range interceptor role. It was a parasite aircraft meant to be towed behind a Messerschmitt Bf 109G for which it had a special long, "up-turned" nose for towing. Powered by six Schmidding SG 34 solid-fuel rocket engines, three on each side on the rear half of the fuselage, the Fliegende Panzerfaust was a small plane with an armored nose, a v-tail, a wingspan of 4.5 m and a length of 6.0 m.

This Zeppelin-built aircraft would have been released upon reaching combat altitude above the enemy bomber fleet. Shortly before contact with the combat box below it would ignite its six solid-fuel rocket engines, attacking the target bomber by firing two 73 mm RZ 65 air-to-air missiles at an extremely close range.

Since after spending the rocket fuel the center of gravity would shift substantially making the aircraft too difficult to handle, the front half of the Fliegende Panzerfaust —which had the pilot lying in a prone position in the cockpit— would then split from the other half. Both parts would land separately with parachutes, being later retrieved and reused. Owing to the extreme risks for the pilot inherent in its operation this aircraft is sometimes referred to as a suicide weapon.

Specifications

Data from Dieter Herwig & Heinz Rode, The Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft. Midland Counties Publ. ISBN:978-1857801507

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Length: 6.0 m (19 ft 8 in)
• Wingspan: 4.50 m (14 ft 9 in)
• Height: 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in)
• Gross weight: 1,200 kg (2,646 lb)
• Powerplant: 6 × Schmidding SG 34 solid-fuel rocket engines, 4.9 kN (1,100 lbf) thrust each Total weight 150 kg

Performance

• Maximum speed: 850 km/h (530 mph, 460 kn)

Armament

• Rockets: 2 RZ 65

Replicas

Replica at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia

There is a Fliegende Panzerfaust replica on display at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

See also

• Emergency Fighter Program
• Panzerfaust

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Bachem Ba 349
• Blohm & Voss P 214
• DFS Eber
• Zeppelin Rammer
• Focke-Wulf Volksjäger

Related lists

• List of German aircraft projects, 1939–45
• List of rocket aircraft
• List of World War II Luftwaffe aircraft prototype projects

Bibliography

• Manfred Griehl & Joachim Dressel, Die Deutschen Raketenflugzeuge 1935-1945: Die Entwicklung einer umwalzenden Technik, Weltbild, ISBN:3613012766

External links

• Fliegende Panzerfaust model
• Vergeltungswaffe -Weapons
• Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe
• German rare airplanes of World War II

Fliegende Panzerfaust

Zeppelin aircraft
Lighter-than-air (airships)	Manufacturer hull numbers A Class LZ 1 B Class LZ 2 LZ 3 C Class LZ 4 LZ 5 D Class LZ 6 E Class LZ 7 LZ 8 F Class LZ 9 LZ 10 LZ 12 G Class LZ 11 LZ 13 H Class LZ 14 LZ 15 LZ 16 LZ 17 LZ 19 LZ 20 I Class LZ 18 J Class skipped K Class LZ 21 L Class LZ 22 LZ 23 M Class LZ 24 LZ 25 LZ 27 LZ 28 LZ 29 LZ 30 LZ 31 LZ 32 LZ 33 LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37 N Class LZ 26 O Class LZ 36 LZ 39 P Class LZ 38 LZ 40 LZ 41 LZ 42 LZ 43 LZ 44 LZ 45 LZ 46 LZ 47 LZ 48 LZ 49 LZ 50 LZ 51 LZ 52 LZ 53 LZ 54 LZ 55 LZ 56 LZ 57 LZ 58 LZ 60 LZ 63 Q Class LZ 59 LZ 61 LZ 64 LZ 65 LZ 66 LZ 67 LZ 68 LZ 69 LZ 71 LZ 73 LZ 77 LZ 81 R Class LZ 62 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 75 LZ 76 LZ 78 LZ 79 LZ 80 LZ 82 LZ 83 LZ 84 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 89 LZ 90 S Class LZ 91 LZ 92 T Class LZ 93 LZ 94 U Class LZ 95 LZ 96 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 99 V Class LZ 100 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 105 LZ 106 LZ 107 LZ 108 LZ 109 LZ 110 LZ 111 W Class LZ 102 LZ 104 X Class LZ 112 LZ 113 LZ 114 Post-war LZ 120 LZ 121 LZ 126 LZ 127 LZ 129 LZ 130 Unbuilt LZ 70 LZ 115–LZ 119 LZ 122–LZ 125 LZ 128 LZ 131–LZ 132 Operator's identification Names Bodensee Deutschland Deutschland II Esperia Graf Zeppelin Graf Zeppelin II Hindenburg Hansa USS Los Angeles Méditerranée Nordstern Sachsen Schwaben Viktoria Luise Army Z designations1 Z I Ersatz Z I Ersatz Z I (2) Z II Ersatz Z II Z III Z IV Z V Z VI Z VII Z VIII Z IX Z X Z XI Z XII Army LZ designations2 LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37 LZ 38 LZ 39 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 77 LZ 79 LZ 81 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 90 LZ 93 LZ 95 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 107 LZ 111 LZ 113 LZ 120 Navy L designations L 1 L 2 L 3 L 4 L 5 L 6 L 7 L 8 L 9 L 10 L 11 L 12 L 13 L 14 L 15 L 16 L 17 L 18 L 19 L 20 L 21 L 22 L 23 L 24 L 30 L 31 L 32 L 33 L 34 L 35 L 36 L 37 L 38 L 39 L 40 L 41 L 42 L 43 L 44 L 45 L 46 L 47 L 48 L 49 L 50 L 51 L 52 L 53 L 54 L 55 L 56 L 57 L 58 L 59 L 60 L 61 L 62 L 63 L 64 L 65 L 70 L 71 L 72
Heavier-than-air (aeroplanes)	Zeppelin-Staaken 8301 VGO.I VGO.II VGO.III R.IV R.V R.VI R.VII R.XIV R.XV R.XVI E.4/20 Zeppelin-Lindau CL.I CL.II CS.I D.I Rs.I Rs.II Rs.III Rs.IV V1 Zeppelin Flugzeugebau C.I C.II C.IV Other L 1 Rammer Fliegende Panzerfaust ZSO 523 ZMe 323 ZMe 423
1Early Army designations, used pre-war. 2Wartime Army LZ designations were not always matched to Zeppelin's LZ hull number.