Bachem Ba 349 Natter (Adder) was a World War II era German experimental rocket-powered interceptor aircraft which was to be used in a very similar way as surface-to-air missiles. The pilot's primary mission was to aim the aircraft at its target bomber and fire its armament of rockets, with the majority of the flight to the bombers being radio controlled from the ground, and landing under a parachute. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1944x2592, 2485 KB) Summary Taken by John McCullagh Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ... The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1945: // Events January January 1 - the Luftwaffe begins targeting Allied airfields in Europe as Operation Bodenplatte February February 13-15 - Allied bombers attack Dresden with incendiary weapons, destroying most of the city and killing some 50,000 people. ... Adder is the name of several snakes, most belonging to the viper family, especially the Viperinae subfamily (pitless vipers). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A Soyuz rocket, at Baikanur launch pad. ... The MiG-25 is a Russian interceptor that was the mainstay of the Soviet air defence. ... Akash Missile Firing French Air Force Crotale battery Bendix Rim-8 Talos surface to air missile of the US Navy A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... The B-17 Flying Fortress is one of the most recognizable and famous bombers of World War II. A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... This radio control airplane is carrying a scale model of X-33 and is taking part in NASA research. ...

Development

With the Luftwaffe air superiority being challenged by the Allies even over the Reich in 1943, radical innovations were required to overcome the crisis. Surface-to-air missiles appeared to be a very promising approach to counter the Allied bombing offensive and various projects were started, but invariably problems with the guidance systems prevented these from seeing widespread use. Providing the missile with a pilot who could control the weapon during the critical terminal offered a solution and was requested by the Luftwaffe in early 1944. This or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Akash Missile Firing French Air Force Crotale battery Bendix Rim-8 Talos surface to air missile of the US Navy A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... Strategic Bombing during World War II was unlike anything the world had previously witnessed. ...

A number of simple designs were proposed, most using a prone pilot to reduce frontal area. The front runner for the design was initially the Heinkel P.1077 that took off from a rail and landed on a skid like the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. The Me 163 Komet, designed by Alexander Martin Lippisch, was the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft during the Second World War. ...

Erich Bachem's BP20 was a development from a design he worked on at Fieseler, but considerably more radical than the other offerings. It was built using glued and screwed wooden parts with an armored cockpit, powered by a Walter HWK 509A-2 rocket, similar to the one in the Me 163. Four jettisonable Schmidding rocket boosters were used for launch, providing a combined thrust of 4,800 kgf (47 kN or 10,600 lbf) for 10 seconds before they were jettisoned. The plane rode up a rail for about 25 metres, by which time it was going fast enough for the aerodynamic flight controls to keep it flying straight. The Gerhard Fieseler Werke was a German aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 40s. ... The deprecated unit kilogram-force (kgf) or kilopond (kp) is the force exerted by one kilogram of mass in standard Earth gravity (defined as exactly 9. ... The kilonewton, symbol kN, is an SI unit of force. ... The pound-force is a non-SI unit of force or weight (properly abbreviated lbf or lbf). The pound-force is equal to a mass of one pound multiplied by the standard acceleration due to gravity on Earth (which is defined as exactly 9. ...

The plane took off and was guided almost to the bomber's altitude using radio control from the ground, with the pilot taking control right at the end to point the nose in the right direction, jettison the plastic nosecone and pull the trigger. This fired a salvo of rockets (either 33 R4Ms or 24 Hs 217s), at which point the plane flew up and over the bombers. After running out of fuel the plane would then be used to ram the tail of a bomber, with the pilot ejecting just before impact to parachute to the ground. This radio control airplane is carrying a scale model of X-33 and is taking part in NASA research. ... A nose cone that contained one of the Voyager spacecraft is seen here as it is mounted on top of a Titan III/Centaur launch vehicle. ... R4M rockets, on an Me 262s starboard launcher. ... This article refers to the device for slowing descent through the air. ...

Despite its apparent complexity, the design had one decisive advantage over the competitors — it eliminated the necessity to land an extremely fast rocket aircraft at an airbase that, as the history of the Me 163 demonstrated, was extremely vulnerable against air raids.

After Bachem's design caught the eye of Heinrich Himmler at the SS, it emerged as the winner of the design contest. The Luftwaffe nevertheless managed to include some minor redesigns to try to save as much of the plane as possible, as well as eliminating the ramming attack. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop...

A Bachem Ba349 displays its rocket armament at Farnborough (England) in 1946. The swastikas are not autentic.

The resulting tiny plane was fired up a 50 foot (15 meter) wooden pole with the help of four solid fuel rockets, at the end of which it was already going fast enough for its control surfaces to work. The boosters burned out after 12 seconds, at which point the main engine was long up to full thrust. The mission now had the plane guided to a point in front and above the bombers, where the pilot would turn off the autopilot, and push over for a gliding attack. After firing its armament of rockets it continued gliding down at high speed to about 3,000 m (10,000 ft), at which point the plane "broke" when a large parachute opened at the rear of the plane, popping off the nose section and the pilot with it. Both would land under their separate parachutes, and only the fuselage with the wooden wings were disposable. Bachem Ba 349 rocket-propelled interceptor. ... Bachem Ba 349 rocket-propelled interceptor. ... An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. ...

Wind-tunnel models which were built early in the program were shipped off for testing and the only results returned to the Bachem designers were that it would be "satisfactory" up to speeds of about 685 mph. Full sized models were then completed and started flight testing in November 1944. The initial versions didn't include an engine, and were towed in the air by a Heinkel He 111 bomber for glide testing. Other test articles were equipped with extra solid motors for launch and autopilot tests. All of these went well, but during testing it was shown that any attempt to re-use the engine was hopeless; the landing speed was simply too high. NASA wind tunnel with the model of a plane A wind tunnel is a research tool developed to assist with studying the effects of air moving over or around solid objects. ... He 111K The Heinkel He 111 was the primary Luftwaffe medium bomber during the early stages of World War II, and is perhaps the most famous symbol of the German side of the Battle of Britain. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ...

Construction of the production Ba 349A models had already started in October, and fifteen were launched over the next few months. Each launch resulted in some small modification to the design, and eventually these were collected into the definitive production version, the Ba 349B which started testing in January.

In February 1945 the SS funders decided that the program was not going fast enough, and demanded a manned launch later that month. The first and only time that the aircraft was tested in this way was on March 1, when Lothar Siebert flew a Ba 349A, which was launched from the military training area near Stetten am kalten Markt. Things went well at first, but at 500 m (1,600 ft) the cockpit canopy pulled off. The plane suddenly turned over and flew directly into the ground. Siebert was killed in the accident, and the cause was never explained. It was suspected that the canopy may simply have not been properly latched before launch. 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup, as it does not appear to have been written by a native English speaker. ...

US forces overran the factory at Waldsee in April, but small numbers of Bachem staff had moved and taken the remaining ten B models with them. Soon the US had caught up with them again, and six of the ten were burnt. Waldsee can refer to: Waldsee, Palatinate, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. ...

Remnants of a Natter launch pad near Kirchheim

Several sources claim that an operational unit of Natters was set up by volunteers in Kirchheim unter Teck but didn't carry out any operations, but the evidence for this is inconclusive. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2304 × 1728 pixel, file size: 641 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Other versions Originally from en. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2304 × 1728 pixel, file size: 641 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Other versions Originally from en. ... Kirchheim unter Teck is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. ... Kirchheim unter Teck is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. ...

Coincidentally, in Japan during the last days of the Pacific War, the Mizuno aircraft company under orders from the Imperial Japanese Navy developed an aircraft similar to the Natter. The Mizuno Shinryu[1] suicide-interceptor rocket aircraft was the result. It would have been armed with air-to-air unguided rockets mounted under its wings and used, like the Natter, for interception of enemy aircraft, as well as a nose mounted warhead to be used for a suicide attack. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) (: 大日本帝國海軍 Shinjitai: 大日本帝国海軍   or 日本海軍 Nippon Kaigun), officially Navy of Empire of Greater Japan, also known as the Japanese Navy or Combined Fleet was the Navy of Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japans constitutional renunciation of the use of force... The Mizuno Shinryu (神龍 - Divine Dragon) was a proposed rocket-powered kamikaze aircraft designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy towards the end of World War II. It never reached production. ...

Natter launchpads at Kirchheim (Teck)

There are three launch pads for the Bachem Ba 349 in the Hasenholz forest near Kirchheim/Teck at 48°37'42,2" N, 9°29'57,4"E, 48°37'42" N, 9°29'53,5"E and 48°37'39,8" N, 9°29'54"E. They are all that remain from the active launch site constructed in 1945. The three launchpads are arranged in the form of an equilateral triangle, whose sides point toward the east and the south. The distance between the launchpads is approximately 50 meters. The circular concrete pads on which the Bachem Ba 349's and their launch towers once stood still exist. In the center of each of the three concrete plates is a square hole approximately 50 centimeters deep, which once served as the foundation for the launch tower. Beside each hole is a pipe, cut off at ground level, which was probably once a cable pit. The Natter launchpads at Kirchheim (Teck) might be the only remnants of these rocket launch pads still on publicly accessible terrain. The former test site for the Natter in Baden-Württemberg on the Heuberg near Stetten am kalten Markt is in an active military area, and therefore not accessible to tourists. 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

Survivors

A Bachem Ba349 at the Smithsonian Institute's Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, MD

Three Ba 349As survive today. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 682 pixel, file size: 291 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Other versions Originally from en. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 682 pixel, file size: 291 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Other versions Originally from en. ...

• A restored Ba 349A is on display at the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington, D.C. This aircraft was captured at the war's end and transferred to Freeman Field, Indiana for evaluation. It was given the foreign captured equipment number T2-1. The U.S. Air Force transferred the aircraft to the The National Air Museum (now the National Air & Space Museum) on May 1, 1949. The aircraft was stored for many years at the museum's Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland before undergoing a full restoration. It was one of the first aircraft moved to the new center in 2004.

• An additional unrestored Ba 349A remains at the Garber facility and restoration plans are unknown.

The Smithsonian Institution Building or Castle on the National Mall serves as the Institutions headquarters. ... The Interior of the Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  Ranked 38th  - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 270 miles (435 km)  - % water 1. ... Interior of museum, with Gemini capsule, Soviet rockets, and Wright Flyer visible The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the United States Smithsonian Institution maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Suitland-Silver Hill is a census-designated place located in Prince Georges County, Maryland. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Specification

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 6.02 m (19 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 3.60 m (11 ft 10 in)
• Height: ()
• Empty weight: 800 kg (1,940 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,232 kg (4,920 lb)
• Powerplant:
  • 1× Walter HWK 509A liquid-fuel rocket, 16.7 kN (10,600 lbf)
  • 4× Schmidding solid fuel rocket boosters, () each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,000 km/h (620 mph)
• Range: 6 minutes of flight ()
• Service ceiling: 14,000 m (46,000 ft)
• Endurance: 6 min of flight

Armament

24x 73 mm Hs 217 Föhn rockets or 33x 55 mm R4M rockets The distance AB is the wing span of this Aer Lingus Airbus A320. ... VNO of an aircraft is the V speed which refers to the velocity of normal operation. ... The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing as limited by its fuel capacity. ... In aeronautics, the service ceiling is the maximum density altitude where the best rate of climb airspeed will produce a 100 feet per minute climb(twin engine) and 50 feet(single engine) at maximum weight while in a clean configuration with maximum continuous power. ... R4M rockets, on an Me 262s starboard launcher. ...

External links

• Bachem Ba 349 Natter
• U.S. Intelligence Report Photos

Related content

Related development

Wasserfall missile Hermes-A1 (American Copy of the Wasserfall-missile) Wasserfall (German for waterfall) was a German surface-to-air missile developed during World War II. It never reached operational status although it was well developed and likely ready for operation, and the project was cancelled in February 1945. ...

Comparable aircraft

• Messerschmitt Me 163
• Mizuno Shinryu

Designation sequence

Go 345 - FS 346 - Rk 347 - Ba 349 - Ju 352 - Me 362 - Me 364 The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet was the only operational rocket fighter aircraft. ... The Mizuno Shinryu (神龍 - Divine Dragon) was a proposed rocket-powered kamikaze aircraft designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy towards the end of World War II. It never reached production. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... Type: Transport Origin:Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG Models: A First Flight: November 1943 Service Delivery: N/A Final Delivery: N/A Engine: Three BMW-Bramo 323R-2 Horsepower: 1,000hp (1,200 with 96-Octane fuel) Fuel: Capacity: N/A Type: N/A Dimensions: Wing span: 34. ...

Related lists

List of World War II military aircraft of Germany This list covers German aircraft of the Second World War that served in the Luftwaffe during World War II as defined by the year 1939-1945. ...

Coordinates: 48°37′42″N, 9°29′57″E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...