The Lippisch P.13a was an experimental ramjet-powered delta wing interceptor aircraft designed in late 1944 by Dr. Alexander Lippisch for Nazi Germany. The aircraft never made it past the drawing board, with testing of wind tunnel models showing the design had extraordinary stability into the Mach 2.6 range. As conventional fuel was in short supply at the end of the war, the ramjet was to be powered by powdered coal. It was the end of the war that prevented further development beyond the unpowered DM-1 test glider. After the war, Lippisch, working with American aircraft designer Convair, developed and tested the XF-92 based on his designs, leading to the eventual adoption of the F-102 Delta Dagger and its successor, the F-106 Delta Dart. Small ramjet engine A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, is a type of jet engine. ... The delta-wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. ... An interceptor aircraft (or simply interceptor) is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft at great speed, particularly bombers. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1944: Events January January 11 - in one of the largest air raids to date, 570 USAAF bombers strike Brunswick, Halberstadt, and Oschersleben. ... Alexander Lippisch earned his PhD in 1943 at the University of Heidelberg. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, universally known as Convair, was the result of a 1943 merger between Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft, resulting in a leading aircraft manufacturer of the United States. ... The Convair XF-92 was the first American delta-wing aircraft. ... The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger fighter aircraft was part of the backbone of the United States air defenses in the late 1950s. ... The Convair F-106A Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the US Air Force from the 1960s through the late 1970s. ...

Specifications (P.13a, as designed)

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 6.70 m (22 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 6.00 m (19 ft 9 in)
• Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 20.0 m² (215 ft²)
• Empty: kg ( lb)
• Loaded: 2,295 kg (5,060 lb)
• Maximum takeoff: kg ( lb)
• Powerplant: 1x Kronach Lorin coal dust-burning ramjet

This small inovative pulsejet engine was static tested in Austria during the latter stages of WWII. The engines fuel supply consisted of approximatly 300-400 Lbs of granular coal that was slowly burnt inside a rotating metal mesh basket (ahead of the jet intake)to produce carbonmonoxide gas as fuel...

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1650 km/h (1025 mph)
• Range: 621 km (1,000 miles)
• Service ceiling: m ( ft)
• Rate of climb: m/min ( ft/min)
• Wing loading: 115 kg/m² (24 lb/ft²)
• Thrust-to-weight:

Armament

• 2x 30 mm MK 103 cannons

30 mm rounds The 30 mm caliber is a standard size of heavy machine gun (specifically autocannon) ammunition used by NATO forces. ...

External links

• Luft 46 Article on the P.13a

Related content

Related development: Lippisch DM-1

Comparable aircraft:

Designation sequence: P.10 - P.11 - P.12 - P.13/P.13a/P.13b - P.14 - P.15 - P.20 The Lippisch P.13 was a 1942 design for a high-speed bomber aircraft by Josef Hubert. ... The Lippisch P.15 was a design derived from the Me 163 rocket interceptor. ...