LUFTFAHRT
27 WW2 BLOHM & VOSS Bv222 WIKING_RAF HP HAMPDEN_LUFTWAFFE BF109F_TORNADO
GERMAN-LANGUAGE SOFTBOUND BOOK
(MAY 1978)
EUROPEAN MULTINATIONAL ATTACK
PLANE PANAVIA MRCA TORNADO
WW2 GERMAN LUFTWAFFE JUNKERS
Ju87D DIVE BOMBER StG
MESSERSCHMITT Bf109F
WW2 RAF BOMBER COMMAND HANDLEY
PAGE HP HAMPDEN FLYING SUTICASE
BLOHM & VOSS Bv222 WIKING
FLYING BOAT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
The Blohm & Voss BV 222
Wiking (Pronounced "Viking") was a large, six-engined German flying
boat of World War II. Originally designed as a commercial transport, it was the
largest seaplane to attain production status during the war.
Prior to World War II, the
German airline Luft Hansa had carried out many transatlantic mail flights.
Their main interest was passenger transport, and they initiated a program in
1936 for which Hamburger Flugzeugbau offered the Ha 222, a very large flying
boat designed by Dr. Richard Vogt. By the time an order for three was received
and work began, the company had changed its name to that of its parent company,
Blohm & Voss, and the design was redesignated the BV 222.
Construction of the first
prototype, V1, began in January 1938, with construction of the V2 and V3
following within weeks. V1 made its test flight on 7 September 1940, carrying
the civil registration D-ANTE. During trials it demonstrated that it could
carry up to 92 passengers, or 72 patients on stretchers over short distances at
a maximum speed of 385 km/h (239 mph).[3] The flight characteristics were found
to be satisfactory, but with some improvements required. Further trials lasted
until December 1940, when the V1 passed into Luftwaffe service, receiving a
military paint scheme and the Stammkennzeichen individual alphabetic military
aircraft registration code of CC+EQ, later changed to the alphanumeric
Geschwaderkennung "wing code" designation of X4+AH, when in service
with Lufttransportgruppe (See) 222.
The type had a long flat floor
inside the cabin and a large square cargo door aft of the wing on the starboard
side, with such a flat floor for the hull interior being a welcome novelty for
that era. The usual balance floats for a flying boat design were ingeniously
designed as a matching pair of retracting float units per side, which extended
from beneath the wing's outer panels in "clamshell" fashion when
fully extended, and fit fully flush with the wing panels' undersides when
retracted.[4] Only 13 aircraft are thought to have been completed.
Originally powered by Bramo 323
Fafnir radial engines, later aircraft were powered by six 746 kW (1,000 hp)
Jumo 207C inline two-stroke opposed-piston diesel engines. The use of diesels
permitted refueling at sea by special re-supply U-boats. C-13 aircraft was a
sole example fitted with Jumo 205C and later Jumo 205D engines.
Early aircraft were identified
as V1 to V8. Production examples were designated C-09 to C-13.
V1 made seven flights between
Hamburg and Kirkenes up to 19 August 1941, transporting a total of 65,000 kg
(143,000 lb) of supplies and 221 wounded men, covering a distance of 30,000 km
(19,000 mi) in total. After being overhauled at Hamburg, V1 was sent to Athens,
from where it carried supplies for the Afrika Korps, making 17 flights between
16 October and 6 November 1941. The V1 was at this time unarmed, and was given
an escort of two Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters.
Following these flights, the V1
returned to Hamburg to have defensive armament fitted, comprising a 7.92 mm
(.312 in) MG 81 machine gun in the hull, two turret-mounted 13 mm (.51 in) MG
131 machine guns, and four 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 81s in waist mounts. The
registration was changed to X4+AH at the same time and the V1 formed the basis
for the new air transport squadron Lufttransportstaffel 222 (LTS 222). Between
1942 and 1943, the aircraft flew in the Mediterranean theatre, until in
mid-February 1943 it sank following a collision with a submerged wreck while
landing at Piraeus harbour.
The V2 (CC+ER) made its first
flight on 7 August 1941, and after extensive testing was assigned to LTS 222 on
10 August 1942 as X4+AB. Since the aircraft was intended for long-distance
overwater flights, in addition to the armament fitted to the V1 it received two
rear-facing wing-mounted turrets with dual 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131s, accessed via
the tubular wing spar which was 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in diameter.
In 1944, the V2 participated in
Operation Schatzgräber ("Treasure Seeker"), the code name of a German
weather station at Alexandra Land in the Arctic, whose sick crew needed to be
evacuated. The BV 222 dropped a spare wheel for a Fw 200 which had sustained
damage during landing near the station.
The V3 (initially DM+SD) first
flew on 28 November 1941, and was transferred to LTS 222 on 9 December 1941.
After V1's sinking, V3 returned to Hamburg where it was armed. It was destroyed
along with V5 on 20 June 1943 at Biscarrosse by RAF de Havilland Mosquitos of
No. 264 Squadron RAF.
V4, which had an altered height
tail, was also assigned to LTS 222 for Africa flights.
V6 was shot down on 21 August
1942 on the Taranto to Tripoli route by a Bristol Beaufighter; V8 was shot down
on the same route on 10 December 1942.
The V7 (TB+QL), which made its
first flight on 1 April 1943, was fitted with six 746 kW (1,000 hp) Jumo 207C
inline two-stroke diesel engines. With a takeoff weight of 50,000 kg (110,000
lb) and a range of 6,100 km (3,800 mi), it was intended as the prototype BV
222C.
Following the Invasion of
Normandy in June 1944, the remaining BV 222 aircraft were transferred to KG
200.[7] Of these, C-09 was probably the BV 222 reported to have been strafed
and destroyed by Hawker Typhoon aircraft of No. 439 Squadron RCAF on 24 April 1945
at Seedorf. V7 and V4 were scuttled by their crews at Travemünde and
Kiel-Holtenau airport respectively, at the end of the war.
C-10 was probably the BV 222
reported shot down southwest of Biscarrosse on the night of 8 February 1944 by
a Mosquito of No. 157 Squadron RAF.
One BV 222, V4, is said to have
shot down a US Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator of VB-105 (BU#63917) commanded by
Lieutenant Evert, on October 22, 1943. Since the war this has often been
mistakenly quoted as a BV 222 shooting down an Avro Lancaster.
Following the German invasion of
the Soviet Union in June 1941, plans were made to connect Germany and Japan by
air using Luftwaffe aircraft modified for very long range flights since
commercial flights to the Far East by Luft Hansa were no longer possible, and
it had become very dangerous for ships or U-boats to make the trip by sea.
Field Marshal Erhard Milch authorized a study in to the feasibility of such
direct flights and various routes were considered, including departing from
German-occupied Russia and Bulgaria, and a sea route using a BV 222 flying from
Kirkenes in north Norway to Tokyo via Sakhalin Island, a distance of 6,400 km
(4,000 mi).
The BV 222 was one of three
aircraft considered seriously for the program, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 200
and the Heinkel He 177. The He 177 was ruled out due to it being considered
unreliable and in 1943 the Junkers Ju 290 was selected for the flights.
Three BV 222s were captured and
subsequently operated by Allied forces: C-011, C-012, and C-013. C-012,
captured at Sørreisa in Norway after the war along with V2, was flown by
Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown from Norway to the RAF station at Calshot
in 1946, with RAF serial number "VP501". After testing at Marine
Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe it was assigned to No. 201
Squadron RAF, who operated it up to 1947, when it was scrapped.
C-011 and C-013 were captured by
US forces at the end of World War II. On August 15 and again on August 20, 1945
LT Cmdr Richard Schreder of the US Navy performed test flights along with the
German crew of one of the BV 222 aircraft that had been acquired by the US. In
two flights resulting in a total flight time of 38 minutes they experienced 4
engine fires. While many spare engines were available they were of substandard
quality due to the lack of quality alloys near the end of the war, and caught
fire easily. Since the aircraft was not airworthy with these engines, the
aircraft was taken out to open water and sunk by a navy destroyer.
Other reports indicate the US
captured aircraft were flown or shipped to the US. Convair acquired one for
evaluation at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, the intensive studies
leading to the hull design of their Model 117 which in turn led to the R3Y
Tradewind.[14] Their subsequent fate is unknown.
The V2 aircraft briefly wore US
markings in 1946. The V2 aircraft had identification markings from the original
V5 aircraft for Operation Schatzgräber. V2 was later scuttled by the British
who filled it with surplus waste from the base at Ilsvika to weigh it down. V2
was towed to a position in Trondheimsfjord between Ilsvika and Munkholmen,
where it now rests on the seabed at 65 m (213 ft) deep,[16] perfectly preserved
due to low oxygen levels in the water. There are plans to raise and restore
this aircraft