The DFS 228 was a rocket-powered, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft designed by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS - "German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight") during World War II. By the end of the war, the aircraft had only flown in the form of two unpowered prototypes.

Design and development

Initial design of the DFS 228 was undertaken before the outbreak of war as a research aircraft, the DFS 54, aimed at developing a high-altitude escape system for sailplanes. The project was suspended by the commencement of hostilities, but was revived in 1940 when the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM - "Reich Aviation Ministry") delivered the DFS with a requirement for a rocket-powered reconnaissance aircraft.

The advantages of a sailplane for aerial reconnaissance included its silence, its low speed relative to the ground (allowing for higher-quality photography), and its potential ability to loiter above an area of interest. The project gave the DFS the opportunity to investigate two additional areas that it was interested in: the effects of wing sweep on sailplane design, and supersonic flight.

The DFS 228 was designed by Felix Kracht and a first prototype was completed in March 1944; it was undergoing gliding tests by that August, carried aloft piggyback and strut-mounted atop a Dornier Do 217. The aircraft was of conventional sailplane arrangement with long, slender wings and designed to land on a retractable skid mounted on its belly. The nose of the aircraft could be separated in an emergency and formed a self-contained, pressurized escape capsule for the pilot. Because of problems with the cabin pressurization system, the second prototype accommodated the pilot in a prone position.

|prime units?=met

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General characteristics

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|crew=1

|length m=10.58

|span m=17.56

|wing area sqm=30

|empty weight kg=1,650

|gross weight kg=4,200

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Powerplant

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|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name=Walter HWK 509D

|eng1 type=liquid-fuelled rocket motor

|eng1 kn=14.71

|eng1 note=at sea level<br/>

::::: at operational altitude

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Performance

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|max speed kmh=900

|max speed note=at sea level

|range km=1,050

|range note=maximum with intermittent powered flight<br/>

  • Launch altitude:
  • Glide descent altitude:

|ceiling m=22,860

|ceiling note=<br/>

  • Absolute ceiling:

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

  • Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970 (fourth impression 1979). .
  • Myhra, David. DFS 228. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2000. .
  • Smith, J.Richard and Kay, Anthony. German Aircraft of the Second World War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1972 (third impression 1978). .
  • Wood, Tony and Gunston, Bill. Hitler's Luftwaffe: A pictorial history and technical encyclopedia of Hitler's air power in World War II. London: Salamander Books Ltd., 1977. .