WesWorld

In an effort to recapture the interest of the Defence Ministry in its products the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke has offered a design intended to fulfull Luftwaffe requirements for an effective long range escort fighter to succeed the Fw187.

The proposal is - for the time being - known as the Bf109Z - for Zwilling, or twin - and comprises two Bf109 airframes married by a common wing section.



The performance claimed for the design in BFW's proposal to the Defence Ministry is impressive - the design is postulated to weigh in at 6,000 kg empty, with a full load weight of somewhat more than 7,200 kg. A speed in excess of 740 kph is claimed for the design, with a cruising speed of 570 kph at 3,000 metres. The proposal cites several possible armament outfits, including up to four 20mm MG201 cannon.

It remains to be seen if the Defence Ministry is sufficiently impressed with the proposal to fund construction of a prototype.

The Chileans seriously proposed something similar with the I-02 a year or so ago, but shelved the idea for the moment. I'll be interested to see if the 109Z gets any air-time...

Will the undercarriage remain untouched? Four wheels seem excessive and with two narrow spaced wheels under each fuselage accidents are only a matter of time and chance.

It seems the undercarriage was kept that way OTL although the centre-section was modified.

I don't see the OTL undercarriage as being that much of an issue - in effect it would make the two "narrow-track" undercarriages into a single "wide track" undercarriage. And I surmise that it was not changed in the OTL version of the 109Z to minimize the changes to the airframes on the production line.

However, these are valid points to consider in a design, development and test program should the German Defence Ministry decide to back the concept. Eliminating either the outboard or inboard wheels would free space in either the new center-section or in the outer section of the wings - which would permit options for fuel stowage or for armament changes.

Two things to consider on the two leg over four.

1. If you just have two inboard legs then stability when landing might be dodgy given the weight of the fuselages outboard of the wheels.

2. Two outboard legs would be better but standad fighter undercarriage couldn't be used as your effectively focusing the weight of two fighters onto two legs designed for the weight of one fighter...
That means beefing up the undercarriage somewhat but given the weight saved by only having two legs that should be doable.

You could go for three legs I suppose.... tricycle seems impossible without lengthening the nose first.