Alexander Lippisch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lippisch
Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of tailless aircraft, delta wings and the ground effect, and also worked in the U.S. Within the Opel-RAK program, he was the designer of the world's first rocket-powered glider.
He developed and conceptualized delta wing designs which functioned practically in supersonic delta wing fighter aircraft as well as in hang gliders. People he worked with continued the development of the delta wing and supersonic flight concepts over the 20th century. His most famous designs are the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor[1]: 174 and the Dornier Aerodyne.[2]
4.1Importance for the delta wing and supersonic flight concepts
5Postwar work in the United States
Early life
Lippisch was born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria. He later recalled that his interest in aviation began with a demonstration conducted by Orville Wright over Tempelhof Field in Berlin in September 1909.[3] Nonetheless, he planned to follow his father's footsteps into art school, until the outbreak of World War I intervened. During his service with the German Army, between 1915–1918, Lippisch had the chance to fly as an aerial photographer and mapper.
Early aircraft designs
Following the war, Lippisch worked with the Zeppelin Company, and it was at this time that he first became interested in tailless aircraft. In 1921, his first design to be built, by his friend Gottlob Espenlaub, was the Espenlaub E-2 glider. This was the beginning of a research programme that would result in some fifty designs throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Lippisch's growing reputation saw him appointed in 1925 as the director of the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG), a glider organisation including research groups and construction facilities.
Lippisch also designed conventional gliders at this time, including the Wien of 1927 and its successor the Fafnir of 1930. In 1928, as part of the Opel-RAK program by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier, Lippisch's tail-first Ente (Duck) was equipped with powder rockets by Friedrich Wilhelm Sander's company and became the first aircraft to fly under rocket power.[4] From 1927, he resumed his tailless work, leading to a series of designs named Storch I – Storch IX (Stork I-IX), mostly gliders. These designs attracted little interest from the government and private industry.
Delta wing designs
Experience with the Storch series led Lippisch to concentrate increasingly on delta-winged designs. The Delta I was the world's first[5] tailless delta wing aircraft to fly (in 1931[6][7]). This interest resulted in five aircraft, numbered Delta I – Delta V, which were built between 1931 and 1939.[7] In 1933, RGG had been reorganised into the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (German Institute for Sailplane Flight, DFS) and the Delta IV and Delta V were designated as the DFS 39 and DFS 40 respectively.
World War II projects
In early 1939, the Reichsluftfahrtsministerium (RLM, Reich Aviation Ministry) transferred Lippisch and his team to work at the Messerschmitt factory in Augsburg, in order to design a high-speed fighter aircraft around the rocket engines[6] then under development by Hellmuth Walter. The team quickly adapted their most recent design, the DFS 194, to rocket power, the first example successfully flying in early 1940. This successfully demonstrated the technology for what would become the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet.[8]
Although technically novel, the Komet did not prove to be a successful weapon and friction between Lippisch and Messerschmitt was frequent. In 1943, Lippisch transferred to Vienna's Aeronautical Research Institute (Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt Wien, LFW) in Wiener Neustadt, in an own design bureau to concentrate on the problems of high-speed flight.[6] That same year, he was awarded a doctoral degree in engineering by the University of Heidelberg. With him came the mathematician Hermann Behrbohm on half time (and continued half time for Messerschmitt in Oberammergau to where the development activities were moved into the underground facility after the air raids on Augsburg the 25 February 1944).
Wind tunnel research in 1939 had suggested that the delta wing was a good choice for supersonic flight, and Lippisch set to work designing a supersonic, ramjet-powered fighter, the Lippisch P.13a. By the time the war ended, however, the project had only advanced as far as a development glider, the DM-1.
Importance for the delta wing and supersonic flight concepts[edit]
Even though the Lippisch P.13a never flew, it and Lippsich research and development had a significant importance for the development of the delta wing and supersonic flight concepts and supersonic-delta wing-fighter aircraft.
All this later development being funded by governments in the 1950s (like the Swedish Defence Act of 1958) to meet the need to be able to swiftly attack strategic nuclear weapons-bombers such as Tupolev Tu-16 before they reached their targets. Lippisch delta wing concept proved to be very steady and efficient in very high speed supersonic flight.
The research at Messerschmitt and Lippisch offices were continued by:
Lippisch continued work by Convair after he immigrated to the US.
Hermann Behrbohm worked from 1946 for the BEE (French Aerodynamic Research and Development Institute) with operations in Emmendingen and Weil am Rhein in French occupation zone in Germany and the French developed later Dassault Mirage.
Hermann Behrbohm worked from 1951 for Saab, Linköping, Sweden where he made significant works for the Saab 35 Draken and Saab 37 Viggen supersonic-delta wing-fighter aircraft, developing the delta wing and supersonic flight concepts. In team with Behrbohm at Saab Bertil Dillner worked on the concepts.
Bertil Dillner immigrated to the US 1967 and start working for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle with the supersonic Boeing 2707 SST passenger jet 1967-1972 and aerodynamics of the hypersonic aviation at the re-entry of Space Shuttle. Dillner was chief aerodynamic engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes from 1972 to 1981. Dillner became aerodynamic chief engineer 1981-1985 for Boeing Defense, Space & Security in Seattle and chief engineer 1985-1988 until his retirement.
Postwar work in the United States[edit]
Like many German scientists, Lippisch was taken to the United States after the war under Operation Paperclip. He worked at the White Sands Missile Range.
Convair
Advances in jet engine design were making Lippisch's ideas more practical, and Convair became interested in a hybrid (mixed power) jet/rocket design which they proposed as the F-92. In order to gain experience with the delta wing handling at high speeds, they first built a test aircraft, the 7002 which, on June 9, 1948, became the first jet-powered delta-wing aircraft to fly.[9] Although the U.S. Air Force lost interest in the F-92, the next test model 7003 was designated the XF-92A. This led Convair to proposing delta wing for most of their projects through the 1950s and into the 1960s, including the F-102 Delta Dagger, F-106 Delta Dart and B-58 Hustler.[citation needed]
Ground effect aircraft
From 1950–1964, Lippisch worked for the Collins Radio Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which had an aeronautical division.[6] It was during this time that his interest shifted toward ground effect craft. The results were an unconventional VTOL aircraft (eventually becoming the Dornier Aerodyne) and an aerofoil boat research seaplane X-112, flown in 1963. However, Lippisch contracted cancer, and resigned from Collins.
When he recovered in 1966, he formed his own research company, Lippisch Research Corporation, and attracted the interest of the West German government. Prototypes for both the aerodyne and the ground-effect craft RFB X-113 (1970) then RFB X-114 (1977) were built, but no further development was undertaken. The Kiekhaefer Mercury company was also interested in his ground-effect craft and successfully tested one of his designs as the Aeroskimmer, but also eventually lost interest.
Death and legacy
Lippisch died in Cedar Rapids on February 11, 1976.[6] In 1985, he was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.[10]
Some Lippisch designs
Lippisch SG-38 Zögling, 1926
DFS 39, tailless research aircraft
DFS 40, tailless research aircraft
DFS 193, experimental aircraft
DFS 194, rocket-powered research aircraft, forerunner of Me 163
Lippisch P.01-111, designed during 'Projekt X', which would eventually culminate in the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet.[11]
Lippisch Li P.04, a tailless airplane designed as a competitor to the Messerschmitt Me 329
Lippisch Li P.10, 1942 tailless bomber design
Lippisch P.11, designed to compete with the Horten Ho-IX; the latter went on to become the Horten (Gotha) Ho-(Go-)229.
Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet
Lippisch P.13, 1943 push-pull bomber design
Lippisch P.13a, a unique delta-winged, ramjet-powered interceptor.
Lippisch P.13b, a unique airplane powered by a rotating fuel-table of lignite, owing to the fuel shortages late in World War 2 in Germany.
Lippisch P.15, a development of the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet.
Lippisch P.20, a development of the P.15.
Dornier Aerodyne, a 1972 VTOL testbed
See also
German inventors and discoverers
References
^ Reitsch, H., 1955, The Sky My Kingdom, London: Biddles Limited, Guildford and King's Lynn, ISBN 1853672629
^ Wright Flyer over Templehoff Archived 2005-11-26 at the Wayback Machine
^ https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0904rocket/ article by Walter J. Boyne in Air Force Magazine, September 1, 2004
^ Ford, Roger (2000). Germany's secret weapons in World War II (1. publ. ed.). Osceola, WI: MBI Publ. p. 36. ISBN 0-7603-0847-0. Lippisch.
^ Jump up to:a b c d e F. Marc de Piolenc & George E. Wright Jr. Ducted Fan Design. 1 (Revised ed.). pp. 129–130. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
^ Jump up to:a b "New Triangle Plane Is Tailless", December 1931, Popular Science article and photo of Delta I at bottom of page 65
^ Lippisch, A.; The Delta Wing: History and Development, Iowa State University 1981, page 45: "Let me stress, however that the DFS 194 should in no way be regarded as a predecessor of the Me 163. The Me 163-Delta IVd was derived directly from the Delta-IVc-DFS 39."
^ Aviation week. 51. McGraw-Hill Pub. Co. 1949.
^ Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. ISBN 978-1-57864-397-4.
^ Masters, David (1982). German Jet Genesis (1. publ. ed.). London, UK: Jane's Publishing Company Limited. p. 142. ISBN 0-86720-622-5.
External links
Summary of his 'Aerodyne' work [1]
Lecture on aerodynamics by Dr. Lippisch [2]
Alexander Lippisch Digital Collection
Alexander Lippisch Papers (archives)
Alexander Lippisch Dead at 81:Messerschmitt Aircraft Pioneer
Feb. 13, 1976
Credit...The New York Times Archives
See the article in its original context from
February 13, 1976, Page 35
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Dr. Alexander M. Lippisch, who designed Germany's early Dornier and Messerschmitt aircraft, including the first operational rocket‐powered fighter, died Wednesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was 81 years old.
Dr. Lippisch was born in Munich. He received his education at the Technical High School in Berlin and at the University of Heidelberg.
His career in aviation began at the end of World War I, when he became associated with the Dornier Aircraft Company, where he stayed four years. He was then active in the design of sailplanes and gliders until 1939, when he joined the Messerschmitt Company as chief of design and speed research.
Dr. Lippisch's main contribution at Messerschmitt was the development of the ME 163 B, the first operational, rocketpowered fighter plane.
Did Research in Vienna
This aircraft, which became operation late in war, was the world's fastest at the time. It had a speed of 630 miles an hour and could climb to 30,000 feet in three minutes.
From 1943 to 1945, he was director of research at the Airplane Research Institute in Vienna, and it was there that he was taken into custody by Operation Paperclip, an Allied postwar effort to round up top German scientists.
Operation Paperclip put him to work for the Technical Intelligence section of the United States Army Air Forces, which sent him to the United States in 1946.
Dr. Lippisch went to work for the Air Force and the Navy, liaison office at Wright Patterson Field in Ohio. He left gov‐ ernment service in 1957 and became associated with the Collins Radio Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Hydrodynamics Laboratory
During his eight years with Collins, he headed the company's hydrodynamics laboratory and the company's aeronautical laboratory.
In 1965, he left Collins to found his own company, the Lippisch Research Corporation, and at his death he was developing for the West German Government an airfoil boat and an aerodyne, a wingless aircraft.
He is survived by his wife, the former Gertrude Knoblauch; 2 daughters, Sybilla Brown and Blanca Bailey; 3 sons, Hangwind, George and Alexander, and 10 grandchildren.
Delta Dreamer: What Made His Aircraft So Unusual?
https://www.historynet.com/delta-dreamer.htm
Amazing Flying Boat - Future of Sea Travel ... well, not
really.
The Ground Effect Vehicles or Wing-In-Ground effect (WIG) as presently called
is not a new idea. The design was first conceived in the early 1960s by Dr.
Alexander Lippisch, a German aerospace engineer that was brought to the United
States under Operation Paperclip. Dr, Lippisch was a pioneer in tailless
aircraft, delta wing, and ground effect aircraft designs. He is most noted in
designing the rocket powered Messerschmitt 163 Komet.
While working for the Aeronautical Division of the Collins Radio Company, Dr.
Lippisch developed interest in designing a ground effect vehicle that would
"fly" low level over water. In 1963, the Collins X-112 Airfoil Boat
was built as a "proof-of-concept" aircraft to test his theory.
X-112 Airfoil Boat
Powered by a 25 hp horizontally opposed, twin cylinder, air cooled engine, the
X-112 Airfoil Boat flew very well up to 67 knots in speed, proving the concept
was valid.
After resigning from Collins Radio Company because of a short illness with
cancer, Dr. Lippisch formed his own company, Lippisch Research Corporation and
continued his research in ground effect. In the 1970s, with interest and
funding from the government of West Germany, Dr. Lippisch designed and tested
the RFB X-113, and RFB X-114. No furthr testing or development was attempted
after these two designs by Dr. Lippisch.
X-113
X-114
During the same time period as Dr. Lippisch, a Soviet aerospace engineer,
Rostislav Alexeyev designed a version of a ground effect vehicle (Ekranoplan in
Russian) for the Soviet Navy on a grand scale. The KM (Korabl Maket -
"Ship Prototype" in Russian) was nicknamed the Caspian Sea Monster by
CIA analysis when it was first viewed by reconnaissance satellite while under
tow on the Caspian Sea. With the length of 302 ft long, wing span of 123 ft, takeoff
weight of 494 tons, cruise speed of 270 knots just feet above the water, and a
range of 810 nautical miles, the KM Ekranoplan was the largest aircraft in the
world until 1988. The Soviet Navy was interested in the KM because it was able
to "fly" low over the water and to be considered undetectable by
enemy ship radar. The KM was tested and flown from 1966 until it was lost in an
accident in 1980.
KM Ekranoplan - Caspian Sea Monster
Size comparison with human figures
With lessons learned from testing the KM Caspian Sea Monster, the Lun-class
MD-160 Ekranoplan, was developed and tested by the Soviet Navy in 1975. The
MD-160 was able to carry six P-270 Moskit Antiship Missiles. The MD-160
remained operational service with the Soviet and then the Russian Navy until
the late 1990s.
Lun-class MD-160 Ekranoplan
On and off for the next 40 years, several other individuals and small companies
have tried to resurrect Dr. Lippisch's ground effect vehicle design.
Interestingly enough in 2010, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran has
designed and place into operation a number of ground effect vehicles, the
Bavar-2.
The Bavar-2 is designed for carrying-out asymmetric approaches to conventional
naval surface forces, especially at night and within the confines of an area as
restricted (and often congested) as the Persian Gulf. The Bavar-2 is believed
to exhibit a small radar signature and is therefore difficult to pick-up and
track, especially while lying passive/motionless, when set against a cluttered
backdrop, while merely trolling (see photo) and/or at longer ranges. Its
reduced cross-section is intended to allow the Bavar to remain undetected while
carrying out reconnaissance/patrol/attack missions.
Bavar-2
As I was looking over the various photos of the Bavar-2, I noticed it is
powered by a Subaru EJ25 automotive with an electrically controllable pitch
Magnum IVO prop. In this configuration, it is very safe to surmise that this
engine conversion is providing at least 150 hp if not more. Enough power to
climb out of ground effect and fly as a conventional aircraft as viewed in one
video. Unfortunately, the inverted reverse delta configuration of the wing has
a very low aspect ratio with a very poor glide characteristics, not to mention
the the poor stability with the anhedral. Not very safe when flying out of
ground effect.
What brought on this lengthy and detailed e-mail are the
following videos of the Wigetworks AirFish-8 ground effect vehicle that I came
across and started to watch. Wigetworks is a small company operating out of
Singapore. They originally developed the two place AirFish-3, powered by a BMW
horizontally opposed, air cooled, motorcycle engine. From the AirFish-3, the
AirFish-8 was designed.
AirFish-3
AirFish-8
Although ground effect vehicles appear similar to regular aircraft, and have
related technical characteristics, they do not fit within the category of
aircraft, seaplanes, hovercraft, nor hydrofoils. The International Maritime Organization
classifies these vehicles as maritime ships and are registered as such.
Therefore, "fly" such a craft, one does not need to be a licensed
pilot. One only needs the required boating credentials as required by their
host state or country.
In reality, a ground effect vehicle is a limited craft. With the Dr. Lippisch
inverted reverse delta wing design, the highest altitude to remain within
effective ground effect is 50% of the total wing span. This is why in all of
the videos, one will see the "flights" are over only calm seas. Not
very operational when limited to fair days, light winds and small swells.
Never-the-less, if presented with the opportunity, I'd definitely would
"fly" a ground effect vehicle for the thrill.
Wayne
Amazing Flying Boat - Future of Sea Travel - AirFish
Alexander Lippisch Papers (archives)
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