Ba 349 Natter
A replica of Bachem Ba349 at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany
Type	rocket interceptor
Manufacturer	Bachem
Designed by	Erich Bachem
Maiden flight	March 1 1945
Introduced	n/a
Number built	11 production aircraft (Ba 349B)

Bachem Ba 349 Natter (colubrid) was a World War II era German experimental point-defense rocket-powered interceptor aircraft which was to be used in a very similar way as unmanned surface-to-air missiles. The Deutsches Museum (German Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest Museum of Technology and Science, with approximately Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts Erich Bachem (* 12 August 1906 in Mülheim an der Ruhr; † 25 March 1960) was a German engineer The maiden flight of an Aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1945: Events January January 1 - the Luftwaffe begins targeting A colubrid (from Latin coluber, snake is a Snake that is a member of the Colubridae family. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Point-defence (or point-defense; see spelling differences) is the defence of a single object or a limited area e A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the An interceptor aircraft (or simply interceptor) is a type of Fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy Aircraft, particularly A surface to air missile ( SAM) or ground-to-air missile ( GTAM) is a Missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy Aircraft After vertical takeoff which eliminated the need for airfields, the majority of the flight to the bombers was radio controlled from the ground. Takeoff is the phase of Flight in which an Aircraft goes through a transition from moving along the ground ( Taxiing) to flying in the air usually Radio control (often abbreviated to R/C or simply RC) is the use of radio signals to remotely control a device The primary mission of the (inexperienced) pilot was to aim the aircraft at its target bomber and fire its armament of rockets. A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them The pilot and the main rocket engine should then land under separate parachutes, while the wooden fuselage was disposable. The only manned test flight, on 1 March 1945, ended with test-pilot Lothar Sieber being killed. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Lothar Sieber (born 7 April 1922 in Dresden; died 1 March 1945 at Lager Heuberg) was a German Test pilot

Development

With Luftwaffe air superiority being challenged by the Allies even over the Reich in 1943, radical innovations were required to overcome the crisis. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. Deutsches Reich was the name for Germany from 1871 to 1945 in the German language. Surface-to-air missiles appeared to be a very promising approach to counter the Allied bombing offensive and various projects were started, but invariably problems with the guidance systems and fusing prevented these from seeing widespread use. During World War II, Germany developed many Missile systems These included the first Cruise missile, the first Short-range ballistic missile Strategic bombing during World War II was greater in scale than any wartime attack the world had previously witnessed Providing the missile with a pilot who could control the weapon during the critical terminal approach phase offered a solution and was requested by the Luftwaffe in early 1944.

A number of simple designs were proposed, most using a prone pilot to reduce frontal area. The front runner for the design was initially the Heinkel P. 1077 "Julia" that took off from a rail and landed on a skid like the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Bachem proposal

Erich Bachem's BP20 was a development from a design he worked on at Fieseler, but considerably more radical than the other offerings. Erich Bachem (* 12 August 1906 in Mülheim an der Ruhr; † 25 March 1960) was a German engineer The Gerhard Fieseler Werke was a German Aircraft manufacturer of the It was built using glued and screwed wooden parts with an armored cockpit, powered by a Walter HWK 509A-2 rocket, similar to the one in the Me 163. The HWK 109-509 was a German liquid-fuel bipropellant Rocket engine that powered Messerschmitt Me 163 and Bachem Ba 349 Four jettisonable Schmidding rocket boosters were used for launch, providing a combined thrust of 4,800 kgf (47 kN or 10,600 lbf) for 10 seconds before they were jettisoned. Wilhelm Schmidding from Bodenbach, Germany, was a World War II a constructor of Rocket engines used for RATO. The unit kilogram-force ( kgf, often incorrectly just kg) or kilopond ( kp) is defined as the Force exerted by Earth's gravity The newton (symbol N) is the SI derived unit of Force, named after Isaac Newton in recognition of his work on Classical This article deals with the unit of force For the unit of mass see Pound (mass. The aircraft rode up a rail for about 25 metres, by which time it was going fast enough for the aerodynamic flight controls to keep it flying straight.

The aircraft took off and was guided almost to the bomber's altitude using radio control from the ground, with the pilot taking control right at the end to point the nose in the right direction, jettison the plastic nosecone and pull the trigger. Radio control (often abbreviated to R/C or simply RC) is the use of radio signals to remotely control a device The term nose cone is used to refer to the forwardmost section of a Rocket, guided Missile or Aircraft. This fired a salvo of rockets (either 33 R4M or 24 Henschel Hs 217), at which point the aircraft flew up and over the bombers. The R4M rocket nicknamed the Hurricane (Orkan due to its distinctive smoke trail when fired was the first practical Anti-aircraft Rocket. After running out of fuel the aircraft would then be used to ram the tail of a bomber, with the pilot ejecting just before impact to parachute to the ground. A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag.

Despite its apparent complexity, the design had one decisive advantage over the competitors — it eliminated the necessity to land an extremely fast rocket aircraft at an airbase that, as the history of the Me 163 demonstrated, was extremely vulnerable against air raids.

Modifications

After Bachem's design caught the eye of Heinrich Himmler at the SS, it emerged as the winner of the design contest. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945 was a Nazi German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel (SS. The ( German for "Protective Squadron" abbreviated SS - or ( Runic)- was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the The Luftwaffe nevertheless managed to include some minor redesigns to try to save as much of the aircraft as possible, as well as eliminating the ramming attack.

A Bachem Ba349 displays its rocket armament at Farnborough (England) in 1946. The swastikas are not authentic.

The resulting tiny aircraft was fired up a 50 foot (15 meter) wooden pole with the help of four solid fuel rockets (Schmidding), at the end of which it was already going fast enough for its control surfaces to work. Wilhelm Schmidding from Bodenbach, Germany, was a World War II a constructor of Rocket engines used for RATO. The RATO boosters burned out after 12 seconds, at which point the main engine was long up to full thrust. JATO may also refer to the group Jews Against the Occupation. Mission control now had the aircraft guided by radio to a point in front and above the bombers, where the pilot would turn off the autopilot, and push over for a gliding attack. An autopilot is a mechanical electrical or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being After firing its armament of rockets it continued gliding down at high speed to about 3,000 m (10,000 ft), at which point the aircraft "broke" when a large parachute opened at the rear of the aircraft, popping off the nose section and the pilot with it. The pilot and the tail with the engine would land under their separate parachutes, and only the nose and the fuselage with the wooden wings were disposable.

At Schloss Ummendorf near Biberach an der Riß scientists of Technische Hochschule Aachen under Professor Wilhelm Fucks calculated the Natter's aerodynamics with a large Analog computer while RATO engines were tested at Bachem-Werke factory in Waldsee. Biberach is a town in the south of Germany Biberach district capital in the free state ( Länder) of Baden-Württemberg. RWTH Aachen University is a large university located in Aachen, Germany. The Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt (DVL) in Braunschweig provided Wind-tunnel test of models which were built early in the program. The German Aerospace Centre (DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e Braunschweig, known as Brunswiek in Low German, is a city of 245810 people (as of 31 December 2007 located in Lower Saxony, Germany. A wind tunnel is a research tool developed to assist with studying the effects of air moving over or around solid objects The results returned to the Bachem designers were that it would be "satisfactory" up to speeds of about Mach 0. 95 or 685 mph, i. e. close to the sound barrier. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Testing

Full sized models were then completed and started flight testing on 3 November 1944 in Neuburg an der Donau. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Neuburg an der Donau, literally Neuburg on the Danube River, is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria The initial prototype BP-20 M1 did not include an engine, and was towed up to 3000 meter by a Heinkel He 111 bomber for glide testing by Erich Klöckner. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them Klöckner managed to bail out as planned, and stated that it handled well over 200 km/h. Only the center of gravity and the fixing of pulling wires caused concerns. .

Other test articles were equipped with extra solid motors for launch and autopilot tests. All of these went well, but during testing it was shown that any attempt to re-use the engine was hopeless; the impact speed was simply too high.

Until 27 January 1945 several manned and unmanned gliding flights after having been towed or released from a Mistel were conducted. Events 98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Mistel (Mistletoe was a Luftwaffe aircraft bombing system from late in World War II. Also, the unmanned vertical takeoff starts powered by rockets, which started on 18 December 1944 on Truppenübungsplatz Lager Heuberg near Stetten am kalten Markt were completed, as well as tests of the weapons. Events 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal 's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lager Heuberg (Camp Heuberg ( is a Bundeswehr barracks to the south of training camp ( Truppenübungsplatz) Heuberg ( Baden-Württemberg) near Stetten am kalten Stetten am kalten Markt (Stetten akM is a Municipality in the Sigmaringen district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The distance from the Bachem factory in Waldsee to Heuberg was only 50 kilometers.

First manned test flight

Construction of the production Ba 349A models had already started in October, and fifteen were launched over the next few months. Each launch resulted in some small modification to the design, and eventually these were collected into the definitive production version, the Ba 349B which started testing in January.

In February 1945 the SS funders decided that the program was not going fast enough, and demanded a manned launch later that month. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The first and only time that the aircraft was tested in this way was on March 1, when Lothar Sieber flew Ba 349A M23, which was launched from the Lager Heuberg military training area near Stetten am kalten Markt. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Lothar Sieber (born 7 April 1922 in Dresden; died 1 March 1945 at Lager Heuberg) was a German Test pilot Lager Heuberg (Camp Heuberg ( is a Bundeswehr barracks to the south of training camp ( Truppenübungsplatz) Heuberg ( Baden-Württemberg) near Stetten am kalten Stetten am kalten Markt (Stetten akM is a Municipality in the Sigmaringen district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Things went well at first, but one of the jettisonable Schmidding boosters failed to release and the Natter got out of control. Wilhelm Schmidding from Bodenbach, Germany, was a World War II a constructor of Rocket engines used for RATO. At 500 m (1,600 ft) the cockpit canopy pulled off as Sieber intended to bail out. He was instructed by radio to keep trying to shake off the booster, but inside the clouds he lost orientation. Also, the parachute did not open due to the stuck booster. Eventually, the aircraft turned over and slammed into the ground, killing Sieber. It is suspected that Sieber may have broken the sound barrier on the way down. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

The cause was explained as a failure of the canopy which may simply not have been properly latched before launch. Photos were altered to hide the fact that a FuG16 radio was in the cockpit, used to order Sieber not to bail out. Excavations in 1998 found remains of the booster.

Of the 36^{[1] [2]} Natter that had been built, 18 were used in unmanned tests, and two crashed with pilots, one during a glide and one with Sieber. Of the remaining 16, ten were burned at the end of the war while four were captured by Americans, one went to Britain and one ended up with the Russians. Of the four American aircraft one is reported to have been fired aloft -pilotless- at Muroc Army Air Base in 1946. Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County and Los Angeles County California in the Antelope It would have crash landed somewhere near Las Vegas. ^[3]

Legacy

Remnants of a Natter launch pad near Kirchheim

US forces overran the factory at Waldsee in April, but small numbers of Bachem staff had moved and taken the remaining ten B models with them. Kirchheim unter Teck is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. Soon the US had caught up with them again and captured four, as six of the ten were burnt.

Several sources claim that an operational unit of Natters was set up by volunteers in Kirchheim unter Teck but didn't carry out any operations, but the evidence for this is inconclusive. Kirchheim unter Teck is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen.

Coincidentally, in Japan during the last days of the Pacific War, the Mizuno aircraft company under orders from the Imperial Japanese Navy developed an aircraft similar to the Natter. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. For Combined Fleet, please see that article For Carrier Striking Task Force, please see that article The Mizuno Shinryu^[4] suicide-interceptor rocket aircraft was the result. The Mizuno Shinryū (神龍 - "Divine Dragon" was a proposed rocket-powered Kamikaze aircraft designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy towards It would have been armed with air-to-air unguided rockets mounted under its wings and used, like the Natter, for interception of enemy aircraft, as well as a nose mounted warhead to be used for a suicide attack.

Natter launchpads at Kirchheim (Teck)

Natter launch pad in the Hasenholz woods.

There are three launch pads for the Bachem Ba 349 in the Hasenholz forest near Kirchheim/Teck at 48°37′42.2″N, 9°29′57.4″E, 48°37′42″N, 9°29′53.5″E and 48°37′39.8″N, 9°29′54″E. They are all that remain from the active launch site constructed in 1945. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The three launchpads are arranged in the form of an equilateral triangle, whose sides point toward the east and the south. The distance between the launchpads is approximately 50 meters. The circular concrete pads on which the Bachem Ba 349's and their launch towers once stood still exist. In the center of each of the three concrete plates is a square hole approximately 50 centimeters deep, which once served as the foundation for the launch tower. Beside each hole is a pipe, cut off at ground level, which was probably once a cable pit. The Natter launchpads at Kirchheim (Teck) might be the only remnants of these rocket launch pads still on publicly accessible terrain. The former test site for the Natter in Baden-Württemberg on the Heuberg near Stetten am kalten Markt is in an active military area, and therefore not accessible to tourists.

Survivors

A Bachem Ba349 at the Smithsonian Institute's Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, MD

Three Ba 349As survive today. Two can be found in the USA:

• A restored Ba 349A is on display at the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington, D.C. This aircraft was captured at the war's end and transferred to Freeman Field, Indiana for evaluation. The Smithsonian Institution (smɪθsoʊnɪən is an educational and research institute and associated Museum complex administered and funded by the Government of The Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM's annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union It was given the foreign captured equipment number T2-1.

The U. S. Air Force transferred the aircraft to the The National Air Museum (now the National Air & Space Museum) on May 1, 1949. The National Air and Space Museum (NASM of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington D Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The aircraft was stored for many years at the museum's Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland before undergoing a full restoration. Suitland-Silver Hill is a Census-designated place (CDP in Prince George's County Maryland. It was one of the first aircraft moved to the new center in 2004. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "

• An additional unrestored Ba 349A remains at the Garber facility and restoration plans are unknown.

Specification

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 6. 02 m (19 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 3. The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane or a Bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip 60 m (11 ft 10 in)
• Height: ()
• Wing area: 4. 8 m² (51. 7 ft²)
• Empty weight: 800 kg (1,940 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,232 kg (4,920 lb)
• Powerplant:
  • 1× Walter HWK 509A liquid-fuel rocket, 16. The HWK 109-509 was a German liquid-fuel bipropellant Rocket engine that powered Messerschmitt Me 163 and Bachem Ba 349 7 kN (10,600 lbf)
  • 4× Schmidding 109-533 (1. Wilhelm Schmidding from Bodenbach, Germany, was a World War II a constructor of Rocket engines used for RATO. 200 kp, 11,768 kN, 10 seconds) solid fuel rocket boosters, () each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,000 km/h (620 mph)
• Service ceiling 14,000 m (46,000 ft)
• Endurance: 6 minutes of flight

Armament

• 24 × 73 mm Hs 217 Föhn rockets or 33 × 55 mm R4M rockets

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Abfangjagdflugzeug Bachem Ba 349 "Natter"
• Bachem Ba 349 Natter
• U.S. Intelligence Report Photos
• Bachem Ba.349 Natter

See also

Related development

• Wasserfall missile
  

Comparable aircraft

• Me 163
• Mizuno Shinryu
  

Related lists List of World War II military aircraft of Germany