DFS 194

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DFS 194

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Description

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RoleResearch aircraft

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Crewone, pilot

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Length6.40 m20 ft 11 in

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Wingspan10.40 m34 ft 1 in Height2.13 m7'

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Wing area18.0 m?193 ft?

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Weights

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Empty Loaded2,100 kg4,620 lb

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Powerplant

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Engine1x Walter R I-203 rocket Thrust3.9 kN882 lbf

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Performance

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Maximum speed550 km/h340 mph

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Endurance

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Service ceiling

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Rate of Climb1,615 m/min5,297 ft/min

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The DFS 194 was a rocket-powered aircraft designed by Alexander Lippisch at the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt f?r Segelflug (DFS - German Institute for Sailplane Flight) based on his Delta series of tail-less designs. As originally conceived, it would have been a tail-less aircraft similar to his DFS 40, powered by a conventional piston engine driving a pusher propeller. The airframe was completed in this configuration in March 1938.

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Lippisch's designs had attracted the attention of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM - Reich Aviation Ministry) who believed that tail-less aircraft were the best basis for a rocket-powered fighter. On January 2 1939, Lippisch and his team were transferred to the Messerschmitt company to begin work on such an aircraft, under what was known as Project X. The DFS-194 was modified to accept a Walter R I-203 rocket engine designed by Hellmuth Walter, and by October, the aircraft was undergoing engine tests at Peenem?nde. These were followed by glide tests in early 1940 leading to a the first powered flight in August with Heini Dittmar at the controls. The flight went exceedingly well, the plane attaining a top speed of 343 mph (550 km/h), with performance much superior to the more basic Heinkel He 176 which had been tested July 20, 1939 with a earlier Walter rocket engine.

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The aircraft proved to have excellent flying characteristics, and proved safe to fly at nearly twice the anticipated speed. These excellent results paved the way for the next stage of the project, which now received priority status from the RLM. The following year, the result would be the Messerschmitt Me 163, a considerably refined design along the same basic lines.

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Main Development Sequence

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• Lippisch Delta's
• Early Delta's
• DFS involvement begins with Lippisch Delta IVb project
• DFS Deutsche Forschungsanstalt f?r Segelflug
• DFS 39
• DFS 40
• DFS 194
• Messerschmitt
• Messerschmitt Me 163,
• Me163D
• Junkers
• Junkers Ju 248/Me263
• Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Burea
• Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270

Rocket: A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust gas from within a rocket engine. Often the term rocket is also used to mean a rocket engine....

Aircraft: An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight....

Alexander Lippisch: Dr. Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 - February 11, 1976) was a German pioneer of aerodynamics. He made important contributions to the understanding of flying wings and the ground effect. His most famous design is the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor....