Nazi Germany (1940)

Experimental circular-wing aircraft

Number built: Allegedly, up to four prototypes

The German military industries during the Second World War are often seen as highly developed, and producing highly sophisticated, superior weaponry to that used by the Allies. The reality is quite different, as they began to implement the mass use of slave labor and were chronically short of several key resources. Regardless, bright engineering minds and desperation led to the introduction of a series of new technologies, some being the first of their kind. The German aviation industry was credited with creating some advanced and innovative, but ultimately scarce aircraft designs such as the Me 262 jet fighter. With this reputation, many theories on German hyper-advanced, secretive aircraft projects began to spread after the war. Among them, was the theory that they had created a series of supersonic, flying saucers.

The Myth of German Technological Superiority 

In the decades after the Second World War ended, in media and popular culture, German military technology and industry were often presented as significantly superior to the Allies. This is perhaps the most obvious when mentioning the German Wunderwaffe (Eng. wonder-weapon). These weapons ranged from flying bombs, ballistic missiles, jet engines, and super-heavy tanks. In essence, from the German perspective, the Wunderwaffe presented any weapon that would help them turn the tide of the war. Probably the best examples that were used in greater numbers were the V-2 rockets and the Me 262 jet fighter. In the case of the V-2, these were used en masse to bomb targets in Great Britain and continental Europe. Descending at a speed of nearly 6000 km/h, they could not be tracked and struck without warning. The Me 262 was able to achieve speed far superior to that of ordinary piston-powered aircraft., and with its armament of four 3 cm cannons, it could easily take down heavy Allied bombers.

Before we go any further we must discuss the history and truthfulness of these wonder weapons and their origin. It is important to point out that the German war industry prior to and during the war struggled with numerous industrial shortcomings. It was unable to produce enough quantities of weapons and materiel to satisfy the German Army’s demands.  This can be best seen in the pre-war tank production when during the invasion of Poland, only a limited number of modern Panzer III and IV were available. The lack of anything better forced the German armored formation to rely on the weaker Panzer I and II tanks. The effective heavy tanks, such as Tigers, due to their complexity and price, were built in limited numbers. Even the Panther, of which some 6,000 were built, which was much cheaper and easier to build, could never be produced in such numbers to fully replace older designs. The Army itself, while generally portrayed to be highly motorized, was actually heavily dependent on horses for the transportation of artillery and supplies.

Regarding the term Wunderwaffe, it is almost entirely associated with German propaganda. The term was more actively used when the war began to turn bad for the Germans, especially after defeats like the one at Stalingrad. In theory, any weapon or vehicle could be categorized as a Wunderwaffe. Ranging from an assault rifle to a jet-powered aircraft. Some were just paper projects or simple proposals that were intended to enter production but they actually never did.

Now the question would be were these weapons truly superior to the Allied ones? A simple answer is no, but every single of these Wunderwaffe had pros and cons, so making a simple conclusion about their effectiveness and use would revive extensive research and work that is beyond this article. But we can briefly consider the effectiveness of the two previously mentioned weapons systems, the V-2 and the Me 262. While the V-2 was quite advanced for its day, it was plagued with many problems. The reliability of the rockets was not guaranteed with some of them exploding during take-offs. Precision was their weakest point, and by late 1944, when they were used en mass, the Germans simply lacked the means to observe their effectiveness against targets in Great Britain and could not correct the aim of the rockets. The Me 262 was also far from perfect, given the technological novelty of many of its components, it too suffered from poor reliability. Both weapons were also introduced too late to have any real impact on the war.

The Germans lost the war, which obviously showed that the concept of the Wunderwaffe was just a desperate attempt to increase the morale of its people and to fight the ever-increasing fear of a possible defeat. But despite it, these weapons continued to tickle the imagination in modern-day culture. To some extent, some mysteries would emerge after the war, that were either fabricated or were to some extent real. The probably best-known, and most infamous is the German flying disc project which employed the unusual circular wing design.

A Brief History of Circular Wing Design

While the circular wing design may be seen often wrongly connected to the unidentified flying object its actual origin is more earthly in nature and goes way back to the 18th century. One of the first recorded proposals for using a circular wing design to create a flying contraption was presented by Swedish scientist and philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg. He published his work in a scientific journal in 1716, but his proposal ultimately led nowhere. Nearly two centuries later in 1871 when French inventor Alphonse Penaur tested his own flying model. Encouraged by this success in the following years he began working on a new aircraft design that was to have elliptical wings and be powered by two smaller steam engines. But he committed suicide in 1880 and never fully implemented this new project. In the 1910s a wealthy weaver, Cedric Lee and his friend George. T. Richards began working on a circular wing glider. After a series of flight tests, they noticed that the glider had a good overall flying performance. Inspired by this success, they hired an engineer, James Radley, to help them build their new propeller-driven circular-wing aircraft in 1913. This aircraft also performed well during its test flight, but during the landing, the engine stopped and the aircraft crashed. While the pilot was unharmed the aircraft was a complete loss. Both Cedric Lee and George. T. Richards continued working on improving their design, but after a few more crash landings, they gave up on their project. In the 1940s, the American Army and Navy experimented with using a few different semi-disc wing designs These were the Boeing B.390 and the XF5U-1. While boths were surely interesting aircraft, their overall design proved to be a failure and none would be accepted for service.

The Flying Disc Project

The history of German flying disc projects is rather poorly documented, and in many cases, outright fabricated. They were allegedly related to German attempts to develop a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. It is surrounded by a veil of secrecy, and quackery, and probably that is the main reason why it is often connected to mythical or even supernatural origins. It is worth mentioning that the sources regarding these developments are quite unreliable, as they are mostly based on stories told by eyewitnesses and individuals. The reliability of these eyewitnesses and individuals should be taken with a great grain of salt. We must take into account that many of the written sources were made decades after the alleged events occurred. Another vital point to consider is the reliability of the main individuals that were allegedly involved in such projects. One such person was Rudolph Schriever, who after the war, gave an account of his reputed involvement in the development of a secret flying disc aircraft.

According to his story, the German Reichsluftfahrtministerium RLM (Ministry of Aviation) appointed a young aircraft design engineer and pilot, Rudolph Schriever, to work at the Heinkel-Rostock design office. In reality, he had no verifiable claims to German military service, relating to aviation or otherwise, and his only known employment was for the US Army as a truck driver after the war. It’s also not quite clear, but in some sources there is a mention of  a certain Otto Habermohl, supposedly also involved from the start. Not to be beaten out by Schriever, there is not only any evidence for his credentials, but he doesn’t seem to have existed at all.

At that time, different engineers wanted to solve the issue of reducing the space needed to launch and recover aircraft. One solution was to launch an aircraft directly, and vertically into the sky. In this case, such aircraft would not need a long runway and instead could take to the sky from a single launching point. But this concept, while tested over the years, was never successfully implemented during the war.

Schriever claims to have  approached this problem with a somewhat unusual solution. He made plans using a disc-shaped aircraft powered by jet engines using the so-called Coanda effect. This effect was named after the Romanian Henri Marie Coanda, an aerodynamic engineer. He discovered that when using a  jet stream  that is applied tangentially against a convex surface it creates a lift force that could be further increased by circulation. Schiriever claimed to have presented his idea to Ernst Heinkel, who was said to have liked the concept. This supposedly led to the start of work on a small prototype. He claims that after some work, the prototype was completed in early 1941. This prototype received the simple V1 designation without any prefix for the aircraft type. This should not be confused with the V1 flying bomb, as the V stands for Versuchs (experimental or trial model) which was quite commonly used by the Germans especially in the aviation industry to describe experimental or pre-production models. This prototype supposedly consisted of a disc-shaped wing design powered by an electrical rotary fan, no power source is given.

In 1942, this prototype was allegedly flight tested. No precise information about its overall performance exists. The assembly of this prototype named V2 was said to have begun in nearly 1943. By that point, Schriever claimed that some design work was moved from Germany to occupied Czechoslovakia. Škoda factories near Prague are assumed to have provided assistance to this project, though he did not specify in his testimony.  A few other companies were also mentioned to be to some extent involved in this project, this includes Junkers, Wilhelm Gustloff, and Kieler Leichtbau. The fate of the V2 prototype is not clear.

The testing of the Schriever flying disc was supposedly observed by a group of some 25 eyewitnesses from the Flight school which was stationed near this airfield. One of these eyewitnesses gave testimony to a German aeronautical magazine Flugzeug in 1987. The truth of these claims cannot be completely verified with certainty. If we consider the fact that more than 40 years have passed since this incident to the moment they gave the interview. They reportedly saw a strange disc-shaped aircraft. This aircraft was described as disc-shaped with an estimated diameter between 5 to 6 m with the height of an average man. They also reported that it had an aluminum color. And that while being on the ground held in position by four landing gear legs. It managed to reach a flight of around 300 m of distance at 1 m of height.  In the event the witness was not being intentionally misleading, it is likely they saw a helicopter being tested, several designs of which were researched and built during the war.

Name of the project

Beside the names given to the prototypes, this whole project appears to not have received any official designation, which was somewhat odd. It is often simply referred to as the Heinkel-BMW or by its name of the inventor Schriever, or even as the Schriever-Habermohl  flying disc. Also sometimes it is also referred to as Flugkreisel (Flying top). This article will use the Heinkel-BMW flying disc designation for the sake of simplicity only.

Further Work

By 1944, the whole team that worked on this project was supposedly moved to Czechoslovakia. The entire personnel were not stationed at one facility but instead relocated to various small cities in that occupied country. Allegedly, this was done to avoid any of them being killed in the Allied bombing raids. The main base of operation was said to be the Praha-Kbely Airfield. According to Schriever, by this time, other aircraft design engineers began joining the program. One of them was SS Lieutenant Helmut Zborowski who was then appointed commander of this base. Given his position, Helmut would be most likely directly involved in the project. Others included Dr. Richard Miethe who may have been involved in the German rocket development. He may have been involved in the Peenemunde rocket research center, but his work there was never verified and so far no connection has been proven. Lastly, there was Klaus Habermohl and surprisingly an Italian, Dr. Giuseppe Belluzzo, who specialized in the work of turbines. The involvement of these two in the supposed project is unclear. Dr. Giuseppe Belluzzo claimed after the war that he was involved in the disc-shaped aircraft project but there is no proof  of this. Klaus Habermohl is another strange person that allegedly worked on this project. What is bizarre is that no actual proof was ever found that this was a real person that existed. Lastly, the role of Joseph Andreas Epp, who was an engineer, was a supposed consultant to the Heinkel-BMW flying disc program. After the war, he claimed to have greatly influenced the German disc-shaped aircraft project, but if this is true, or was just an attempt to gain fame are unknown, the latter option seems more possible.

Schierver claimed that, together this team decided to proceed and built a third,even larger aircraft. The necessary component for the aircraft was to be supplied by Heinkel while  Bayerische Motoren Werke AG – BMW was to have been responsible for providing the necessary engines. During the construction of the V3 prototype, one member of the team proposed using an experimental radial flow gas turbine engine which was adopted. The V3 was said to have been completed in the autumn of 1944. It was said to be  almost double the size of the previous prototype with a diameter ranging from 12.2 to 15.1 m. No specific model of jet engine was mentioned. Supposedly, this aircraft was capable of achieving subsonic speed and could take off vertically.

As the war was by this point obviously lost, the Germans tried to delay the inevitable, and out of desperation, the SS became more involved in Wunderwaffe projects. This flying disc was said to be one of them, with their supposed involvement helping to add another layer of esotericism. Supposedly, soon the new V7 prototype was under construction. The fate of the V4, V5, and V6 prototypes is unknown. The last prototype, the V7 was reportedly designed to be larger than its predecessor by having a diameter of 18.3 to 21.3 m. This prototype was to be powered by gas turbine engines, from the start. At some point the work on the prototype was supposedly taken over by Richard Miethe.

Technical characteristics

Given the general obscurity and poor source materials, the precise construction of this bizarre aircraft is unknown. The available information should be regarded as illegitimate as it is technically incorrect, extremely inconsistent, and often fantastical.

The aircraft itself was envisioned as a circular-rotary wing design likely made of metal and powered by several smaller jet engines. It consisted of a centrally positioned crew cabin, which was surrounded by a large rotary wing assembly, resembling a huge fan. These were surrounded by a huge likely metal ring. What holds this ring in place is not clear according to a few drawings of it that exist.

The V7 had a diameter of 18.3 to 21.3 m. To provide stability it is often suggested that this aircraft received a stabilizing fin added close to the central cockpit. The central cockpit appears to be hemispherical and was fully glazed, providing the crew with a good upper all-around view. The lower view would be greatly restricted by the large rotary wing and present extreme difficulty in landing. How they would resolve this issue is not clear. It is possible that at the bottom of the cockpit, additional windows were to have been added.  The crew consisted of two to three crew members whose roles were not specified.

Beneath the large rotary wings, at least four jet engines were to be used to power the whole assembly. These provided lift during take-off and landing. Allegedly, horizontal flight could be achieved by adding additional engines possibly connected to the lower part of the cockpit unit. Several different possibilities could have been used for this project. Ranging from Jumo 004, Jumo 211/b, BMW 003 engines, Walter HWK109 rocket engine, or the Argus pulsejet. Its alleged maximum speed achieved was 1,200 km/h or up to 2,000 km/h at a height of 12,400 m. Given its nature, and that none of the engines would have sufficient performance for supersonic flight, both numbers seem unrealistic, to say the least. Even in Rudolph Schriever’s own testimony after the war, he claimed that the prototype only managed to achieve some basic flights. There is no record that any kind of armament was tested on this aircraft.

The Fate of the Project

Like most parts of this aircraft, its final fate is unknown. Hard to verify, and often absurd claims, mention that it climbed to  heights of 12.200 m or managed to reach supersonic speed. Given that it was supposedly in its early development phase when the previously mentioned test flight was made, it is dubious that such a flight was possible even with all of the other issues.

The V7 was said to have been destroyed by the Germans to prevent its capture. Or the Germans failed in this and the Soviets managed to capture it, with no evidence existing in either case. There was also said to be a V8 prototype that was under construction by the war’s end. Another interesting but unconfirmed information is that some members of the team who worked on this flying disc including Richard Miethe actually managed to surrender to the Western Allies. This seems unlikely and was possibly fabricated by Miethe, who was known to have been involved in some different conspiracy theories, so his background is also not verifiable.

Ironically, the Germans actually managed to develop and built in small series a rocket-propelled VTOL aircraft, the Ba 349. While quite an unusual design, it was a  real, and more practical aircraft in contrast to fictitious flying disc projects.  By the time it was flight tested in March 1945, it proved to be a failure.

Production

After the war, Joseph Andreas Epp claimed that at least 15 various prototypes were built and tested by the Germans. This number also includes another similar project that runs parallel to the alleged Heinkel-BMW project.

• V1 –  Small prototype model
• V2 –  Second prototype whose fate is unknown
• V3 –  Tested in late 1944
• V4-6 –  Possibly paper projects
• V7 –  Larger fully operational prototype
• V8 –  Alleged improved V7 prototype

Is the whole story actually True?

Not surprisingly the entire story about Rudolph Schriever’s work is in all likelihood, a complete fabrication. Author, G. Rendall (UFOs Before Roswell) gives a quite detailed account of the Schriever’s involvement, or better said, lack thereof in the German flying disc program.

The connection between Schriever and the Luftwaffe is not clear. While he is often described as having the title Flugkapitan (Flight Captain) this was not an official military rank but instead an honorary title given to civilian test pilots for their service. This usually includes testing a prototype aircraft and testing newly built planes. Schriever, allegedly thanks to his idea of a flying disc, and pilot skill was said to be summoned to Heinkel. In reality, there is no evidence to support this, neither him being an engineer nor a test pilot. His first public appearance and general mention of his flying disc project occurred when he gave an interview to the Der Spiegel news magazine on the 30th of March 1950.

Schriever may have been influenced to come up with his story by the Italian post-war flying disc stories. In the late 1940s Italian engineers showed great interest in designing similar aircraft. One engineer Francesco de Beaumont proposed a disk-shaped aircraft design powered by four jet engines. Another engineer Giuseppe Belluzzo in his own story given to the magazine Il Giornale d’Italia, was he mentioned Italian and German flying disc development.

In any case,  according to Schriever’s interview, he allegedly became involved in the flying disc program in 1942. Quite interesting is the fact that according to Schriever’s own words, this aircraft was successfully flight-tested.  He continued to work on this project up to the end of the war when he had to flee with the whole documentation and plans. He set up a small workshop and the documents were stored there. In 1948 he claimed that they had been stolen by an unspecified foreign agency and never found. Despite claiming to be involved in the secret flying disc program as an engineer,  Schriever after the war worked as a simple truck driver. As there is no proof of the Heinkel-BMW flying disc, the whole story seems like a fabrication invented by Schriever. As in his later interview, he claimed to be involved in other projects; it is likely that he was seeking attention possibly from the Allies or simply just bored during a time when Germany was undergoing a slow, painful recovery. To add to the likelihood of the latter, at that time German engineers were highly in demand by the Allies and the Soviets. The US army even organized special operations to bring many German scientists to America, yet Schriver’s claims of the disc aircraft were completely ignored. If being recruited was Schriever’s intention, he failed in that regard. In the end, Schriever’s story ended with his death in 1953, as reported by the German Newspaper, Deutsche Illustrierte

The Real German Circular-wing aircraft

As it is often the case, the reality is often quite disappointing for those who believe in the extraterrestrial and esoteric origins of German flying source projects. Likely the only circular-wing design that reached some operational level was the Arthur Sack Sack AS-6. While even this aircraft had a rather obscure history, it is known that one prototype was completed and tested. Given that this was mostly a one-man project built using salvaged components, it should not come as a surprise that it led nowhere. During testing, the aircraft failed to take off and after a number of improvements, attempts to fly the aircraft were eventually discarded.  The only prototype would be destroyed in an Allied bombing raid. The Horten Ho 229 could technically also be classified as a flying disc aircraft, though by any technical definition, it is a flying wing. Despite some effort put into its development, it remained at the prototype stage. There were many other projects but few went beyond a mock-up stage.

Conclusion

Based on the few available information what conclusion could be made regarding this unusual design? Given its supposed secrecy and some element of Wunderwaffe allure, there is no doubt that the project is by all indications, fictional. Given the fact that the Germans allegedly spent years developing such aircraft but did not advance beyond the prototype stage, probably an indicator that the whole concept was likely flawed if it existed in the first place.

In the case of Rudolph Schriever’s work, it is quite certain that his entire involvement in such design was purely made-up after the war. Why he would do so is unclear. It is possible that he tried to get the attention of the Allies. In this regard, he failed, as the Allies probably saw,if they ever bothered in the first place, that the whole story was fake and invented from the start. It is much more likely that Rudolph Schriever simply wanted to do a publicity stunt, as he was probably extremely bored being a truck driver in post-war Germany. In the end, it’s likely that  Rudolph Schriever never suspected that his story would have gone so far, being propelled by the flying saucer craze of the 1950s.

Illustration

Credits

• Article written by Marko P.
• Edited by  Henry H.
• Ported by Henry H.
• Illustrated by Medicman 11

Source:

• D. Nesić  (2008)  Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Nemačka. Beograd.
• R. Ford (2000) German Secret Weapons of WWII, MBI
• B.Rose and T. Buttler (2006) Secret project Flying Saucer Aircraft, Midland
• J. R. Smith and A. L. Kay (1972) German Aircraft of the WW2, Putnam
• H. Stevens, Hitler Flying Saucers. Adventures Unlimited Press
• M. Fitzgerald (2018) Hitler Secret Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Arcturus
• G. Rendall (2021) UfOs Before Roswell, Graeme Rendall
• https://periergeia.org/en/nazi-secret-weapons-part-1-the-ufos-of-the-third-reich/
• https://www.nevingtonwarmuseum.com/schriever-flugkreisel.html