Nazi Germany (1944)
Jet Fighter – 1 Incomplete Prototype Built 

During the war, German scientists and engineers managed to develop and build a number of jet powered aircraft, several of which went on to see combat. What is generally less known are the large number of experimental jets that were proposed and prototyped. These designs utilized a great variety of engines, airframes, and weapons. One of these unfinished projects was the Messerschmitt P.1101 jet fighter.

Need for a New Jet Fighter

During the war, the Germans introduced the Me 262, which had the honor of being the first operational jet fighter in the world. While it provided better performance than ordinary piston powered aircraft, it was far from perfect. The greatest issues were that it was expensive to build, required two jet engines, and could not be built in sufficient numbers. The German Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium; RLM) wanted a much simpler and cheaper design powered by a single engine. They issued a competition for a new jet fighter ,code named 1-TL-Jäger, during July 1944 for all available aircraft manufacturers. Some of the requirements listed were that it would be a single seater, have a maximum speed of 1000 km/h (620 mph), an endurance of at least one hour, armor protection for the pilot, make use of the Heinkel HeS 011 engine, and had an armament that had at least two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons. During a meeting with the leading German aircraft manufacturers held in September 1944, Messerschmitt presented the P.1101designed by Waldemar Voight.

The Messerschmitt P.1101 Development History

Messerschmitt’s engineers and designers began working on designing a single engined jet aircraft at the start of 1943. Two projects, P.1092 and P.1095, were both powered by a single Jumo 004 jet engine, but, as the Me 262 was entering full production, their development was largely suspended. These projects were shelved until the RLM competition in 1944. Seeing a new opportunity, Messerschmitt presented drawings of a new project named P.1011, which was influenced by the previous projects. It had an all-metal fuselage construction and was powered by one HeS 011 engine with the air intakes placed on the wing’s roots. It also had a V-tail.

Following the meeting with the RLM officials in September, some changes were made to the P.1101’s overall design. Instead of two air intakes, a single one in the nose was to be used. This also necessitated the redesigning of the cockpit, which was moved back. In addition, the rear V-tail was replaced with a standard fin design. At this early stage, the possibilities of using this aircraft for other purposes were still being explored. Beside the standard fighter, other roles which were considered were night fighter and interceptor. On 10th November, the owner of the company, Willy Messerschmitt, issued orders to begin working on the first experimental prototype. To speed up the developing time, it was proposed to reuse the already produced components of the Me 262. The Me 262 fuselage, wings design and construction were to be copied.

End of the Project

The P.1101 prototype was only partially completed in early 1945. It appears that, despite Messerschmitt’s attempts to complete this project, the RLM simply lost interest. Messerschmitt’s other projects, like the P.1110 and P.1111, showed greater potential than the P.1101. This, together with the fact that the promised engine never arrived, meant that the single incomplete prototype was put into storage at the Messerschmitt Oberammergau research center. It remained there until the war’s end, when it was captured by American forces.

Technical Characteristics

The P.1101 was a single seater, jet engine-powered mixed construction fighter. The lower parts of the all-metal fuselage were designed to house the jet engine. In the front of the fuselage, a round shaped intake was placed. To the rear, the fuselage was additionally reinforced to avoid any damage due to the heat of the jet exhaust. The underside of the fuselage was to have a skid to help better land during an emergency.

While it was originally intended to be powered by the HeS 011 engine, the power plant was never supplied and the Jumo 004B was to be used as a replacement. The main fuel tank, with a capacity of 1,100 liters (290 gallons), was placed just behind the cockpit. Only a mock-up engine was ever installed in this aircraft, so it was never tested properly, even on the ground. Due to this, it is unknown what the P.1101’s overall flight performance would have been. Some sources give rough estimates, such as that it could have reached 890 km/h (550 mph) at sea level and up to 980 km/h (610 mph) at higher altitudes. Of course, these are only estimations contingent on the fact that the plane had no other problems during operational flight. In addition the general ability to test flight characteristics in the transonic-supersonic range were extremely crude at this point.

The wing’s were made of wood materials. The prototype would have a completely innovative feature, namely the sweep angle of the wings could be adjusted at different angles ranging between 35° and 45°. The rear vertical and horizontal tail assembly was also made of wood.

The P.1101 had a retracting tricycle-type landing gear. It consisted of one forward mounted and two mid-fuselage wheels. All three retracted rearwards into the fuselage. The cockpit had a round shaped canopy with good all around vision.

The basic armament configuration consisted of two MK 108 cannons with 100 rounds each. These were placed in the front lower part of the fuselage. There were proposals to increase the firepower by adding two more MK 108 cannons, and the use of experimental air-to-air missiles was also considered. As the prototype aircraft was built to test overall flight performance, no armament was ever installed.

In American Hands

Advancing American soldiers reached the Messerschmitt Oberammergau base during April (or May) 1945. The single P.1101 was found there and, for some time, left open to the elements. The Bell Aircraft Chief Designer Robert Woods came to know of the existence of this aircraft. Once he had a chance to examine it, he organized for it to be shipped back to America for further study. It would be restored and used as testing mock up aircraft. The Bell aircraft design bureau paid great interest to the variable wing design. Working from the P.1101, they would eventually develop the Bell X-5, one of the first operational aircraft that could change the position of its wings during flight.

Conclusion

While incorporating the innovative feature of variable swept wings, the P.1101 was another victim of the chaotic state Germany was in at the end of war. Whether this aircraft could have performed its role is unknown, and while it never flew for the Germans, it helped the Americans develop the Bell X-5 after the war which incorporated the same variable wing design.

P. 1101 Specifications
Wingspans	27 ft / 8.24 m
Length	30 ft 1 in / 9.13 m
Height	9 ft 18 in / 2.8 m
Wing Area	170 ft² / 15.8 m²
Engine	One Jumo 004B or one HeS 011
Empty Weight	5,725 lbs/ 2,600 kg
Maximum Takeoff Weight	8,950 lbs / 4,060 kg
Fuel Capacity	1,100 l / 290 Gallons
Estimated Maximum Speed	610 mph / 980 km/h
Estimated Cruising speed	550 mph / 890 km/h
Crew	1 pilot
Armament	Two 108 MK cannons

Credits

• Article by Marko P.
• Edited by Stan L. and Henry H.
• Illustrated by Carpaticus
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