By 1945 a new threat emerged to Japan, American strategic bombing raids. The introduction and use of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress posed a substantial threat to Japanese aircraft. To remedy this issue, development of new more powerful fighters took place. Correspondence with Germany resulted in sharing of rocket and jet engine information to Japan.
Rocket development became heavy in Japan, with multiple designs being built. It was decided to redesign the Ohka for a new role – bomber interception. The Ohka-based interceptor would be lighter in weight, smaller armament, and a small silhouette. The Ohka was designed by the Japanese Naval Air Service, however the change to use a land-based interceptor was developed by either the Navy or Army air serviced, currently unknown.
The Ohka 43B and Suzuka are two completely different machines. The new design removed the use of a warhead entirely. Instead, a fuel tank and two 20mm cannons were placed in the nose of the design. With only a length of 6 meters, the 20mm cannons take up a considerable worth of space to fit the gun and munition belts properly. The design of the aircraft was significantly altered to account for its new use. A changed tail design, now introducing a general vertical and horizontal rudder and elevator, allowing better control of the aircraft in flight. Along with this a longer wingspan, being 0.5 meters longer on each side of the aircraft and thicker support. The new design of the Ohka-interceptor allowed for ease of maneuverability in flight. It is speculated to have been powered by a Toko Ro.2 (KR-10) rocket. The engines for the Suzuka was one of the most important changes. The Suzuka would be powered by a single Toko Ro.2 (KR-10) rocket (Japanese copy of the Walter HWK 509A rocket used in the J8M/Ki-200 interceptors) producing around 14.7 kN (3007 lbf) of thrust. The fuel capacity accommodated an estimated 7 minutes worth of fuel.
The KR-10 by April 3rd were highly experimental. Even when mounted on the J8M prototype months later, the KR-10’s operated poorly and even resulted in exploding due to the rocket mixtures.
The interceptor was produced in a handful of models. By the time the war ended in 1945, most of the vehicles were kept at Suzuka (a single example), Yokosuka, and Kanoya airfields.
The Suzuka 24 would have been launched from a ramp, and is unknown whether or not it had landing gear.
A rocket launching track for the aircraft
A rocket sled for launching
It was allegedly seen in action 3 times near the end of the Pacific War by B-29 bomber crews, but did not inflict damage and retreated shortly afterwards.
The first encounter occurred on April 3rd of 1945 during a B-29 raid on the Tachikawa Aircraft Factory. A B-29 crew reported seeing a “ball of fire” at their 5 o’clock closing in behind them. The B-29 pulled quick evasive turning maneuvers while lowering their altitude. The “ball of fire” quickly closed in on the lost distance, but suddenly turned back a few seconds later. One of the crew members reported that he saw a stream of fire following the object, and faded when the object turned. The blister gunner reported seeing a wing attached to the object, and what seemed to be a navigational light burning on the wing’s left tip.
The second encounter occurred during a raid near Tokyo Bay. A B-29 crew member reported seeing a “ball of fire” following it at approximately 4,000ft (1,220m) while the bomber was at approximately 7,000ft (2,130m). The B-29 began evasive maneuvers right away, gaining and losing 500ft (152m) quickly. It also changed its course by 35 degrees, and increased the airspeed from 205mph (330km/h) to 250mph (402km/h). The B-29 crew lost sight of the “ball of fire” three times as it was flying through the clouds but to their surprise, found it sitting on their tail when the B-29 came out of the clouds. The “ball of fire” followed the B-29 for approximately 5 miles (8km) across Tokyo bay before turning around.
The third encounter supposedly happened at night, a waist gunner of a B-29 at 8,000ft (2,440m) reported seeing what was thought at first to be light from an amber colored searchlight. The light gained altitude and followed the B-29. The pilots then climbed to 12,000ft (3,660m) and then came down to 10,000ft (3,050m) but the light followed. The radar operator then picked up an object trailing behind the B-29 at approximately 1 mile (1.6km) behind. Shortly afterwards, the tail gunner reported seeing a stream of fire emanating from the pursuing object. The fire appeared to be coming out in bursts, with each burst measuring approximately 24 inches (61cm) with a 6 inch (15cm) break between each burst from the gunner’s perspective. The fire kept emanating for about 7 minutes before ceasing for good. The B-29 continued through evasive maneuvers, but the object kept on following. The object was last seen about 30 miles beyond the coast line above the ocean.
United States Intelligence discovered one model at Suzuka, and labeled the aircraft as the Suzuka-24 as the official designation was not known. The first such discovery was made by AC/AS intelligence when they photographed Suzuka Airfield.
Soon afterwards, XXI Bomber Command discovered four more models of the Suzuka-24 were discovered at Kanoya airfield. At Yokosuka, another model was found along with a pilot belonging to the airfield captured. The pilot listed details of the aircraft, its designated use being bomber intercepting, and measurements of the aircraft. Photographs were mentioned as being taken, however at this time none have been found. The machine was further described in detail in a prisoner of war interrogation with two Japanese petty-officers.
In an interview conducted post-war of two Japanese petty officers confirmed the existence of the Suzuka. One of the interrogates described seeing the Suzuka at Yokosuka airfield in October of 1944. He described it as a “ground-launched, rocket-propelled, interceptor bomb”. The primary target seems to be Boeing B-29 Superfortresses.
Reports on the Suzuka 24’s spotted from aerial photos, as well as information collected from POWs.
A U.S. Military report about the encounters with the rocket fighter
After the war, the United States encountered many different aircraft. Multiple variations of the Ohka were made and left over in mixed conditions. Because of this, the Suzuka-24 is confused to be an identical Ohka with a warhead, the Model 43B. The Model 43B was similarly designed to hold two 20mm cannons. However the fuselage was extended to carry both the cannons and warhead with fuel for a Ne20 jet engine.
Suzuka 24 Powerplant: 1x Toko Ro.2 (KR-10) rocket – 3,307 lbs / 1,500kg thrust (presumed) Wingspan: 20 ft aprox. (6.097 m) Length: 20 ft aprox. (6.097 m) Maximum Glide Speed: 840 kmh (520 mph) Rate of Climb: 10,000 feet per minute (3,050 meters per minute) Range: 7 minutes of fuel Service ceiling: 32,000 feet (9,755 meters) Crew: 1 Armament: 2 x 20mm Cannons (60 or 150 shells per gun) (Unknown Ho-5 or Type99) Bombs: None
The POW’s sketch compared with a blueprint of the Ohka 43
Japan’s naval officers, in the summer of 1944, were faced with the almost sure knowledge that their country’s defeat was simply a matter of time. Even before Vice Admiral Ohnishi ordered the creation of the Kamikaze Special Attack Force in October 1944, some naval officers were seeing suicide attacks as the only way to defeat the Allied fleets. One of these men was a transport pilot of the 405th Kokutai, Ensign Mitsuo Ohta. He conceived the idea of a rocket-propelled suicide attack plane, and with the aid of personnel from the University of Tokyo’s Aeronautical Research Institute, he drafted preliminary plans for his brainchild. In August 1944 he submitted his drawings to the Naval Air Technical Arsenal at Yokosuka. The Navy decided that Ensign Ohta’s idea had merit, and so the Arsenal was instructed to prepare a set of detailed blueprints – the engineers involved were Masao Yamana, Tadanao Mitsugi, and Rokuro Hattori. The Ohka (Cherry Blossom) was, in effect, a manned anti-shipping cruise missile of the Pacific War.
The MXY7, as the design was named, was intended as a coastal-defense or anti-invasion weapon, launched by a “parent” aircraft. Once released by its “mother” ship – usually a G4M twin-engined bomber – the MXY7 would glide downwards, and once the pilot had selected a target, the weapon would accelerate to attack speed using the power of three solid-fuel rockets mounted in the tail. These rockets could be fired one at a time or all three simultaneously. Theoretically, when it was at its terminal velocity, the MXY7 would be virtually impossible to stop, and only pilot error could cause it to miss. This small but lethal aircraft was to be built of wood and non-critical metal alloys, utilizing unskilled labor, and as it would be flown by pilots with only limited aerial experience, flight instruments were to be kept to a bare minimum and good maneuverability was required to achieve accuracy in flying and aiming the “manned missile”.
The actual aircraft itself looked like a torpedo to which wings and twin tail surfaces had been added. Barely 20 feet long, and with wings spanning just over 16½ feet, its sliding canopy was hump-backed. In front of the canopy was a ring sight, with a bead sight in front of that, for precise aiming when in the terminal dive on a target. The Ohka was built by unskilled workers using as much non-strategic material as possible. The fuselage was a standard aluminium structure, but the wings were made of moulded plywood covered in fabric. Cockpit instrumentation consisted of only four instruments: a compass, an airspeed indicator, an altimeter and an inclinometer for turn indication.
Ten MXY7s were completed by the end of September 1944. Unpowered flight trials began at Sagami the following month, and in November the first powered flight was made at Kashima. The MXY7 was accepted for Navy service under the name Navy Special Attacker Ohka Model 11. It was powered by a battery of three Type 4 Mark 1 Model 20 rockets, which produced 1,764 pounds of thrust, combined, for 8 to 10 seconds of powered flight. Performance measured during an unmanned flight at Kashima in January 1945 indicated that the Ohka could reach a top unpowered speed of 288 mph and a top powered speed of 403 mph, both speeds being attained at a height of 11,485 feet.
The Imperial Navy didn’t bother to wait for all test results to come in; production began with the first ten Ohka Model 11s in September 1944, and 755 were built by the end of March 1945, when production of this variant ceased. One hundred and fifty-five were built by the Naval Air Technical Arsenal at Yokosuka, and 600 more by the First Naval Air Arsenal at Kasumigaura; Nippon Aircraft Ltd. and Fuji Aircraft Ltd were subcontractors for the wings and tail units. But barely a hundred of them were actually used in operations.
Ohka Model 11
The Ohka’s debut was highly inauspicious. Sixteen G4M2e mother planes of the 721st Kokutai, each carrying a single MXY7, took off from Kanoya on March 21, 1945 to attack an American carrier task force 320 miles off the coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main Japanese home islands. Two additional Bettys went along as navigation and radio planes. Their commander was Lt. Cdr. Goro Nonaka, a veteran torpedo bomber pilot. Nonaka’s last words, just before he entered his bomber for the mission, were “This is Minatogawa.” He was referring to the battle in the 14th Century Japanese civil war between the Northern and Southern imperial courts, where one of Japan’s greatest military heroes, the Southern commander, Masashige Kusunoki, killed himself after losing, saying, “Shikisei hokoku!” (I wish I had seven lives to give for my country!) The attack was a complete, humiliating fiasco. Fifty-five Zero fighters from the 201st Kokutai were assigned to fly escort, but mechanical failure caused by poor maintenance forced some fighters to abort without leaving the ground, and others had to abort when airborne. Only 30 Zeros actually accompanied the 18 Bettys to the combat area, where fifty F6F Hellcats attacked them well before they reached optimal launching range. Ignoring the escort fighters, the American carrier fighters concentrated on the bombers and their strange under-belly cargo. All of the Ohkas were jettisoned (the pilots remained with the mother ships), but 15 of the Bettys were destroyed.
Three more, including Cdr. Nonaka’s, tried to take cover in a nearby bank of clouds, but they were soon found and shot down as well. Fifteen of the 30 escorting Zeros were also lost, with the remnant returning home in varying states of damage.
This episode pointed up the worst failings of the Ohka, or Baka (“stupid” in Japanese. Widely known as Gizmo before Baka was selected on the suggestion of a US Navy Petty Officer) as the Allies called it: the mother aircraft, when carrying it, was a fat, wallowing aerial whale, lacking speed and maneuverability, easy meat for defending interceptors. And the Ohka lacked range, even when gliding; it had to be launched from no more than 20 nautical miles (23 statute miles) away from its prospective target. Very few Ohkas actually struck their targets, as it was so difficult to launch and to maneuver under its pilot’s hands. But once released, and once the rockets were ignited, the Ohka was impossible to stop. Its first successes were scored the first day (April 1, 1945) of the American invasion of Okinawa, when the battleship West Virginia and three transports were hit, and on April 12, an Ohka scored its first sinking by sending the destroyer Mannert L. Abele to the bottom of the sea. The destroyer-minesweeper Shea was hit by an Ohka on May 4, and barely escaped total loss, as a fire started by the Ohka almost reached the ship’s magazines before the damage-control men brought it under control. Its last success came on June 16, when an Ohka and a bomb-carrying Zero almost simultaneously struck the destroyer Twiggs, which sank within a few minutes.
In all, the Okinawa campaign cost the US Navy 40 ships sunk or damaged beyond repair and 368 damaged to varying extents, often seriously. The US Navy lost more sailors dead and wounded than the Army and Marines lost in the ground combat, making Okinawa, next to the Guadalcanal campaign, the bloodiest and most difficult of the war for the Navy. The Japanese lost about 7,600 planes, more than half of which were suicide planes; the Americans lost 763 planes of their own. It is not known for sure exactly how many Ohkas scored hits and sinkings.
It might be well to mention here that a number of Ohkas were captured on Okinawa itself. Apparently, the Japanese shipped several Ohkas to that island before the campaign opened, probably meaning to use the airfield at Yontan as a refuelling and arming point. But American aerial supremacy never allowed the Japanese to base any aircraft there after about March 25, and the Americans took Yontan very quickly after the landings. And so, the MXY7s were never used, and quite a few “Baka bombs” were captured intact. Most of the surviving examples in museums came from this source.
Further development of the basic Ohka theme continued, but no other variants other than the Model 11 were used in combat.
K-1 Forty-five examples of the Ohka K-1, an unpowered trainer with water ballast replacing the powerplant and warhead, were produced by Yokosuka to provide pilots with limited experience in handling a simulation of the real thing in flight. Both water ballast tanks would be emptied during the practice terminal dive, slowing the landing speed to 138mph, and the glider would then land on retractable skids.
Ohka K-1 trainer
Ohka Type 22
Ohka 22
The Ohka Model 22 was intended as an improved version to be launched from the faster and more maneuverable P1Y3 variant of the Navy’s Ginga bomber. Because the Ginga could not carry the same payload as the G4M2e, and because of the limited space under the P1Y3 compared to the Betty mother plane, the Ohka 22 was to have shorter wings and a lighter explosive payload (1,323 lbs.). The Ohka 22 received a Tsu-11 turbojet – a Campini-type jet engine – with a 100-hp Hitachi HA11 four-cylinder inline engine driving a single-stage compressor as a gas generator. The engine was fuel injected but engineering analysis after the war suggests that this had limited effect and that in reality the unit was little more than an afterburning ducted fan engine as the majority of the thrust came from the compressor. The Ohka was adapted to accommodate the engine by lengthening the fuselage with intakes on the side. It was hoped that the Ohka would have greater range with this jet engine, and so the mother ships could more easily survive attack by releasing the Ohka 22 farther away from target.
Fifty Ohka 22s were built by Yokosuka, and an ambitious production scheme was planned, with Aichi doing most of the final assembly and with the smaller concerns of Murakami, Miguro, and Fuji serving as subcontractors. But due to the increasingly bad war situation, Aichi was unable to begin production, so the Imperial Navy planned to concentrate Ohka 22 production in underground factories managed by the Air Arsenal at Kasumigaura. The war ended before any of the underground factories could be completed. One Ohka 22 was test-flown in July 1945, launched by a Betty because the proposed P1Y3 Ginga was not yet built, but auxiliary rockets installed under the Ohka’s wings ignited prematurely just after release, and the Ohka 22 went into an unrecoverable stall, killing its pilot.
A single example of a Tsu-11 engine is preserved at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. In 1997 it was installed in the museum’s Ohka 22 during its restoration.
Ohka Model 43 K-1 Kai Wakazakura (Young Cherry) The Ohka Model 33 was an enlarged Model 22 powered by a Ne-20 turbojet and fitted with a 1,764-lb. warhead. Its intended mother ship was the G8N1 Renzan four-engined bomber, but the low priority given the G8N program led to the Ohka 33’s cancellation before any examples could be completed. Also unbuilt was the Ohka 43A, a still larger variant with folding wings intended for launching from surfaced submarines. The Model 43B, a development of the 43A, was to have been a shore-launched manned missile, stored in and catapulted from caves. Once in the air, the Ohka 43B’s wingtips would’ve been jettisoned to increase the type’s speed, but no prototypes were built by the time of Japan’s capitulation. But three examples of a two-seat training version of the 43B, designated Ohka Model 43 K-1 Kai Wakazakura (Young Cherry), were produced before the surrender. These had retractable skids and flaps for landing, and the warhead was replaced by a second cockpit for the student. One Type 4 Model 1 Mark 20 rocket was mounted in the tail for limited powered-flight experience.
Ohka 43-K1-Kai
Other Ohka developments included a single example of the Model 11 experimentally fitted with wings fabricated by Nakajima out of thin steel; the Ohka Model 21, a hybrid consisting of the rocket powerplant of the Model 11 married to the airframe of the Model 22; and the Ohka Model 53, to be powered by a Ne-20 turbojet, and towed aloft like a glider and released over the target by its towplane. Total production of all Ohka variants was 852 examples.
Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka (Baka) Model 11 Type: Single-seat suicide attack plane Powerplant: 3 x Type 4 Model 1 Mark 20 solid-fuel rockets with a total thrust of 1,764 lb Wing span 5.12 m (16 ft 9.5 in) Length 6.07 m (19 ft 10.75 in) Height 1.16 m (3 ft 9.5 in) Wing area 6.02 sq.m (64.6 sq.ft) Empty weight 440 kg (970 lb) Max¬imum take off weight 2140 kg (4,718 lb). Max level speed: 650 km/h (403 mph) at 11,485 ft Terminal diving speed 927 km/h (576 mph) Range 37 km (23 miles) Warhead: 2,646 lb / 1200kg
Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka (Baka) Model 21 Type: Single-seat suicide attack plane Powerplant: 3 x Type 4 Model 1 Mark 20 solid-fuel rockets with a total thrust of 1,764 lb
Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka (Baka) Model 22 Type: Single-seat suicide attack plane Powerplant: 1 x 551-lb.-thrust Tsu-11 turbojet, with a Hitachi 100-hp four-cylinder inline gas generator Wingspan: 13 ft. 6 7/32 in Length: 22 ft. 6 7/8 in Height: 3 ft. 9 9/32 in Wing area: 43.055 sq. ft Empty weight: 1,202 lb Loaded weight: 3,197 lb Wing loading: 74.3 lb./sq. ft Maximum powered speed: 276 mph at 13,125 ft Range: 81 statute miles Warhead: 1,323 lb
Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka (Baka) Model 43B Type: Single-seat suicide attack plane Powerplant: 1 x 1,047-lb.-thrust Ne-20 axial-flow turbojet Wingspan: 29 ft. 6 11/32 in Length: 26 ft. 9 ¼ in Height: 3 ft. 9 9/32 in Wing area: 139.930 sq. ft Empty weight: 2,535 lb Loaded weight: 5,004 lb Wing loading: 35.8 lb./sq. ft Maximum powered speed: 345 mph at 13,125 ft Range: 173 statute miles Warhead: 1,764 lb
Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka (Baka) Model 53 Type: Single-seat suicide attack plane Powerplant: 1 x 1,047-lb.-thrust Ne-20 axial-flow turbojet
A rocket powered version of the Long-Ez flew twice at Mojave in 2002. Its twin rocket motors of 400 lb thrust each burned for less than three minutes after which it took seven minutes to glide to landing. It is fuelled by isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen. The engines can be shut-down and restarted in flight.
In 1931 William G Swan built a rocket-powered glider used in the first rocket-powered, manned flight in the US, first flying on 4 June 1931. A second flight followed the next day. Swan also carried some mail, so it would also qualify as the first rocket-propelled air mail.
The craft was a single-place open-cockpit, high wing monoplane.
Chronologically, the Su-7 mixed-power high-altitude interceptor preceded the Su-5, being based broadly on the single-seat Su-6(A) assault aircraft. Intended to fulfil a 1943 requirement, the Su-7 retained the single-spar metal wing of the experimental shturmovik, mated to a new all-metal semi-monocoque fuselage. It was proposed that the fighter be powered by the 2,200hp Shvetsov M-7118-cylinder two-row radial engine with paired TK-3 turbo-superchargers, but non-availability of this power plant led to the decision to install a 14-cylinder two-row Shvetsov M-82FN radial engine rated at 1,850hp and supplemented by a Korolyov-Glushko RD-1KhZ bi-fuel rocket motor developing 300kg thrust with a burn time of four minutes.
Flight testing of the Su-7 with the rocket motor commenced in the late summer of 1944. Although the unstable nature of the rocket power plant motivated against adoption of the Su-7, flight testing revealed that it boosted maximum speed by 83km/h at 7,500m and by 195km/h at 13,000m. Armament comprised two wing-mounted 20mm cannon, and the sole rocket-powered Su-7 prototype was being prepared for the first post-World War II air display over Moscow in 1945 when the rocket motor exploded, killing the pilot and destroying the aircraft.
Engine: Shvetsov M-82FN radial, 1,850hp and 1 x Korolyov-Glushko RD-1KhZ bi-fuel rocket motor, 300kg thrust Max take-off weight: 4340 kg / 9568 lb Wingspan: 13.50 m / 44 ft 3 in Length: 9.60 m / 32 ft 6 in Wing area: 26.00 sq.m / 279.86 sq ft Max. speed: 680 km/h / 423 mph Range: 1240 km / 771 miles
Embodying experience gained with the SO 9000, the SO 9050 – two prototypes of which were ordered in 1954 – embodied considerable redesign, entrusted to Dassault. A smaller wing of reduced thickness/chord ratio was adopted, the cockpit was enlarged, air brakes were transferred from the wing to the rear fuselage, a taller undercarriage was provided and a two-barrel SEPR 631 rocket motor of 3000kg / 6614 lb was adopted, combined with wing-tip 2425 lb st Turbomé Gabizo turbojets. It could carry a 330 lb Matra self-homing missile under the fuselage.
Sud Ouest SO 9050 Trident II Article
The first prototype SO 9050 was flown on 19 July 1955, its first flight on rocket power taking place on the following 21 December, and the second prototype flew on 4 January 1956, but was destroyed during its second flight. A third prototype had meanwhile been ordered, this flying on 30 March 1956, and some 10 weeks later, on 11 June, a contract was placed for six pre-series aircraft, a supplementary contract for a further four following (although the latter was to be cancelled on 24 October 1957 as an economy measure). The pre-series SO 9050 differed from the prototypes primarily in having 1100kg Turbomeca Gabizo turbojets in place of the Vipers at the wingtips and provision for nose-mounted AI radar and a single ventrally-mounted Matra R 511 air-air missile. The first pre-series aircraft was flown on 3 May 1957 and the third on 30 January 1958, but three months later, on 26 April, the programme was cancelled. During tests, Mach=1.9 was achieved at 19500m and an altitude of 26000m exceeded.
Both prototypes were lost in aerial accidents, the second confirming the inherent dangers of a rocket engine with its immensely volatile fuel.
SO-9050 Trident II Engines: 2 x Turbomé Gabizo turbojets, 2425 lb st, 1 x SEPR rocket, 6614 lb thrust. Loaded weight: 5900 kg / 13007 lb Empty weight: 2910 kg / 6415 lb Wingspan: 6.95 m / 23 ft 10 in Length: 13.26 m / 44 ft 6 in Height: 3.20 m / 11 ft 6 in Wing area: 14.50 sq.m / 156.08 sq ft Max speed: M1.8 (1188 mph)
Stemming from the lightweight fighter philosophy that emerged from the Korean conflict, the SO 9000 Trident single-seat interceptor developed by a team led by Lucien Servanty was of unusual concept in employing turbojets for auxiliary power and a rocket motor for primary thrust. Two prototypes of the Trident were ordered on 8 April 1951, the first of these flying on 2 March 1953 solely on the power of two wingtip-mounted Turbomeca Marbore II turbojets each rated at 400kg, the more powerful Vipers being substituted in 1955. The second prototype was destroyed on its first flight on 1 September 1953, but development continued with the first example, which, on 4 September 1954, flew for the first time with its primary power plant, a triple-barrel SEPR 481 triple-chamber liquid rocket motor providing a total thrust of 4500kg. As the aircraft could not take-off on the power of the Marbores at fully loaded weight, these gave place to Dassault MD 30 (Viper ASV 5) turbojets of 745kg, with which it flew on 17 May 1955. Although conceived as a combat aircraft, the SO 9000 had meanwhile been overtaken by a more advanced development, the SO 9050, and its test programme was terminated on 10 December 1956, the prototype having achieved a speed of Mach=1.63 – the highest speed attained by any piloted aircraft in Europe at that time – and an altitude of 15,000m.
SO 9000 Trident
SO-9000 Trident I 2 x Marboré II turbojets, 800 lb st
SO-9000 Trident I 2 x Armstrong Siddeley Viper 5 turbojet, 1640 lb st, 1 x SEPR 481 rocket, 9920 lb thrust Wingspan: 26 ft 8.75 in (8.15m) Length: 45 ft 11.25 in (14m) Wing area: 99.03 sq.ft (9.2 sq.m) Max wt: 12,125 lb (5500kg) Max speed: 1056 mph @ 36,000 ft Crew: 1
The Sud Aviation/Aérospatiale SA-610 Ludion (Ludion – Cadet) was a tiny, unorthodox VTOL aircraft demonstrated at the 1967 Paris Air Show. It consisted of little more than a chair, behind which were mounted two downward-pointing augmented rocket engines with control provided by thrust vectoring. The Ludion was intended to carry its pilot and 30 kg (66 lb) of equipment up to 700 m (2,300 ft) at an altitude of up to 200 m (600 ft).
The unusual powerplant consisted of a monofuel de-composition chamber fed with pressurised isopropyl nitrate (AVPIN), ignited by a catalyst. The high pressure gasses produced in the de-composition chamber were fed to two augmentor tubes, built by Bertin, either side of the pilots seat, angled slightly outwards. As the gasses entered the augmentor tubes through rocket nozzles, thrust was augmented by inducing airflow through the ducts which acted as aero-thermo-dynamic ducts, due to the heat and kinetic energy added to the flow through the ducts, and the carefully shaped exhaust nozzles.
SA-610 Ludion Powerplant: 1 × SEPR S178 isopropyl nitrate (AVPIN) decomposition gas generator with augmentor tubes Length: 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Width: 1.485 m (4 ft 10 in) Height: 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) Empty weight: 90 kg (198 lb) Gross weight: 170 kg (375 lb) approx Capacity: payload 30 kg (66 lb) Crew: 1 Ceiling: 700 m (2,297 ft)
The Galeb was complemented by a generally similar but higher performance single-seat light attack/tactical reconnaissance version designated J-1 Jastreb (Hawk), which had a strengthened airframe and was powered by the improved Rolls-Royce Viper 531 turbojet. This was built as the J-1 attack and RJ-1 tactical reconnaissance aircraft for the Yugoslav air force, with corresponding J-1E and RJ-1 E versions for export. For operational conversion a two-seat TJ-1 was developed.
Production of all versions of the Jastreb ended during 1978.
J-1 Jastreb Engine: 1 x Rolls-Royce “Viper” 531, 1361kg Max take-off weight: 5100 kg / 11244 lb Loaded weight: 2820 kg / 6217 lb Wingspan: 11.68 m / 38 ft 4 in Length: 10.88 m / 36 ft 8 in Height: 3.64 m / 12 ft 11 in Wing area: 19.43 sq.m / 209.14 sq ft Max. speed: 820 km/h / 510 mph Ceiling: 12000 m / 39350 ft Range w/max.fuel: 1520 km / 945 miles Armament: 3 x 12.7mm machine-guns Hard points: 8 Crew: 1
From the end of 1951, the bureau d’etudes headed by Pierre Satre at the SNCA du Sud-Est undertook a series of studies of potential lightweight mixed-power interceptor fighters under what was effectively the generic designation SE 212. These studies crystallized in the shape of a small, 60-degree delta powered by a SNECMA Atar 101F with an afterburning thrust of 3800kg and a 750kg SEPR 75 rocket motor. The primary armament was intended to consist of a single AA 20 or R 052 missile carried externally on the fuselage centreline, alternative armament being two 30mm DEFA cannon or 24 SNEB rockets of 68mm calibre. An official contract was placed for two prototypes, the first of which was flown on 20 April 1956 without the rocket motor fitted. The Atar 101F turbojet was subsequently replaced by an Atar 101G with an afterburning thrust of 4400kg, and the first flight during which the rocket motor was lit took place on 19 December 1956. The second prototype SE 212 was flown on 30 March 1957. During flight testing a speed of 1444km/h, or Mach=1.36, was attained at 12,300m without the rocket motor and 1667km/h, or Mach=1.57, was reached at 11,800m with the rocket motor lit. These speeds were achieved without armament fitted, and the test programme terminated in 1958.
Loaded weight: 6700 kg / 14771 lb Empty weight: 4575 kg / 10086 lb Wingspan: 7.44 m / 24 ft 5 in Length: 12.07 m / 40 ft 7 in Wing area: 29.60 sq.m / 318.61 sq ft Max. speed: 1667 km/h / 1036 mph
All Aero 