It was intended, at least initially, that the wing mainplanes be designed as "wet", carrying the bulk of the required fuel stores for the thirsty jet engine but development never truly outlined the network that would have been used. The cockpit was also set to feature pressurization for high-altitude work (its principle foe would have been the high-flying American Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber) and an ejection seat was to be installed for the pilot.
Projected armament included 2 x 30mm MK 108 cannons in the nose with 2 x 30mm MK 108 cannon set in the wings (one per wing). Ammunition for the second set was held in a compartment immediately aft of the cockpit.
Power for the compact fighter became 1 x Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engine of 2,866 pounds thrust output. Performance could only be estimated as the finalized P.1111 was never constructed nor flown. Cruising speeds were in excess of 500 miles per hour with a rate-of-climb of 4,690 feet per minute being hoped for. Range was in the vicinity of 930 miles though actual flying time was restricted to about 1.8 hours. The proposed service ceiling reached nearly 46,000 feet.
In March of 1945, with the German war situation reaching catastrophic levels, the P.1111 design was submitted to Air Ministry officials. After a quick review, some changes were in order - the cockpit was moved to the absolute front of the fuselage and this forced the nose armament to be repositioned into the wings. With the wing space now reduced, fuel stores were repositioned themselves into the fuselage proper. Additional revisions to the wings, mainly a reduction of their surface area, led to a slight change in expected performance.
In this new guise, the aircraft was resubmitted for consideration as the "P.1112" but, in the end, the project came to nothing as the war in Europe ended during May and this, in turn, ended all prospects of another official review.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.