Jettisonable rocket packs would be installed on the aircraft during pre-flight and jettisoned once their fuel had been spent. This quality would have allowed the interceptor to take-off and achieve the desired attack altitude in short order without solely relying on the turbojet engines - which were generally under-powered for the period and could not be pushed too hard.
The aircraft came to be known under the designation of "Projekt 1079" - or "P.1079". It was an optimistic design for an early jet that attempted to combine multiple crew, a radar fit, good operational ranges, and top-flight performance characteristics into a single airframe. If successful, swarms of such aircraft could affect the Allied bombing campaign while, if a failure, the design would set back German priorities for some time and worsen its already bleak situation.
At least three versions of the P.1079 were planned as "A", "B" and "B-2". The initial model was the true V-tail version with its wing mainplanes swept back at 35-degree angles. The B-model was to feature "gull wing" mainplanes and simplify the tail unit to include a more traditional vertical fin. Additionally, this mark was to serve as an all-weather, heavy fighter and feature a reduced crew of one while still largely following the form and function of the A-model being planned. The B-2 offering was a completely tail-less form with very-well-swept wing mainplanes for high-speed performance and extended operational ranges, the latter brought about by installing additional fuel stores within the wings.
The A-model moved forward and it was estimated that the system could reach speeds of 615 to 620 miles per hour and out to a range of 1,300 miles while cruising well above 30,000 feet. Metal was selected for its construction which proved at least one sticking point - metal was a precious commodity for Germany, particularly in the late-war years. Aerodynamic efficiency would be the call-of-the-day for Heinkel engineers as every amount of speed had to be extracted from the airframe so flush surfaces were used where appropriate and weight-saving measures whenever possible.
Wind tunnel testing was essentially all that became of the P.1079 initiative. Several variations were enacted on the tail unit - one version was even akin to a flying wing - but the best fit was found to be a "T-style" tail for the design (as seen in several classic post-war fighter jets like the North American F-86 "Sabre" and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15). The P.1079 failed to graduate into a full-sized mockup or flyable prototype before the end of the war arrived, leaving the project to the pages of Luftwaffe history.
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