Specifications were expected to be as follows for the prototype V1: A top speed of 534 miles per hour was envisioned along with a service ceiling of 32,808 feet while a climb rate of 39 feet per second was intended. An empty weight of 4,815lb was expected along with a takeoff weight up to 7,066lb with internal fuel making up 1,830lb. As may be surmised, the production P.1101 (based on this prototype) was expected to showcase improved performance specifications that included a 612 mile-per-hour top speed and a service ceiling of 39,370 feet with a rate of climb equal to 73 feet per second. Range was listed at 932 miles.
At least on paper, the third vision of the P.1101 would have been quite the formidable opponent for Allied bombers and fighters alike.
The Program Comes to an Abrupt End
While the Messerschmitt program moved along as best it could, inevitable delays caused by the relentless Allied bombing campaign soon began to take its toll on the facility at Oberammergau. Allied ground forces were finding success after success and claiming much of the previously-held German territory. Their warpath eventually brought them in the vicinity of the Oberammergau facility to which the Messerschmitt team began making future plans for the fate of their P.1101.
It should be noted here that, despite the Allied bombing campaigns wreaking havoc across Germany, the Oberammergau facility was as yet unknown to Allied war planners. As such, the facility operated without the disruptions inherent in sustained operations during constant aerial attack. While most other facilities across Germany suffered at the hands of the Allied bombers, Messerschmitt was allowed relatively unfettered progress in their Bavarian mountain location. At the very least, shipments of parts and components necessary to the survival of the P.1101 were some of what delayed the project but the Oberammergau facility was never targeted by Allied bombs. In fact, the Messerschmitt Oberammergau location came as something of a surprise to the Allies when they eventually stumbled upon it in the waning months of the European Theater.
The Oberammergau Facility Falls
As American ground forces moved in, Messerschmitt employees gathered up documents related to the P.1101 development. This included amassed data as well as schematic drawings. The information was transferred to microfilm and hidden throughout the surrounding villages in the area while the P.1101 was tucked away in a neighboring tunnel. The area soon fell to an American ground force on April 29th, 1945 and led to the discovery and subsequent capture of the P.1101 airframe. The prototype was not yet flyable though some 80% of the aircraft had indeed been finished by this time. After some days of foraging by the Americans and obtaining other company documents at the facility, Messerschmitt employees soon gave up the existence of the microfilm data to the Americans. However, French ground forces had already moved into the surrounding area and uncovered the valuable data, inevitably sending them back to France for further evaluation. American researchers later arrived at Oberammergau to study the existing P.1101 V1 prototype up close.
The French Say 'No'
Though a joint effort was made on the part of Bell Aircraft's Robert Woods (part of the American evaluation team) and Messerschmitt chief designer Woldemar Voight to finish the P.1101 V1 as planned, this proved insurmountable because of the missing data now in French hands. The French - for whatever reason - were not in the interest of sharing their new-found trophy. One could suppose that, considering the circumstances of the German invasion of France years earlier, French authorities were in no mood to listen to anything a German had to say. As such, the Americans were left with just the incomplete P.1101 airframe and little else. The P.1101 was scrutinized "as is" with its remains ultimately sent stateside for further research.
Bell Aircraft Kicks the Tires and Lights the Fires
Bell Aircraft Works of Buffalo was the proud recipient of the P.1101 V1 prototype, the prize arriving sometime in August if 1948. By now, the prototype proved to be in a sad physical shape for it had been exposed to the elements of Southern Germany and transported across Europe. It also suffered at the hands of those rough-handling American GI's bent on photographing the trophy whenever possible. In one final stroke of fate, the unfinished prototype was dropped from its transport railcar, further diminishing the prospect that the airframe could actually be completed and flown someday. However, Bell Aircraft took the P.1101 under their microscopes and still garnered quite a bit from the Messerschmitt experiment. The original P.1101 was mated with an American Allison J35 turbojet engine and had mock cannon armament fitted to her. Some ground testing of the system occurred and even more data collection ensued.
The Bell Aircraft X-5
Bell Aircraft eventually began a new project all their own - based highly on the P.1101 - and developed the experimental Bell X-5 jet-powered fighter. The new aircraft resembled the P.1101 almost to a tee. The X-5 became the first aircraft to feature variable sweep wings. Whereas the P.1101 depended upon technicians to change the wing sweep while the aircraft was at rest on the ground, the X-5 had the uncanny ability to vary this sweep "on-the-fly" while in the air. The variable wing sweep allowed the operator to change-up wing drag based on the current action at hand (landing, take-off, cruise) in effect making each action more efficient and somewhat controlled. The Bell X-5 first took to the air on June 20th, 1951. While two examples were eventually produced and successfully test flown, one was later lost to a crash on October 13th, 1953 after falling into an irrecoverable spin. Its wings were set to 60-degrees sweepback just before the accident ensued. The National Museum of the United States Air Force took on delivery of the sole existing Bell X-5 in March of 1958 - a place where the aircraft still resides to this day.
Variable wing-sweep eventually became the basis for future combat aircraft designs that included the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, Rockwell B1 Lancer, Mikoyan MiG-23/MiG-27 "Flogger", Tupolev Tu-22 "Backfire" and the Panavia Tornado. All proved successful in one form or another, proving the validity of variable wing sweep design and then some.
The Fate of P.1101 V1
The actual P.1101 V1 prototype airframe was used up as far as it could go and eventually handed over to the scrapman's torch sometime in the 1950s. While the direct legacy of the P.1101 was effectively over, the P.1101 lineage lived on for a time through the development of the Bell X-5. The Cold War-era Saab 29 "Tunnan" jet-powered fighter also shared some external similarities to the P.1101 design.
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