Welcome back to another top five video today
We're going to be discussing five secret
German World War two planes two AK she flew
For key factor for plane to have made its way onto this list is that it has to have flown in real life under its
own power
this also means that prototypes and wooden mock-ups are excluded from the list planes like the EF one two six a
Prototype of a post jet-powered fighter plane it was completed, but it never flew under its own power
Same goes for the mu2 63 for 260 was built
but only flew and tests well was towed by another plane for me2 63 was intended to be an evolution of the rocket fighter for
Me-163 it never flew under its own power so it cannot be on this list anyway. Let's get to her
number five for Blohm & Voss BV
- 3 8 4 bv - 3 8 was the largest flying boat in history
Well until just after world war ii when it was dethroned by the Spruce Goose this six engine behemoth was close to 60 tons
Only one 248 was fully completed the were further two more in production
But those two weren't completed due to the war's end for two free eight was being considered for free of roles
It could be a heavy transport plane or a heavy bomber
Being a seaplane means that it doesn't need a large paved landing strip to take off and land on any
Body of water is good enough
It's large lifting capacity could allow it to carry a very large bomb load
The wings were so large that they could have had internal bomb Bay's within them
It could also have been used as a maritime patrol plane for maritime patrol
It would work in the atlantic ocean supporting, yuba operations either for recon or with anti shipping weapons
for to Freight could carry up to a maximum of
95 tons including its own weight and fuel its large internal area allowed for easy transportation of large quantities of supplies
Loading was rather easy with forward-facing clamshell doors
unfortunately there are no photos of the front doors open you can see the seams of the door in this photo if
Needed but to 3/8 could carry up to 300 troops
That's significantly more impressive than the ME free - free Germany's largest transport plane
Even that could only carry up to a hundred and thirty troops with its range of 7,000 kilometers
It will be ideal for reinforcing and resupplying for German African campaign
Allied anti-shipping efforts were causing havoc on the Italian shipping convoys to North Africa
airlift initiatives with the ME free to free and other
Luftwaffe transport aircraft were used to transport urgent supplies such as fuel to the Africa Corps
But to free eight would have been useful in this theater had it been ready in time originally
But to free eight was designed to be a civilian plane, but that changed after the German Air Ministry
Requested that the plane be used for military
application for his role in the Air Force for two free eight would need offensive ornaments for ornament on this plane can make the
b-17 Flying Fortresses armored cousin the YB forty blush
for BV
Two three eight was bristling with guns there were four heavy caliber quad machine gun turrets
One in the nose facing forward and another in the tail facing backwards the other two turrets were mounted in the rear
midsection of each way facing backwards
For heavy machine guns would be placed along the plane's fuselage
To facing out and either side at the front and another to facing outwards at the rear
Los Lee there were two twin 2-centimeter cannons in a rotating turret mounted on top of the fuselage
Even with all these weapons 4bv 248 had a dull ending. It was strafed by allied fighters
Who are sitting in dock the last of its fuel had been taken away for more important aviation projects
So it's test flights were on hold different sources argue over
How actually but two free eight was destroyed?
some sources say British fighters and
Others sail was destroyed by American fighters all I truly know is that the plane was destroyed and any remains were taken away post-war
It's rather sad that all was destroyed because it was mere days before the end of the war
Admittedly not that the Allies knew that there was a general idea that
Long-range German planes could be used to take high-ranking party officials out of the country and to South America
So is key to attempt to destroy these long-range planes before they could escape
One very cute thing is that there's a 1/4 scale model of the plane commissioned for testing
They're FGM
P227 it's a fully functioning scale model of the bv2 v8
Testing of the scale model plane was stopped once the BV to forget was destroyed 4 2 3 8 was awesome for its time
But within a few years, it was outstripped by the American h4 Spruce Goose
It was another seaplane which was being designed during World War 2 as a way to transport supplies safely to the UK without risk of
Interception by you bow its cargo capacity was enormous. It could even carry 2 Sherman tanks
I do have to add that the Spruce Goose didn't participate in many flight trials so as flight characteristics are questionable
It's awesome that air has been preserved and is on display in the evergreen aviation and Space Museum
I hope one day that I get the opportunity to visit that Museum because it will be amazing to see the h4 in real life
number four for yonkers ju 390
Bianca's ju 390 was born out of the American bomber project
The idea was to design and build a bomber capable of reaching
New York and making it back to Europe for payload ideally would be big enough to be able to carry an atomic weapon
For plane didn't need to be able to do the journey from Germany occupied France to America
It was also an option to use
Portuguese islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean as launch points for the operation that was until the Portuguese were not so friendly in
1943
Still there were two airfields in France that were suitable as they were long enough and close enough to America
It was hoped that by bombing targets along the American East Coast two things will be achieved
One was reducing the will of the American people to intervene in a European war for second was stretching America's forces
America would have to commit large amounts of resources to provide protection for the East Coast a mass of anti-aircraft
Defenses along the whole of eastern America would have to have been built lots of planes will also have to be committed for
interception of German bombers
Possibly even fighters would have to be withdrawn from Europe to provide cover for the u.s.
More realistically for Ju 390 would have made a good maritime patrol plane working with the Quigs marine in the atlantic u-boat war
For gu 390 is not an entirely new plane design. It's based off the Ju
294 plane has essentially been stretched in length and widened
Even though the ju 390 was a strategic bomber which is a class of air arms largest bomber
It's really just a medium bomber with a few upgrades
German aviation
Doctrine was never really in favor of heavy bombing as a strategy the Luftwaffe was designed to support the infantry for aerial
superiority and close attack aircraft
Even medium bombers were expected to support the infantry if needed for a chi 177 is a medium bomber yet
it was fitted out with dive brakes circuit attack ground targets as
Such German industry was never set up for the production of heavy bombers it also doesn't help that heavy bombers are
expensive to make and maintain if
Germany wanted to switch war production from light planes to heavy
They would have to forego the benefit or having several light aircraft in return for one heavy
You can see how Russia faces issue - even with the end of the war evident from the beginning of 1944
Russia's aviation manufacturing focused on light and medium bombers rather than heavy
Only after the war was focused given back to long-range strategic aircraft
For UK and America had different ways to approach warfare
They wanted to strike the enemy with his little loss of life to their own people as possible
For UK and America had the benefit of not having to actively defend a land border this helped swear pinion to heavy bombing
This led to the British design of heavy bombers such as the stolen and Halifax
Leading to development of the iconic Lancaster same for America
They developed the b-17 Flying Fortress and the b-24 Liberator
So they could operate from safety and still effectively fight a war
This has been my long-winded way of saying that heavy bomber production takes resources and time to gear up
Both of which Germany did not have in 1943 so a pimped-out ju 290 was the way to go
For 390 was originally meant to have four engines, but during the design phase
They couldn't secure engines powerful enough, so they had to compromise with six weaker engines
Its maximum range was nine thousand seven hundred kilometers
So I was able to do a trip to America and back with 6.5 tons of bombs
Although it would take a while around 46 hours round trip
It is reported today ju 390 flew within 20 kilometers within the coast of america
It was on a flight to test the feasibility of cross-atlantic bombing that flight is disputed to whether it happened or not
Different sources argue over the feasibility of that flight and whatever not it could have happened
When fully loaded but plane would weigh 55 tons not including bombs
But 10-man crew had a range of ornament between them to defend the plane against
Interception there were two turrets on the roof each one with 2 centimeter cannons
There were two heavy quad machine gun turrets one in the front and one in the back there was also another tower under the fuselage
Lost Li two positions in the waist of the plane on either side four machine guns
Only two ju 390s were built before the war's end there was a total order of
Twenty-six ju three 90s for order was then canceled later in the year
1944 as it was decided to give the resources 2.0 programs rather than strategic bombers
There are only rumors and speculation about the service that the ju 390 saw
For only concrete evidence was that they never dropped bombs on enemy soil most of their flying done was just test flights
Number three for your ward oh, they are too free to be Arado
AR too free to may not look like much of an exciting plane and that's because it isn't it's a transport plane for logistics
What does make it interesting is how it attempted to modernize air transportation?
Germany's main transport plane was 4 ju 52
It was originally a 1930s passenger plane with its low lift capacity and slow speeds
It was rather outdated compared to other a large transport aircraft at the time
for other major German air transport plane was 4 M efreeti one glider
and it's powered variant for me3 2 3
4 massive cargo glider and plane
Required large landing strips to take off and land at for a or two free to was to bridge the gap as a medium cargo
Transport plane but to foodtube was designed with landing in short rough airfield him mind it could even land in unprepared
Fields if needed that's the reason behind the bizarre landing year
But we'll get to that in a bit
for a are too free to had some pretty neat features for a cargo plane over time the tail of the plane was designed of
A twin tail boom in mind to give easy access to the rear loading ramp
The rear loading ramp allowed small vehicles to be driven inside or for towed artillery pieces and other heavy guns to be rolled in
Something that is a bit more tricky to do with typical side cargo hatches
inside the cargo bay up to six tons of supplies could be carried or
24 armed men for extra wheels decreased for overall weight on the main landing gear when taxiing
There's a total of 22 of the affectionately named millipede wheels four main tricycle landing gear could be retracted in flight
but the millipede wheels couldn't they were fixed a
Special hydraulic system allowed beside rear gear legs to lower closer to the ground
For front gear leg could then be retracted into the plane, but plane could then rest on the smaller of millipede wheels
Lowering the plane closer to the ground decreases for angle of the loading ramp
Surprisingly for a transport plane the fence of ornament was a mind to during the design phase
there were free defensive positions a heavy machine gun in the nose a heavy machine and just above the rail loading door and
Finally a two centimeter cannon in a tower on the roof the four crew members
Wouldn't be stationed at the guns over time only if they were flying through contested skies, and of course if an enemy fighter was spotted
Supposedly eight light machineguns could be mounted in the side windows of the cargo area
This would be for flights into contested skies when carrying troops
The men could use their light machine guns to assist in the defense of the plane
I haven't been able to find an account of this configuration actually being used though this configuration may just be wishful thinking
Originally, but - free - was designed around having two engines
But had to resort to redesign based on form that was demand from fighter programs that
Understandably had more priority at the time for the best and most powerful engines
Some of the ar2 mbutu's were built with two angels
But most will fall before engine variant also had an increased lifting capacity over the two engine variant
But it was at the cost of its maximum range
But to free to was looking like he would replace the Ju 52
But with his late introduction in 1943 the war was turning against Germany there was little attention given to air transportation
Programs there were also plenty of other transport planes that Germany had available
Does even avoid a similar looking plane to the AR two three to four G?
Oh two four four
four two four four was originally a glider that was refitted with engines it could carry up to twenty four men and even had a
rear loading door its overall lifting capacity was lower than the AR two three -
Still they made a hundred and seventy four of them a total of 22
They are two three twos were built this includes the two engine and the four engine variants
number two for Heinkel he 111
H8 or really any plane with balloon cars this item on the list is more of just a heavy
Modification rather than a new plane during the bombing of London Moscow and other Allied towns
countermeasures were used to reduce the effectiveness of German strategic bombing the most effective way of reducing German bombing is simple just
Shoot down all their bombers not so easy to do the next best option is to lower the effectiveness of German air raids
This is done with a combination of interceptors and ground-based defences
Networks of ground-based anti-aircraft batteries would fill the skies with steel as they fired show off the shell at the foreign invaders
firing for these batteries will be coordinated by radar and flak control stations who will feed radar and
Observational data such as speed height and direction to improve the Gunners
Accuracy men crowing searchlights will try to target enemy planes with their beams
With a bright light reflecting off the Bombers. There'll be easy targets for interceptors
Ideally fighter planes will already be in the air ready to intercept for vulnerable bombers
Another type of defense that wasn't as fancy, but got the job done were barrage balloons
Barrage balloons will be tethered to the ground by a cable this cable would cut through the body or wing of any plane
Unfortunate enough to make contact with it think of it as an aerial mine
But with the mine going straight upwards as high as 4,000 years
that's around 10,000 feet if two balloons were tethered together four cables could be as high as
4,500 meters or around 15,000 feet
German planes couldn't risk flying for these aerial minefields
So they had to fly higher in order to avoid the risk of collision with the balloon cables
By forcing bombers to fly higher their accuracy decreases
It would also make the Bombers easier targets for anti-aircraft guns due to the guns not having to traverse and change elevation as quickly
This is especially important for heavy caliber guns for Londoners out there. Here's a quick sidetrack
You know Primrose Hill this photo is of twin
145 millimeter or firing 1/4 inch anti-aircraft guns they were part of London's air defense
moving on in the daytime
Flying below the height of the balloon it will be very difficult to see the wires that were connected to it
At nighttime the cables may as well be invisible with over 2000 barrage balloons flying over England
this was an issue that needed to be dealt with an
Experimental idea was tested out on German medium bombers this idea was a balloon cutter
Big old lumps are metal stuck in front of the wings engine and nose of the plane
This idea was tested on the Heinkel 111 and the ju 88
For overall result was that it wasn't too effective for extra weight mess with the centre of gravity of the plane
Giving it not so nice flight characteristics
pilots flying the planes were very unsettled with the performance of the plane it also didn't help that the British were
Experimenting with explosive cables to be connected to the barrage balloons
For projects soon came out of favor with only a few planes being converted into balloon cars
It was seen as more dangerous to the crews in the plane, then it was worth attempting to take out four balloons
Some of you may be asking why not just shoot the balloons down it would take time to shoot the balloons down
Even with machine guns punching hundreds of holes into a balloon
It would still take ages for balloon to deflate and be dragged down by the weight of the cables
While spending time engaging for balloon the fighter or bomber is being targeted by enemy interceptors or flak?
For longer spent in hostile territory for more chance of not returning back to base
There was a case in August
1940 when four Germans did a dedicated raid on barrage balloons over England
For result was 40 balloons were downed at the cost of six German aircraft
Four very next day more balloons were back up the cost of destroying the balloons was not worth the loss of planes in purveyed
number one for Heinkel 80 to 80 in July
1944 a British mosquito was shot down by an
Me-262 it was the first recorded victory in a jet fighter ever
But for me-262 wasn't the first jet fighter there was another plane for
8284 first jet-powered plane to fly was to Heinkel
81 7 8 it was little more than a testbed for a new jet engine design it first flew in
1939 its development and
Construction was kept a secret from the German Air Ministry for one seven-eight was revealed to the German Air Ministry
Only after its completion and his flight tests had been done for one 7:8 showed off its flight characteristics in a demonstration
there was little interest in the plane as the
Single-engine jet plane had a top speed of 600 km/h a speed which at the current time
propeller-driven aircraft could easily compete with
Its flight endurance was also not impressive with a flight time of around 10 minutes
This plane was the first step in jet plane evolution
It's also important to remember that was fought that the war in Europe would take less than a few years
Will be absorbing our countries and the successful invasion of Poland and France both of which which took less than two months
You can see how war priorities were looking at short term rather than long term from private investors
There was also little interest in the project so the development of the one seven eight was slow
taking what they had learned from the failures of the
8178 Heinkel refocused their efforts into making their next jet powered plane better
Unlike their last plane this plane was built to be a fighter plane
It's ornament would be free 20 millimeter cannons in the nose the main issue was power output
This was solved with not only using more powerful engines
But by also using two engines instead of one but 280 flew for the first time in 1941
It was arguably one of the most advanced planes in the world at the time it had a top speed of
820 km/h
improved engine output and better fuel consumption gave her 280 almost twice the range of the 178 a
total of nine prototypes were produced over four years with updates and improvements to the agents between models
slow engine development was the death of this project for
Me-262s angels were capable of producing more frost than the angels of the hg 280
It is important to keep in mind that the me-262 was being produced by both B&W and Yonkers
Both of which were funded by the air ministry to produce a jet fighter
Heinkel was using self funding for their jet project
Still Heinkel was the first organization
able to get a jet fighter operational first
Remember earlier when I said it was the most advanced plane for its time whilst that might be true
It certainly wasn't because of its speed 4hu 280 was for first ever plane to be fitted with an ejector seat system
Also, it was the first plane to have its ejector seat used
The ejector seat was first used when a test flight on a new posture engine went belly up
For pilot lost control of the plane due to heavy ice and had to eject as a side note for
Prototype being tested was the fourth hg 280 produced it had been configured with a new power plant
But two jet engines had been replaced with up to six pulse jet engines no source
agrees on whether the HP 280 had been refitted with 2 4
Or even 6 pulsejets the same type of engine used on the v1. I really wish I could see a picture of this monstrosity
I've seen a plane with two pulsejets
But not six it must have been a rather unpleasant plane to fly as pulsejets are not known for their smooth ride
There was a demonstration of the hg 280 to the german air ministry
This time for work on improving the agents and airframe had paid off for a ministry
requested a production of 300 HP 280 s
Agent issues with the first few - 80 s received by the air ministry
Cause for delivery of further planes to be delayed while Heinkel attempted to fix for issues, but the long delay
Honker was ordered that all work on jet plane should cease and that they need to focus their efforts on two other projects
Before I wrap up this video. I just want to show you an early prototype
Me-262 it was for first me-262 to fly it had a traditional propeller as well as four new B&W jet engines
It's a very interesting hybrid this configuration was used on the very first
me-262 variant when the ages was still not reliable it's probably a joke I can make about late-war German jet engine reliability
But I'll save it for another video
Well there you have it
Those are my top five secret
German World War two planes that actually flew we saw the world's biggest flying boat during World War two a plane
which could travel from Europe to America and back again to drop a nuclear weapon with no fuel stops a
medium-sized cargo plane capable of landing in Rothfeld scooters interesting landing gear setup
planes modified to slice through barrage balloon cables and
Lastly for world's first operational jet fighter
I hope you enjoyed this top 5 list and if you have any
Suggestions for what you think should have been on this list feel free to tell me in the comments
There is a good chance that I may have already covered the plane you're talking about in another one of my top 5 videos already
One last find you and I hope you enjoyed your time
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