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Bachem Ba-349 "Natter"


Gildwiller1918

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As the war turned against the Germans, they were forced to come up with some radical ideals and thinking on how to reverse their fortunes. One attempt at this was the innovative Bachem Ba-349 "Natter".  This was a point defense rocket powered interceptor, very similar to a modern day surface to air missile in design. The aircraft was placed on a launch pad and fired at upwards, eliminating the need for a runway, also they could be hidden a lot better as well. The natter had a max speed of 800 km/h and had a range of 40 km. It was 6.10 meters long, and had a wingspan of 3.60 meters, it weighed 2200 kilos during take off. 

After taking off the aircraft would go on autopilot, by doing this it allowed for a relatively untrained pilot to engage allied bombers. Once the aircraft was close enough the pilot would disengage autopilot and fire his compliment of anti-aircraft missiles at the bombers. The Natter had 24, 7.3 cm missiles that were in the nose cone, that was designed to separate upon landing. 

The Natter was designed to be built by unskilled labor with poor-quality tools and inexpensive material. The Natter had no landing gear, which saved weight, expense, and construction time. Consequently, one of the most unusual features of the machine was the escape of the pilot and recovery of the machine. The proposed sequence of these events was as follows: after the attack, the Natter might dive to a lower altitude and flatten out into level flight. The pilot would then proceed with a well-practised escape sequence. He would open the cockpit canopy latch; the canopy flicking backwards on its hinge in the airstream; he would undo his seat belt and remove his feet from the rudder pedal stirrups. By squeezing a lever mounted on the control column, he would release a lock at the base of the column, which would allow him to tilt the column forwards where it could engage in and undo a safety latch for the nose release mechanism. He would then lean a little further forward and pull a lever hinged near the floor at the front of the cockpit. This action frees the nose section, which self-jettisoned as a result of the reduced aerodynamic pressure at the front of the fuselage. As the nose section separates, it was intended to briefly pull on two cables that release a small ribbon parachute stored on the starboard side of the rear fuselage. The parachute subsequently opens and decelerates the Natter. The pilot would be ejected from the cockpit by his own inertia and as soon as he was clear of the fuselage, he would open his personal parachute and descend to the ground. Sounds simple right? 

On March 1st 1945 the first manned test flight was performed, with the aircraft rising to about 150 meters before curving radically to one side and impacting the ground. It was later found (in 1998 when the crash site was excavated) that one of two launch boosters failed to start, causing the crash. After the pilots death, three more launches were done, and this was deemed sufficient to put into operational status. The number produced is still open for debate as records were lost, however 36 were claimed to have been built by Bachem. Although the number built was not great, there were many more that were unfinished, and these parts were later plundered for aircraft and missile designs by the US and Russia. While not a game changer, the concept was a good idea, but it was a last ditch type of thinking. Ultimately wasting resources and manpower that could have been used on more practical items. 

Natter.jpg

Bachem_Ba349_rockets.jpg

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Here is a picture of US troops gathering up Natter parts and airframes to return to the states for testing. 

 

NatterAustria1200_480.jpg

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There are three launch pads for the Bachem Ba.349 Natter in the Hasenholz forest near Kirchheim/Teck. They are all that remain from the active launch site constructed in 1945. The three launch pads are arranged in the form of an equilateral triangle, whose sides point toward the east and the south. The distance between the launch pads is approximately 50 meters. The circular concrete pads on which the Bachem Ba.349s and their launch towers once stood still exist. In the center of each of the three concrete plates is a square hole approximately 50 centimeters deep, which once served as the foundation for the launch tower. Beside each hole is a pipe, cut off at ground level, which was probably once a cable pit. The Natter launch pads at Kirchheim (Teck) might be the only remnants of these rocket launch pads still on publicly accessible terrain The former test site for the Natter in Baden-Württemberg on the Heuberg near Stetten am kalten Markt is in an active military area, and therefore not accessible to tourists.

Below are images of Natter launch pads from Kirchheim.

Bachem_Ba_349_Natter_launch_pad_ruins.jpg

Bachem_Ba_349_Natter_launch_pad.jpg

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Below is a model depicting how the Natter was rigged on the launch platform. 2 cables were attached to the plane to lift it from the ground to the pole assembly. Once in place, the pilot would use a ladder to climb into the cockpit. First photo shows the lifting action. 

bachem-natter-bwphoto.jpg

622dbfc6204cf178c990f72f58bc7386.jpg

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  • 10 months later...
On 28/12/2019 at 23:15, Gildwiller1918 said:

As the war turned against the Germans, they were forced to come up with some radical ideals and thinking on how to reverse their fortunes. One attempt at this was the innovative Bachem Ba-349 "Natter".  This was a point defense rocket powered interceptor, very similar to a modern day surface to air missile in design. The aircraft was placed on a launch pad and fired at upwards, eliminating the need for a runway, also they could be hidden a lot better as well. The natter had a max speed of 800 km/h and had a range of 40 km. It was 6.10 meters long, and had a wingspan of 3.60 meters, it weighed 2200 kilos during take off. 

After taking off the aircraft would go on autopilot, by doing this it allowed for a relatively untrained pilot to engage allied bombers. Once the aircraft was close enough the pilot would disengage autopilot and fire his compliment of anti-aircraft missiles at the bombers. The Natter had 24, 7.3 cm missiles that were in the nose cone, that was designed to separate upon landing. 

The Natter was designed to be built by unskilled labor with poor-quality tools and inexpensive material. The Natter had no landing gear, which saved weight, expense, and construction time. Consequently, one of the most unusual features of the machine was the escape of the pilot and recovery of the machine. The proposed sequence of these events was as follows: after the attack, the Natter might dive to a lower altitude and flatten out into level flight. The pilot would then proceed with a well-practised escape sequence. He would open the cockpit canopy latch; the canopy flicking backwards on its hinge in the airstream; he would undo his seat belt and remove his feet from the rudder pedal stirrups. By squeezing a lever mounted on the control column, he would release a lock at the base of the column, which would allow him to tilt the column forwards where it could engage in and undo a safety latch for the nose release mechanism. He would then lean a little further forward and pull a lever hinged near the floor at the front of the cockpit. This action frees the nose section, which self-jettisoned as a result of the reduced aerodynamic pressure at the front of the fuselage. As the nose section separates, it was intended to briefly pull on two cables that release a small ribbon parachute stored on the starboard side of the rear fuselage. The parachute subsequently opens and decelerates the Natter. The pilot would be ejected from the cockpit by his own inertia and as soon as he was clear of the fuselage, he would open his personal parachute and descend to the ground. Sounds simple right? 

On March 1st 1945 the first manned test flight was performed, with the aircraft rising to about 150 meters before curving radically to one side and impacting the ground. It was later found (in 1998 when the crash site was excavated) that one of two launch boosters failed to start, causing the crash. After the pilots death, three more launches were done, and this was deemed sufficient to put into operational status. The number produced is still open for debate as records were lost, however 36 were claimed to have been built by Bachem. Although the number built was not great, there were many more that were unfinished, and these parts were later plundered for aircraft and missile designs by the US and Russia. While not a game changer, the concept was a good idea, but it was a last ditch type of thinking. Ultimately wasting resources and manpower that could have been used on more practical items. 

Natter.jpg

Bachem_Ba349_rockets.jpg

Yes a very interesting aircraft exit procedure. You can only admire those who flew them. 

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