WWII-era aircraft that never flew

[JMBuilder]

Me-262 V-tail and missile variants:

There were many designs of the infamous Messerschmidt Me-262 jet fighter-bomber. One of which was a variant with a V-tail and swept-back wings. Another was a variant equipped with the experimental X-4 wire-guided missiles. Neither variants ever took flight.

Ta-183 jet fighter:

This jet resembled an F-86 Sabre with a T-tail and a stubby fuselage. It was designed primarily as an airborne X-4 missile platform, but was also armed with four heavy cannons. The Germans had actually begun production of this aircraft, but the war ended before many were made, and British forces captured the production lines. Aircraft with designs based on the Ta-183 were experimented with, but the Ta-183 itself never flew.

He-178 (?):

At least I think it was 178... Anyway, the He-178 was the first plane ever to fly by turbojet power. The original variant, with a double-tail similar to a B-25's tail, entered mass production and saw combat towards the end of the war. Other variants had different wing designs and V-tails, and I believe that they entered their test flight phases, but they were never mass-produced.

BI rocket interceptor:

The BI-1 was developed around 1942 by the Soviet Union, and was tested on the field of battle a few times. The aircraft saw success at first, and other variants were produced, equipped with different rocket engines and ramjets. However, due to battlefield complications and high cost of production, the BI program was terminated. A lot of the variants never flew.

Yak jet fighter:

With Me-262s inflicting heavy losses on Allied air squadrons, the Soviet Union experimented with a peculiar aircraft design in an attempt to create a fighter that could counter it. The experiment involved taking an intact Yak fighter and refitting the propeller engine with one of the jet engines from a captured Me-262. The result was the Yak jet prototype. However, the war ended before the experiment ever took flight.

I-250:

This design was basically a propeller fighter with a jet engine in the back. It was more of a post-war experiment and never saw combat.

Most of this information came from the game Il-2 1946 by Ubisoft. It's a great game, but not as good as KSP in my opinion.

[regex]

You might find this interesting:

http://www.luft46.com/

[jwenting]

The Ta-183 flew, albeit in somewhat modified form, after the war in both Argentina and the USSR.

Test firings of X4 missiles were AFAIK performed from Me-262s but it did not enter service before the war ended (to the relief of a lot of bomber crews no doubt).

There are far more than those mentioned in that game, on all sides, that never made it into combat or only entered service after the war ended.

[Canopus]

I love the Silbervogel:

[Kryten]

I love the Silbervogel:

Only problem was they'd actually mucked up their heat flow calculations; it'd have burned up on re-entry.

[Canopus]

This one is cool too. The A6 a reconnaissance plane

[Tommygun]

Focke-Wulf Triebfluegel

Edited June 26, 2013 by Tommygun

[Galacticruler]

Focke-Wulf Triebfluegel

The pilot would die of rotational speed eventually I'd guess.

EDIT:

These craft...I don't even...

Edited June 26, 2013 by Galacticruler

[Canopus]

The pilot would die of rotational speed eventually I'd guess.

Why? Do you even know how this thing would operate?

[Flymetothemun]

My favorite is one that flew.

[cesarcurado]

I've been to that site before, it's very interesting...

Tried to recreate some in KSP, without success.

[Jones-250]

The Horten Ho-299 actually flew, and might have turned the tide when it comes to areal supremacy. However its big brother, the Horten H.XVIII (the H-18) never did. The H-18 was a proposal for the Amerika bomber-programme and could have -in theory- carried a 700 kg bomb load across the atlantic ocean and return. It might have even been something of a stealth-bomber, as the tests made with Ho-229-models have shown that the design has a smaller radar signature than usual.

The Ho-229 (Fighter/bomber, testflights were made)

Ho.XVIII (Amerika bomber, proposed only)

Edited June 26, 2013 by Jones-250
Typo #2

[Canopus]

Too bad those were never build.

[JMBuilder]

Actually, thank heavens they were never built. With those things, the Nazis could have turned the tide of the war.

[Kryten]

Because having a few strategic bombers would totally have stopped the soviets entering Berlin.

[jwenting]

The pilot would die of rotational speed eventually I'd guess.

EDIT:

These craft...I don't even...

no, the engines were set on a rotating section that was supposed to be separate from the rest, connected through bearings. Similar to a reciprocating engine.

[jwenting]

Because having a few strategic bombers would totally have stopped the soviets entering Berlin.

if they'd been built, the Soviets would never have gotten close to Berlin because them getting close to Berlin was a major factor in them not being built.

You got cause and effect reversed

[pharoahjared]

The I-12 armed with 100mm recoil-less cannons, later version had 152mm cannons.