It's actually a brilliant example of German engineering & design.
From Wiki:
The Blohm & Voss BV 141 was a World War II German tactical reconnaissance aircraft. It is notable for its uncommon structural asymmetry. Although the Blohm & Voss BV 141 performed well, it was never ordered into full-scale production, for reasons that included the unavailability of the preferred engine and competition from another tactical reconnaissance aircraft, the Focke-Wulf Fw 189. In 1937, the German Air Ministry – the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) – issued a specification for a single-engine reconnaissance aircraft with optimal visual characteristics. The preferred contractor was Arado with the Ar 198, but the prototype proved unsuccessful.[1] The eventual winner was the Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu; even though its twin-boom design using two smaller engines did not match the requirement of a single engined aircraft. Blohm & Voss (Hamburger Flugzeugbau) although not invited to participate, pursued as a private venture something far more radical. The proposal of chief designer Dr. Richard Vogt was the uniquely asymmetric BV 141.
This is a pic of the 'B' variant with the asymmetric tail plane.
I'm not 100% convinced that ingenuity increases during wartime (or through military spending. It's possible that the pace of innovation increases (because you might lose if you don't innovate) but I think its more a case of the innovation/innovators available at any one time are redirected into military avenues during wartime when, otherwise, they'd be developing the next iPad.
True. I guess there's a lot less 'blue sky' research in wartime because there seems little point in working on something that might lead nowhere or take 10-20 years to come to fruition if the war you're in is expected to be over in 5-6 years. The Manhattan Project is the classic case. There was *some* deep theoretical stuff going on but the focus was laser sharp. Build a nuke before the Germans could no matter the cost!
6 comments:
o_O
Okay, this is the best weird-plane you've posted yet. Seems like that cabin would cause a LOT of drag.
It's actually a brilliant example of German engineering & design.
From Wiki:
The Blohm & Voss BV 141 was a World War II German tactical reconnaissance aircraft. It is notable for its uncommon structural asymmetry. Although the Blohm & Voss BV 141 performed well, it was never ordered into full-scale production, for reasons that included the unavailability of the preferred engine and competition from another tactical reconnaissance aircraft, the Focke-Wulf Fw 189. In 1937, the German Air Ministry – the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) – issued a specification for a single-engine reconnaissance aircraft with optimal visual characteristics. The preferred contractor was Arado with the Ar 198, but the prototype proved unsuccessful.[1] The eventual winner was the Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu; even though its twin-boom design using two smaller engines did not match the requirement of a single engined aircraft. Blohm & Voss (Hamburger Flugzeugbau) although not invited to participate, pursued as a private venture something far more radical. The proposal of chief designer Dr. Richard Vogt was the uniquely asymmetric BV 141.
This is a pic of the 'B' variant with the asymmetric tail plane.
Too bad we can't see wartime creativity without war..not much demand for dedicated recon planes in peace.
I'm not 100% convinced that ingenuity increases during wartime (or through military spending. It's possible that the pace of innovation increases (because you might lose if you don't innovate) but I think its more a case of the innovation/innovators available at any one time are redirected into military avenues during wartime when, otherwise, they'd be developing the next iPad.
Good point, there. There's also the possibility of more funds in general being dumped into purposeful research.
True. I guess there's a lot less 'blue sky' research in wartime because there seems little point in working on something that might lead nowhere or take 10-20 years to come to fruition if the war you're in is expected to be over in 5-6 years. The Manhattan Project is the classic case. There was *some* deep theoretical stuff going on but the focus was laser sharp. Build a nuke before the Germans could no matter the cost!
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