"Mystery Flying Wing"
(last updated: 2010-12-31)
Back to Huib's Aviation Books and Flying Wings Page
Available information
The pictures on this page show a small flying wing aircraft built in Germany by Dr.Ir. Hermann Koehl and Ernst von Loessl at the "Ingenieurschule Weimar" probably in
1933/34. The first flight was in 1934.
On 12th/13th of April 1928 Hermann Koehl (1888-1938) became world famous when he, together with Major Fitzmaurice and Freiherr Guenther von Huenefeld, crossed the Atlantic Ocean from east to west by air for the first time in history.
The aircraft they used was the specially modified Junkers W33 b "Bremen" (D-1167).
Specifications of the mystery flying wing:
- Span: 13,00 m
- Length: 4,50 m
- Engine: Hirth HM 60 R-1 - 44,5 kw
Card from the DFS archive showing a preliminary sketch
_
___
Picture from "Das Buch der Deutschen Luftfahrttechnik"
This picture showing the aircraft under construction comes from "Das Buch der Deutschen Luftfahrttechnik, Bildteil" (page 399).
Pictures from "Vliegwereld"
_
___
These three pictures come from a Dutch aviation magazine called "Vliegwereld" and were published in the September 1934 issue.
Picture from a French magazine
Sources and references
I have been searching for information on this flying wing for a long time, and only after putting the question to Aeroplane Monthly magazine and the publication of one of the pictures in their "Questions in
the Air" section in the August 1995 issue, the first information became available and was I able to obtain the "Vliegwereld" publication that contains this information.
Only recently additonal information and two pictures have been discovered by Dipl.-Ing. Rudolf Storck and where made available to me by Eric du Trieux.
This new information confirms and expands on the earlier information I gathered.
The source of this new information is:
"Die Deutsche Luftfahrt" - Band 9 (Typenhandbuch der deutschen Luftfahrttechnik), Page 177, by Bruno
Lange published by Bernard & Graefe Verlag.
One of the new pictures that was provided is the drawing that is shown at the top of this page.
The other picture comes from an old French magazine and shows a top view of the Mystery Flying Wing from a different angle.
Additional information comes from "Der Erfurter Flugplatz am Roten Berg", Page 87 - 90, by Manfred Krieg and Segelflüge in Erfurt.
Allthough the aircraft is now positively identified I am still looking for additional information like:
- Pictures and drawings
- How many times did it fly and when was it flown
- How was it to fly
- What became of it
- etc.
If you have any suggestions or comments, please contact me at: huib (dot) ottens (at) bookwing (dot) nl