EMW A-6 model kit

EMW A6

The exceptional increase of range obtained from installing gliding wings in the A4 (V2) missile induced von Braun to design three crewed variants: the A4b, piloted as an aerodynamic research aircraft; the A9, as an intercontinental bomber; and the A6, as a "reconnaissance aircraft at a high speed and height." Actually, they were scientific research projects of which the military applications were emphasized to obtain the necessary resources, considering the wartime circumstances.

The A6 would have been a hypersonic research aircraft, equipped with an auxiliary engine of ramjet type which could only be started at very high speeds. This could be possible in this type of airship at the highest point of its trajectory, flying at a very high speed and with the propellants of the main rocket exhausted. Under these circumstances, the ramjet engine (working with synthetic petrol) would give the ramjet the ability to continue flight for fifteen to twenty minutes without any loss of speed or height. As a reconnaissance airplane, the A6 would have been impossible to detect.

However, its flying characteristics exceeded the OKL needs and the project was let down. The A6 was equipped with a pressurized cockpit, landing gear and braking parachutes. It was vertically launched as an A4 and landed on a conventional landing strip by its own means. The concept was considered by the Americans during the building and test program for the North American X-15 research aircraft. Although the content and purpose of every flight within the X-15 program have not been published, due to security reasons, there are pictures of one of them with a ramjet engine installed in the same position as the one chosen by von Braun for his A6.

A6 Technical Data

Stage: Design

Type: Hypersonic experimental aircraft

Wings: Metallic structure and coating

Fuselage: Metallic structure and coating. It contained, from nose to tail, the forward landing gear, the pressurized cockpit, the methyl alcohol tank, the petrol tank (Br-Stoff) for the ramjet, the housing for the main landing gear, and the payload (instruments, cameras, etc.). Also in the fuselage were the liquid oxygen tank, the housing for the rocket's mechanisms and the combustion chamber for the rocket.

Empennages: Metallic structure and coating. For takeoff, they received some help from the small tailfins installed near the nozzle. It was necessary to remove the ventral tailfin, used on the A4 and A4b, to be able to install the ramjet. Landing Gear: Tricycle Power Plant: An EMW with a thrust of 27,500 kp and an acceleration of up to 6 G, and a ramjet of unspecified type and thrust.

Source: Luftwaffe 1946 Technical manual.

CHILD HAZARD WARNING:

Keep out of reach of children. This product contains small parts and it is not a toy. This product is a model for display only. Not suitable for children under 14 years.