Fiesler Fi 167

In 1936, when the German Navy began building its first aircraft carrier, the German Air Ministry began seeking designs for an STOL aircraft to use aboard. The Fi 167 beat out the competing Arado Ar 195 design, and 12 planes were ordered. The carrier was launched in late 1938 but never completed, and the handful of Fi 167s constructed were left performing coastal patrols in the Netherlands. In 1942, when the idea of finishing the Graf Zeppelin was resurrected, it was decided to use the Junkers Ju 87 aboard, leaving the Fi 167 homeless again. (The aircraft carrier was never finished and was scuttled in 1945, in any event.) Ultimately, nine of the aircraft were passed to Romania for patrols over the Black Sea.

The plane featured excellent low speed characteristics and handling. It could descend nearly vertically with no lack of piloting control. For safety over the sea, it featured jettisonable landing gear for ditching, as well as a 2-man dinghy. The two-man crew included the pilot and a rear gunner. The gunner could slide his canopy open when using the rear MG. There was a single hardpoint under the body capable of carrying a 1,687-lb. LT F5b torpedo (or like-sized bomb), and four underwing hardpoints for 110-lb. SC50 bombs.

The plane has a range of 932 miles. It burns 41 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and ammo (excluding bombs) costs $59.

Fiesler Fi 167A-0

Subassemblies: Light Fighter-Bomber chassis +3; Heavy Fighter wings with Biplane and Folding options +2; 3 fixed wheels +1.

Powertrain: 820-kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 820-kW prop and 240-gallon standard fuel tank [Body and Wings], 4,000-kWs battery.

Occ.: 2 CS Body

Cargo: 6.5 Body

Armor F RL B T U

All: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Weaponry:

Aircraft LMG/7.92 mm MG 17 [Body:F] (500 rounds).

Aircraft LMG/7.92 mm MG 15 [Body:B] (600 rounds).

4x100-lb. Bombs/SC50 [Wings:U].

1x500mm Torpedo/LT 5Fb [Body:U].

Equipment:

Body: Autopilot, navigation instruments, medium range radio transmitter and receiver, arrestor hook, dinghy, casemate and high-angle mount for the rear MG, 1,700-lb. hardpoint. Wings: 4 110-lb. hardpoints.

Statistics:

Size: 37'x44'x16' Payload: 2.26 tons Lwt.: 5.35 tons

Volume: 156 Maint.: 39 hours Cost: $25,697

HT: 8. HPs: 165 Body, 360 each Wing, 15 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 202 aAccel: 5 aDecel: 24 aMR: 6 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 64 mph. Take-Off Run 410 yards (370 with catapult). Landing Run 410 yards (0 yards with arrestor hook). -1 aSpeed per loaded hardpoint.

gSpeed: 198 gAccel: 10 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2

Ground Pressure: Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 490 sf. The fuel capacity was based on a rough calculation between range and gas consumption, as no historical value could be located. Design payload was 4,284 lbs; the historical value has been substituted. The design purchases 1,000 rounds of LMG ammo; the historical values are listed. Design aSpeed was 223 mph. Performance calculations were based on historical values for wing area and loaded weight.

Variants:

The Fi 167 V1 and Fi 167 V2 were the testing prototypes. No further planes were built following the initial 12 aircraft.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS