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Luftfahrtforschungsansalt

From PlaneSpottingWorld, for aviation fans everywhere

Luftfahrtforschungsansalt (Aeronautical Research Institute, LFA, also known as the Hermann Göring Research Institute)[1] was a secret German facility for airframe, aeroengine, and aircraft weapons testing during the Second World War.[2] It was Germany's "most advanced and extensive [aviation] research establishment.[3]

Located near Völkenrode, on the western outskirts of Braunschweig (Brunswick), near what became the Inner German Border.[4] it was a Template:Convert site begun in October 1935. The first wind tunnel was begun in November 1936.[5] Most of the sixty buildings, scattered around the site, did not exceed treetop height, and all were well-camouflaged,[6] to reduce the chance of them being detected by aerial reconnaissance and to avoid making them targets, as the wind tunnels of the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt (DVL) in Aldershof (near Berlin) or Aerodynamische Versuchsanstalt (AVA) at the University of Göttingen were.[7]

The buildings were in five groups.[8] The Institute of Aerodynamics had five wind tunnels, while the Institute of Gas Dynamics had its own high-speed tunnel; both were at the southern end of the campus.[9] The static testing station of the Institute of Strength Properties was to the west;[10] the Institute of Engine Research, the east.[11] Weapons research was done by the Institute of Kinematics in a Template:Convert-long tunnel in the northwest corner.[12] These were accompanied by administration buildings, a canteen, a telephone exchange, guard houses, generators, and other facilities.

To help reduce the risk of detection, there were no railway lines in, nor overhead power lines, nor any chimneys; all power was supplied underground from Braunschweig, including steam heat.[13]

In addition, there were four hundred houses in Völkenrode for the 1,5000 or so workers and scientists.[14]

Each of the wind tunnels at LFA was given an "A" number. A1 had a circular nozzle Template:Convert in diameter, producing a maximum speed of Template:Convert; it entered service in 1937, the year after construction began on facilities.[15] A2 measured Template:Convert long and had a test section Template:Convert in diameter (coated with Keratylene to keep the flow smooth),[16] capable of generating test speeds (depending on the model's scale) of between Mach 1 and 1.2.[17] It was driven by a pair of Template:Convert DC motors, and fitted with interferometer and striation gear for study of flow patterns. Begun in 1937, it first ran in 1939.[18] It did, however, suffer with problems of vibration,[19] leading the research teams to rely on a Rheinmetall-Börsig F25 free-flight research rocket with models mounted in the nose.[20] The A3 tunnel, largest at the LFA site, had an Template:Convert test section with a maximum speed of Template:Convert and a working length of Template:Convert, enough to accommodate an Me-109 fuselage.[21] It was powered by a pair of Template:Convert.[22] The A9 building housed a pair of supersonic wind tunnels, each driven by a Template:Convert motor, with a maximum speed of Mach 1.5, but a test section diameter of only Template:Convert.[23]

Along with direct aerodynamic research, LFA did testing on materials (though not, apparently, of parts) and on aeroengines.[24] The engine work included testing of turbine and turbine blade shapes, ceramic turbine blades, cooling of turbine blades (including liquid cooling), bearings, detonation, and several types of heat exchangers, among other things.[25]

The test centre helped develop the cowling for the BMW 801 used in the FW-190, among others;[26] trials indicated it was possible to reduce drag enough to save Template:Convert,[27] as well as to maximize pressure build-up to assist cooling.[28] It also helped in development of the Argus As 014 pulsejet used in the V-1. In collaboration with Göttingen and DVL (Berlin-Aldershof), it also contributed to the development of the swept wing (what Germans called Pfeilflüge, or "arrow wing").[29]

Among the engine projects worked on at LFA was a toroidal (swing-piston) design by Otto Lutz of Büssing, a concept akin to the Wankel; work was also done by Junkers and Bosch.[30]

LFA remained so secret, the Allied air forces never bombed it.[31]

Postwar, the site was visited by a Ministry of Aircraft Production team led by Roy Fedden.[32]

Notes

  1. ↑ Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes (The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013), p.43 caption.
  2. ↑ Christopher, pp.25-6, 40.
  3. ↑ Christopher, p.40.
  4. ↑ Christopher, pp.25 and 40, and map p.26.
  5. ↑ Christopher, p.40.
  6. ↑ Christopher, p.40.
  7. ↑ Christopher, p.40.
  8. ↑ Christopher, p.40.
  9. ↑ Christopher, p.40.
  10. ↑ Christopher, pp.40-1.
  11. ↑ Christopher, p.41.
  12. ↑ Christopher, p.41.
  13. ↑ Christopher, p.41.
  14. ↑ Christopher, p.41.
  15. ↑ Christopher, p.42.
  16. ↑ Christopher, p.43.
  17. ↑ Christopher, p.43.
  18. ↑ Christopher, p.43.
  19. ↑ Christopher, p.43.
  20. ↑ Christopher, p.44.
  21. ↑ Christopher, p.44.
  22. ↑ Christopher, p.44.
  23. ↑ Christopher, p.47.
  24. ↑ Christopher, pp.52-3.
  25. ↑ Christopher, p.53.
  26. ↑ Christopher, pp.47-8.
  27. ↑ Christopher, p.80.
  28. ↑ Christopher, p.81.
  29. ↑ Christopher, pp.47-8.
  30. ↑ Christopher, p.85.
  31. ↑ Christopher, pp.42 and 91.
  32. ↑ Christopher, passim.

Sources

  • Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes. The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013.
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