Blohm & Voss BV 40
Blohm & Voss · Germany · first flew 1944 · glider
The Blohm & Voss BV 40 was a German armoured fighter glider designed in 1943 to attack Allied bomber formations. It was built of non-strategic materials so that unskilled workers could produce it quickly.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × none, embedded-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 5.7 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Pilot lies in the prone position
- Shoulder-mounted, straight, untapered wooden wing
- Tailplane mounted part way up the vertical stabiliser
A tiny glider with a shoulder-mounted straight wing, a prone pilot and a tailplane placed part way up the fin.
Specifications
- The Blohm & Voss BV 40 has a length of 5.7 m (19 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 7.9 m (26 ft).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Richard Vogt designed it to be towed up by a Bf 109 and dive onto bombers, but the ramming idea was abandoned in favour of gunfire. Armament became two 30 mm MK 108 cannon in wing-root pods, and it first flew on 6 May 1944. The prototypes proved significantly overweight, so some armour and one gun were removed for flight testing.
Variants
Six gliders were completed of 21 ordered. A bomb-towing Schlinge device and a ship-attack role were also considered.
Where you'll see it
It was cancelled in August 1944, and all the prototypes were destroyed in an air raid in October.
Related aircraft
- Blohm & Voss BV 144
- Blohm & Voss BV 155
- Blohm & Voss BV 222 Wiking
- Blohm & Voss BV 141
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- Bell XP-77
- Boeing XF8B-1
- Curtiss XF14C-2
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