Blohm & Voss BV P.194


       In March 1944, Blohm & Voss put forward a proposal to the RLM for a new asymmetrical aircraft, which could be used in a number of roles: fighter, destroyer, dive bomber and reconnaissance. Blohm & Voss had previous experience with their BV 141 in building and flying asymmetric aircraft, and at the time they were working on the BV 237 and the BV P.179 , two other asymmetrical designs from Dip. Ing. Richard Vogt. This project was different because it featured a mixed propulsion scheme, that is, both propeller and jet driven, plus an internal bomb stowage in the main fuselage. As the original Blohm & Voss proposal stated:

"This arrangement gives the asymmetric aeroplane a number of advantages, the greatest being an unobstructed view for the pilot as well as the possibility of great weapon concentration. Also, it greatly reduces the torque moment produced around the vertical axis by the propeller in the single engined configuration. At take-off in particular this motion is expected to be less than half that of the BV141. After take-off the moment is reduced to less than a third and it completely disappears at high speed cruise settings."
The BV proposal went on to say that the distance between the pilot and the center of gravity was 180 cm (5' 11") in the Bv 141,  but that in the BV P.194 the distance had been reduced to 145 cm (4' 9") .  Due to this, Blohm & Voss proposed that instead of calling the BV P.194 an asymmetric design, it should be more correctly called "a not fully symmetrical aeroplane"!
The table below shows the advantages and disadvantages of various types of aircraft, as shown in the BV proposal.
        Although there were several different designs for the BV P.194 (see table below ), the basic airframe was the same. The proportion of steel to dural was 62% to 38%, and the steel was not thin sheet metal, but a thicker steel sheeting that could easily be electrically welded. The main fuselage was of a rolled shell construction, with a internal bomb bay or camera installation. The bomb bay could hold a variety of bomb loads, as shown in the table below . A single BMW 801 D radial engine of 1700 horsepower was mounted in the front of the main fuselage and drove a three bladed 3.5  meter (11' 6") propeller. The wing spars are made of welded steel box sections, and also serve as armored fuel tanks, capacity of 2100 liters (555 gallons). Dural construction was to be used for the inner and outer wing panels, and the inner wing section is detachable from both the cockpit gondola and main fuselage. There are also three sets of landing flaps which are hydraulically controlled. The single fin is welded into the fuselage, and the rudder is constructed of Dural and is also hydraulically actuated. The cockpit is situated in a gondola located on the starboard wing, and is constructed of armored steel in the front and Dural in the rear. A single jet engine, either a BMW 003 or Jumo 004, is mounted below the cockpit and is angled slightly upwards. A conventional "tail dragger" landing gear arrangement was chosen, with the main gear retracting outboard into the wings and the tail wheel retracting into the fuselage; all were hydraulically retracted. Offensive armament consisted of two MK103 30 mm cannon with 140 rounds each and two MG151 20mm cannon with 500 rounds each, all mounted in the cockpit gondola sides and firing forwards. Due to the late date this project was proposed, and the worsening war situation for Germany,  the P.194 development was not pursued.
 
 View Gino Marcomini's BV P.194 Luft Art images 
Blohm & Voss BV P.194 Dimensions *
Span Length Height Cockpit Gondola  
width - length - height**
Bomb Bay 
width - length - height
Wing Area
15.3 m 
50' 2"
11.8 m 
38' 9"
3.64 m 
11' 11"
1.2 m - 6.4 m - 2.05 m 
3' 11" - 21' 0" - 6' 9"
1.0 m - 4.0 m - 0.65 m 
  3' 3" - 13' 2" - 2' 2"
36.4 m² 
391.8 ft²
 
Blohm & Voss BV P.194 Weights  
Empty Weight Equipped Flying Weight Max. Wing Loading Fuel Weight 
(BMW 801D - BMW 003)
6500 kg 
14330 lbs
9150 kg 
20172 lbs
252 kg/m² 
51.48 lbs/ft²
730 kg - 1000 kg 
1609 lbs - 2205 lbs
 
 Blohm & Voss BV P.194 Performance
Max. Speed Rate of Climb Takeoff 
Distance
Takeoff 
Speed
Landing 
Speed
Ceiling Range
@ 0 km 
0 ft
640 km/h 
398 mph
@ 2 km 
6562'
675 km/h 
419 mph
@ 4 km 
13123'
680 km/h 
423 mph
@ 6 km 
19685'
710 km/h 
441 mph
@ 8 km 
26247'
715 km/h 
444 mph
 
@ 0 km 
0 ft
19.2 m/s 
63.0 ft/s
@ 2 km 
6562'
17.6 m/s 
57.7 ft/s
@ 4 km 
13123'
15.1 m/s 
49.5 ft/s
@ 6 km 
19685'
13.9 m/s 
45.6 ft/s
@ 8 km 
26247'
9.1 m/s 
29.9 ft/s
 
600 m 
1968'
180 km/h 
112 mph
150 km/h 
93 mph
11200 m 
36745'
@ 0 km 
0 ft
930 km 
578 miles
@ 2 km 
6562'
960 km 
597 miles
@ 4 km 
13123'
1060 km 
659 miles
@ 6 km 
19685'
1070 km 
665 miles
 
* Data in tables for P.194.02-01 variant    ** Height including jet engine    w/ methanol injection

Blohm & Voss BV P.194 Models
Manufacturer Scale Material Notes
Czechmaster  #246 1/72 resin slightly flattened jet air intake, 
no cockpit gondola weapon bulges 
Revell    #04335 1/72 injected & decals detailed bomb bay and nice decals
Special Hobby  #72008 1/72 injected, photoetch & decals  BV P.194.02-01 version, correctly models the 
cockpit gondola weapon bulges and jet intake shape

Blohm & Voss proposal three-view drawing of the BV P.194

BV P.194 Variants
Variant
Features
Span
Length
BV P.194.01-02 - One of the MK103 30 mm cannon could 
be replaced by a MK412 55mm cannon 
- Engine mounted slightly below cockpit 
and fed by flattened air intake
15.3 m 
50' 2"
12.1 m 
39' 8"
BV P.194.02-01 - Example described in main entry 15.3 m 
50' 2"
11.8 m 
38' 9"
BV P.194.03-01 - Engine mounted directly behind cockpit 
and fed by air intakes on fuselage sides 
- Stepped tail unit 
- Redesigned cockpit nose
14.3 m 
46' 11"
11.94 m 
39' 2"
BV P.194.00-101 - Two man version, pilot and observer/radio 
operator sat back-to-back 
- Engine as in P.194.01-02 
- Stepped tail unit
16 m 
52' 6"
12.75 m 
41' 10"
 
 

Bomb Bay details of the BV P.194
9 SC70     Total: 630 kg 
2 SC250   Total: 500 kg 
1 SC500   Total: 500 kg 
1 SC1000 Total: 1000 kg* 
 * (in overload condition, 
    bomb protrudes slightly  
      out of bomb bay)
 


  Advantages & disadvantages of various aircraft types  
(as per Blohm & Voss proposal of March 1944 for BV P.194)
Fighter
x   Insufficient visibility 
x   Insufficient weapons concentration 
x   Very difficult to carry meaningful bomb loads 
x   Insufficient low level speed 
x   Insufficient climb speed 
Cheap to build and maintain 
 
Heavy Fighter (Destroyer)
Good visibility 
Good weapons concentration 
Good bomb load 
x  Not quite enough speed at low level 
Good climb speed 
x  Expensive to build and maintain 
 
Heavy Fighter (Dornier 335)  
x  Insufficient visibility 
x  Insufficient weapons concentration 
x  Very difficult to load with bombs 
Good low level speed 
Good climbing speed 
x  Expensive to build and maintain 
x  No air-cooled motors 
x  Crankshaft extensions 
 
Enlarged Me 262 
Good visibility 
Good weapons concentration 
Good bomb load and easily accessible bomb mounts 
x  Vulnerable at take-off 
Good low level speed 
x  Insufficient climbing speed 
Short operational range 
Cheap to build and maintain 
 
BV P.194
Good visibility 
Good weapons concentration 
Good bomb load and easily accessible bomb bay 
Good low level speed 
Good climbing speed 
Cheap to build and maintain 
 
 
 
 
 
BV P.194.02 w/ 1 BT1400 
BV P.194.01-02 w/ 1 SB800RS "Kurt


 

 

BV P.194-03 w/ 2 900 liter drop tanks

 
BV P.194.00-101 2/ 1 L.10/LT.1 "Friedensengel"
 
Color illustrations above from Reichdreams Dossiers #13: Asymmetric Planes