Blohm & Voss BV 246 HagleKorn glide bomb 3 view        The Blohm & Voss BV 246 "Hagelkorn" (Hailstone) was originally known under the designation of the BV 226. Designed by Dr. Richard Vogt, the designation was changed to the BV 246 on December 12, 1943 when series production was ordered. Basically, the idea behind the BV 246 was to attack targets from the air at a distance, allowing the bomb to glide to the target, while keeping the carrier aircraft out of anti-aircraft fire range.
         The "Hagelkorn" had a clean, cigar-shaped fuselage and a twin fin and rudder arrangement for the tail. The wings were shoulder mounted, and were very long and thin. A very interesting design feature was that the wings were constructed of die-cast concrete, the purpose of which would "spring" the "Hagelkorn" away from the carrier aircraft when released (please see BV P.204 diagram below for details of how the BV 246 was to be loaded).  The glide ratio on the BV 246 was approximately 1:25, thus if the BV 246 was dropped from an altitude of 7000 meters (23100 feet), the "Hagelkorn" could glide as far as 175 kilometers (109 miles). The glide bomb was originally meant to be guided by a radio link from the carrier aircraft, but interest waned as the British began successfully countering German radio navigational aids. The BV 246 "Hagelkorn" program was canceled on February 26, 1944, due to the overall down sizing of the entire German missile programs, although testing continued at Karlshagen by KG101.
          The BV 246 was revived in early 1945 to use the "Radieschen" (Radish) ultra-short wave passive homing device which would home into enemy radars. The new BV 246 had a modified nose to house the "Radieschen", and it acted on the gyroscopic control equipment for the rudders and elevator. Ten of the modified BV 246 "Radieschen" equipped glide bombs were tested on the Unterlüss test range, but due to the new equipment being under development, eight of the tests failed, although two of the tests were successful, landing within two meters (6 feet) of the target. Although over 1000 BV 246 glide bombs were produced, none were used operationally.

                              Span: 6.4 m (21')          Length: 3.53 m (11' 7")         Speed at target: 450 km/h (280 mph) 

Above: The BV 226, precusor of the BV 246 (note the cruciform tail)
Below: Three BV 226 glide bombs on a He 111H-6

 
 
 
BV 226 

BV 246 

BV 246 "Radieschen"
The BV P.204 mixed-propulsion proposed ground attack aircraft project 
was designed to carry the BV 246 glide bomb. Note the way the glide 
bomb's wings are bent, this was to provide "spring" away from the 
carrier aircraft when the BV 246 was released.
 
 
Above: Completed examples of the BV 246 "Hagelkorn" . 
Please note the modified BV 246 "Radieschen" glide bomb in the foreground, 
noticable by the nose and fuselage extension just behind the wings.
Below: Testing of the BV 246 with a Focke-Wulf Fw 190F-8 
 
 

 Left: A cutaway diagram showing the location of the                Right:  The Bv 246 "Hagelkorn" glide bomb at the Cosford
           internal components of the BV 246 with the                                 Royal Air Force Museum in Shropshire, England.
           "Radieschen"ultra-short wave passive homing device                   Photo by Graham Causer, May 1998....
                                                                      External 
Radieschen aerial   Radio receiver  connections  Battery 

                                                                    Gyroscopes    Elevator activator