Aero B-38 Mlok
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Aero B-38 Mlok (Focke-Wulf Fw 1000x1000x1000 Project B bomber)
In 1944, Focke-Wulf produced three designs for the twin-jet Heinkel-Hirth He S 011 bomber. These bombers were known as the 1000x1000x1000 Bomber-Project and were managed by Dipl.-Ing. H. von Halem and D. Küchemann. This designation meant that the aircraft could carry a 1000 kg bomb load over a distance of 1000 km and fly at a speed of 1000 km/h.
The second design under the design number 031 0239/10 concerned the flying wing arrangement. It featured a small fuselage that contained a cockpit and nose gear. The wing was swept back at a 35 degree angle and the fuel load in flexible tanks was carried in front of the main wing spar. The engines and main landing gear were located behind the main wing spar. Two Heinkel-Hirth He S 011 jet engines, each rated at 13kN. The air inlets were located in the leading edge of the wing near the wing root. The wing tips were bent downwards and served as vertical stabilizers and contained small rudders. The ailerons also served as elevators and in addition, small deflectors were mounted in the jet engine exhaust, one of the first uses of thrust vectoring. The main landing gear retracted inwards and the nose gear swung up and forward. A single pilot sat in the large glass cockpit located in the extreme nose and no armament was planned at this stage of development. An internal bomb bay located in the centre wing could carry 1000 kg of bombs.
In the middle of 1944, H. von Halem and D. Küchemann started working on their own initiative on the drawings. As Germany was under heavy Allied air raids at the time, the design team was moved to Prague, where they worked on the production of the first prototype at the Aero factory. By the end of the war, only the wing skeleton fitted with engines and the cabin were completed. After examining the condition of the aircraft, it was decided to complete it. Due to the complexity of the design, the aircraft was not officially rolled out until the end of 1946.
After a successful sortie on February 4, 1947, the machine was taken over by the military administration, where it received the designation B-38, and subsequently handed over to the VLU where it was subjected to test flights and measurements. Although the course of the tests was very positive and even mass production was considered, but the course of 1948 put a stop to all these expensive and complicated projects.
The aircraft was fitted with an experimental camouflage, which consisted of upper surfaces made up of a combination of dark green (RLM83) and light grey (RLM76) colours, while the lower surfaces were light blue (RLM65). A similar test coloration was used on the C-3A in - 1951, only the khaki color was changed to brown. The emblems with white trim were on the wing and the well bent wing tips. The VLÚ V-12 marking was on the underside of the wing in black and small under the cockpit where it was white.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Design of decals - Pavel Šenk, printing - Luboš Vinař APC Dekals (hobbyshop.cz/shop/en/56-air-decals)
