Bomber Built Like A Hammerhead Shark: Blohm & Voss P 163

In this video, we take a look at the Blohm & Voss P.163, a bizarre proposed bomber design for Nazi Germany, possibly intended to replace the Heinkel He 11, possibly built just because Blohm & Voss wanted to make it. We first talk about the strange design concepts of BV before going into the war situation Germany found itself in in 1942 after the slowing of Operation Barbarossa. We then talk about how the P.163 was designed with that situation in mind, saving vital resources like aluminum and using mainly heavier steel in its construction.
We then look at the cockpit and defensive pod placement at the tip of the wings and why BV may have wanted to do this. We talk about the proposed aerodynamic theory that would have made this a viable design, and why, inevitably, Germany didn't adopt it.

[@LarsAgerbk]

imagine the guy in the Air Ministry that had to review these proposals. Whenever the guy from Blohm & Voss showed up, I imagine a deep sigh and eyes rolling. "Here we go again".....

[@jamesricker3997]

He litterly committed suicide

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

​@@jamesricker3997For real? What was his name?

[@doodlebug1820]

well if they were not enthusiastic Nazis, they may have figured out how to ride that line between the Nazi desire for creative superweapons and useless trash, long enough to both prevent contribution to the war effort and also keeping themselves out of a concentration camp.

[@emaheiwa8174]

Lol

[@BLD426]

And every time, he had his plans in that handy neck basket.😆

[@wyattr7982]

Im starting to think George Lucas had B&V coffee table book

[@spidennis]

Definitely!

[@shawnr6117]

Getting some B-wing vibes from this for sure.

[@elfpimp1]

I believe he did an interview in 86 just before I joined the Navy. He said something about getting ideas from some of the stranger designs from ww2 AND ww1..

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@shawnr6117as well as the Millennium Falcon

[@hendrikjanriesebos1293]

​@@bostonrailfan2427my thoughts exactly

[@restitvtororbis5330]

Blohm and Voss designs are amazing to me. There were some bizzare designs around the world, but somehow B&V managed to fill out like half the top 10 weird aircraft designs of the war all by themselves. Granted most of them never got produced, and were probably dumpster fires waiting to happen, but you can never say they weren't creative.

[@juki6377]

definately need a WWII porco rosso episode to feature them all :)

[@iunnox666]

The asymmetic plane was actually a brilliant design and apparently quite nice to fly.

[@Collector261]

Did anyone ever build a working model of this thing, even after the war, just to see how it could work?

[@ReisskIaue]

My favourite design of B&V is the battleship Bismarck - although it doesn't fly at all (but had two catapults for Arado Ar-196 sea planes).

[@johncox2865]

They were creative? So is a manure beetle…

[@josephd.5524]

I love Blohm & Voss designs so much; they were flying chaos merchants. If I won the lottery, top of my list is getting a flying replica of the BV 141 built, along with getting my pilot's license so I could boot around in the thing as much as I could, frightening all who set eyes on me...

[@connormclernon26]

I’d go for some of the asymmetric floatplane converted to an amphibian

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

Make first flight over Poland or over the UK from across the channel with an era accurate paint job for an even more frightening experience to those on the ground.

[@jamesengland7461]

​@@Eidolon1andOnly that's quite disturbing

[@TheYeti308]

I hear that . !

[@BLD426]

Blohm to Voss: This design is too heavy using steel. Voss: I know what we can do. Blohm: What? Voss: We'll make the bombs out of aluminum. Blohm: Brilliant. I'm going to the Post Office. Can I borrow the neck basket for a bit? 😁.

[@tommyblackwell3760]

There was probably a pilot somewhere in the Luftwaffe's procurement bureau who saw this cross his desk, tried to imagine the centripetal/centrifugal forces of trying to control this thing while seated well off its centerline.....and said "oh HELL no!". Shipbuilders used to have a saying: if it looks right, it is right. That thang just ain't right! Full props to B&V for pushing things to insanity and beyond!

[@jtjames79]

The term you're looking for is moment of inertia. You would definitely have to spend some time flying it by the numbers to get a good feel. I guess it's just one of those things some people are a lot better at than others.

[@tommyblackwell3760]

@s79 Thanks for the correction, I studied history so I'm pretty weak at physics and engineering. Seems to me though that it would take an exceptional pilot to fly it, and that the casualty rate from transition training to this airframe from others would have been horrendous.

[@jtjames79]

@@tommyblackwell3760 People think "fly by the seat of your pants" is a euphemism. It's not for some people, it's very literal. My hypothesis is that some people's stomachs have a sense of balance. Stomachs are covered in nerve cells and do all sorts of crazy things we never thought possible previously. So some people have three points of reference instead of just two. Makes it a lot easier on the brain to not get disoriented even when you are dizzy, and staying ahead of weird vehicles. Took me a long time to realize it's something other people can't just naturally do.

[@Zbigniew_Nowak]

@s79Maybe the assumption was that it was a bomber that would not make any strong maneuvers, but would fly calmly and at the end of the wing the pilot would not feel like a child on a swing? This whole idea of ​​balance of forces probably requires a calm, stable flight? Because if there are any sudden maneuvers, turbulence, then... I don't know if it is possible to make a structurally weak wing "because the forces balance each other" (?)

[@martindice5424]

Voght was either a genius or a fixated lunatic. The BV 141 flew very well but he just couldn’t let it go. I love that guy! Weirdos are to be treasured.

[@UtMH22]

I just wish he could have worked with Burt Rutan, just imagine the chaotic possibilities!

[@tommyblackwell3760]

@@UtMH22 The mind boggles at the thought.....

[@pickeljarsforhillary102]

He would have had a blast working for post-war NACA and it's successor NASA.

[@alfnoakes392]

This video caused me to chase up what happened to Richard Vogt, the designer mentioned. After being whisked away to the US as part of Operation Paperclip his main lasting contribution to aviation seems to have been the introduction of wing-tip 'winglets'.

[@milferdjones2573]

@@alfnoakes392saw special on the winglets they were done and patient a few years before the Wright Brothers Flight. But he could have actually been first to actually put them on a working plane don’t recall that middle part of show maybe I was called away.

[@lonlipscomb813]

Indeed, extra wingtip weight to avoid having to strengthen the wing is, without going to extremes, conventional wisdom. The Piper Cherokee 6 light aircraft has 4 fuel tanks, 2 big tank inboard within the wings and 2 small tanks outboard within the wings. The flight manual requires pilots to use fuel first from the inboard tanks, then the outboard, because using fuel first from the outboard tanks might overstress the wing at the wing root in turbulence from excessive bending from lift at the wing tips as described in this video.

[@Zbigniew_Nowak]

Interesting. But I wonder one thing: what happens when the plane is standing in the hangar and the lifting force does not lift the wings? I guess that then the wings may start to gradually bend under the weight - unless, of course, then some supports or additional landing gear are used under these heavy wingtips (?)

[@renegadeflyer2]

It would be a fun ride, riding in one of the pods. Just think what would happen when the pilot makes a abrupt turn when trying to avoid bullets or flakl The weight on the wing tips would make handling a bit interesting. Slow or delayed response, when attempting to roll or stopping the roll the plane.

[@newhonk]

Your videos feel like the type where you just sit down and get a snack while watching the video, and I love it.

[@lucashinch]

It looks like a scary ride from the County Fair .. you know, the one you hear stories about "flying off and landing in the parking lot. "

[@womble321]

The wing strength issue is why the B52 has huge tanks near the tip.

[@davidwoods7408]

Blohm & Voss seemed to be more interested in seeing how bizarre they could be and still get airborne (maybe) than in any practical designs

[@iunnox666]

BV141 was quite a practical design really, it was made to offset prop torque and worked quite well.

[@et76039]

As far as the wingtip weight goes, that could be resolved with outrigger landing gear, much like on the B-52.

[@sillysad3198]

i see Blom&Voss - i click

[@an0nym0usguy49]

If I didn't see the humans inside for scale I would have believed that this thing was a missile.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

There is a series of books covering the German aircraft projects of WW2 - Secret Luftwaffe Projects (the 1st book covers fighters, the 2nd covers strategic bombers and the 3rd covers ground attack and special aircraft).

[@anon_y_mousse]

I wish someone would test that idea out. I'd love to know for certain if it's crazy or not. Although, I suspect it is crazy, I could be wrong.

[@jwessel1969]

Even just a flying model would be interesting.

[@ReisskIaue]

@@jwessel1969 Absolutely. I mean, why not build a similar shaped drone in a smaller shape and proof (or disproof) the concept.

[@Schlipperschlopper]

Please computer model calculations at skunkworks like it was done for the Horten flying wing!

[@bluesloth7963]

This is one reason why tip tanks are a thing. And wing tanks Spreading the weight out instead of putting it all in the middle means less stress on the wings. It's not that complicated. With the crew on the wingtips, though, I imagine there could be some problems keeping it balanced right XD

[@richardscales9560]

1 ton fuel tank on the wing end might cause some balance issues as fuel was used up?

[@thingamabob3902]

so the other pods gunner has to fire his ammo accordingly 🤑🤑🤑

[@evandunstone3299]

It would be a wild ride out there on the wing tip…

[@puppetguy8726]

Richard Vogt had such a beautiful brilliant mind

[@paulgaskins7713]

12:30 it’s so funny you said that. That exact thing happens to me all the time in dreams

[@clarencehopkins7832]

Excellent stuff bro

[@tedhardiman5438]

Very DIFFERENT😀 Great Content!!

[@matsv201]

One advantage of this desing.. is that in a case of a civil war, both sides can use the same aircraft and shoot on each other.

[@repeatdefender6032]

I have dreams about driving from the back seat, too! Same thing, I can't see where I'm going. Interesting.

[@mosesracal6758]

Just imagine how tight the weight tolerance mustve been for the pilots and gunners if that was actually built, its probably gonna be similar to the Italians who had to pick shorter men for their tank crews or else they would simply not just fit

[@drydogg]

At one of my former jobs, we had a funky looking Chevy minivan; looked like a carboard milk carton turned on its side. It was one of the first vehicles I drove, with automatic door locks. This system locked all the doors when you put the transmission in drive and unlocked when you shifted to neutral and reverse. One of my colleagues didn't like the feature and referred to this kind of thing as an 'overengineered piece of shit'. I owned several USSR, WWII vintage Mosin-Nagant rifles, M91/30, M38, M44. When I bought the M44, for $89.95, I pulled the bolt out and stared at it. It looked like it had been finished with a carpentry rasp, but, Holy Shit, it worked, and worked well. You know these things didn't freeze shut in the horrible Russian winter; definitely not overengineered or complicated.

[@joearnold6881]

I feel like being out on the ends of those long wings, as pilot or crew, could be extremely uncomfortable when banking. Sharp bank and turn right, and now you’re like thirty feet above the fuselage. Bank left from there and you’re dropping like sixty feet! (Further along the curve of the circle) Not to mention, all that weight on the ends of the wings seems… precarious

[@javierpatag3609]

Does Blohm + Voss still make aircraft? (They still exist and operate to this day.) Oh, I wish they'd make weird aircraft again. Much ❤ for their willingness to experiment.

[@juliane__]

They did in the cold war in conjunction with other manufacturers. Later producing helicopter as MBB - Messerschmidt Bölkow Blohm, who invented the steerless and very uncomlicated rotor concept in the 70ies.

[@pickeljarsforhillary102]

No planes. They went back to their roots of ship building and split into 2 companies with 1 focusing on military contracts and the other civilian.

[@javierpatag3609]

@@juliane__ (Looks up the MBB helicopter.) Oh, cool! They're now Airbus!

[@juliane__]

@@pickeljarsforhillary102 By name of the company that is correct. But not by Blohm himself. He reinstated the company by merging with others as Flugzeugbau Nord GmbH. Later being represented with Blohm in MBB.

[@MrMakabar]

They ended up being taken apart by the Brits. However Blohm really wanted to built planes and restart a plane factory in Hamburg. He got Wocke as the lead engineer. The most important aircraft they built was the Hansa Jet, which is the first civilian jet aircraft built in Germany. Naturally it has forward swept wings with some lovely pods on the wing tips. They ended up becoming part of Airbus and the site in Finkenwerder is the largest aircraft factory in Germany.

[@knoll9812]

Why put the pods on the wing tips? Why not put halfway between fuselage and wing tip. Somewhere for landing gear and still with advantages

[@samnelson9038]

Love this manufacturer. The Flying clog especially

[@andreyradchenko8200]

B&V (submitting another ugly): Notice me, minister-sama! Ministry of Aviation: [sanity loss noises]

[@ReisskIaue]

I really love the sleek fuselage of it, that has a diameter just a little wider than the engine. No person had to fit inside. It can be build even sleeker than a Dornier Do 17 (and Do 217). The space for the personnell would be in the gondolas. If it had been build it would be very interesting to compare it to more conventional designs regarding: ergonomics for crew, ease of maintenance (I think the engine would lose to a He 111 or Ju 88, but win against a He 177), material consumption, construction time, overall costs.

[@destinyangel5]

You can see the inspiration George Lucas must have had for the star wars B wing @1:12. and WWII style of air battles .

[@davidgrainger5994]

I can just imagine trying to get that on the runway in turbulent air throwing you up and down like a carnival ride. There is a good reason for the pilot to be in the middle.

[@MikeWToast]

12:30 I have those *exact same dreams*, quite often in fact. It's quite weird. I once gained lucidity and forced my perspective into the front seat, but lord did the dream fight against me doing that.

[@MisterOcclusion]

It looks like inspiration for the B Wing. I can't help ask, but why? It just makes no sense. Even driving a motorcycle from the sidecar (this was briefly a thing) makes more sense than this does...

[@Tom-Lahaye]

It would also be relatively easy for the crew to bail out, and they are separated well from all things flammable, like engines and fuel.

[@Tugela60]

Something they would have to be doing frequently 😂

[@svenjonsson9]

I just imagine the B&V conference room table huge sketchboards all around, piles of drugs on silver platters that the designers could sample as they pleased, and guys just going crazy with brainstorming outlandish concepts, LOL

[@Schlipperschlopper]

pervitin here we come :-)))

[@Free-Bodge79]

Good stuff. 👊💛👍

[@Watkinsstudio]

One of many reasons Germany lost ww2 was the obsession with designing so many different types of aircraft, none of which could regain air superiority. Too few pilots for too many different designs, when the winning strategy was in quickly mfg and manning tens of thousands of a good few types. This is what the US did to perfection.

[@thingamabob3902]

ever counted the myriad of designs the allied designers made ... countless and also produced a boatload of different designs, parallel to each other. All of the aircraft producers did with and without official competition bids, how would you produce a better ( potentially revolutionary) plane if you don´t try to build it pre-era of computer designs

[@superdupergrover9857]

I have the same dream. Well, almost. I usually start to notice something is off after a while and then I start to have trouble controlling the car. Weird.

[@bigblue6917]

I'd have loved to have been in the room when one of Blohm and Voss's proposals was given to Goring. The sound of rapidly retreating footsteps as his staff suddenly remember they have to be somewhere, anywhere, else. Just as Goring explodes with rage and indignation. Okay, well maybe not in the actually room. Just somewhere, anywhere, else.

[@loddude5706]

Loadings, CofG & consumables wise, it's rather an interesting drone design . . . : )

[@organickevinlondon]

Those Blohm & Voss, WW2 aircraft designs, really were, "the pilots gondolas" LOL.

[@mikestanmore2614]

B&V engineers obviously didn't think a crew was thrown around enough during combat.

[@mrmanch204]

I suppose it might completely mess with the mind of an attacking pilot, like where do fire at? Great stuff, thank you.

[@thingamabob3902]

For a little more symmetry the Pilot could have been seated at the tail end ( like in the three engined BV P.170 which is featured in an older vid from IHYLS ) possibly with another tail gunner ... adding 1 more crew to the bomber ( more weight ) but some control lines could have been shorter, the pods lighter and the pilot would have had an easier job ( maybe not during take off and landing though ^^ ). The pods in this configuration would have had only a front and rear gunner each ( not 3 as in the right non-pilot pod ) but the bomber would have had vast firing arcs with several gun arcs overlapping.

[@Marc1973Dez]

Not even a youngster rollercoaster-lover would like to be on that cockpit after a few turns.

[@schnelma605]

11:03 A video of the modification exists. Unfortunately, links are automatically deleted

[@schnelma605]

I believe there is also a video of Boeing B-17 modification with a gondola on the wing tip

[@pg259]

Actually placing the pod on the tips reduced the stress, because it distributed the weight and reduced the bending forces.

[@jimsvideos7201]

Rolling in the flight would be an uncomfortable experience. Coincidentally, that is why blended-wing airliners might work but never with passengers too far from centerline.

[@JansenX12]

Maybe its because im german and my way of thinking is different but some of those asymetrical designs are interesting. Wait wait hear me out!! If you have the cockpit offset to one side and you get attacked by an enemy how much confusion does it produce in the pilots head to not aim at the center of the plane but to aim to the wingtips. It was never tested but how difficult would it be to adjuste yourself to aim that way and how high is the chance of survival of the pilot in this small, hard to hit cockpit. Or you could kill the plane by setting the huge fueltank wich is called the center on fire i dont know. If it was tested and studied well enough maybe in the future Military plane had changed shape. Back in WW1 nobody belived much in the importence of planes in naval combat ether...

[@alt5494]

Putting a compact cockpit pod on top of the tail with longer podless wings would have been interesting. Though more powerful engines with improved supercharging would probably have been required.

[@Zeguyfromgermany]

Visibility out of the cockpit would be a nightmare.

[@alt5494]

@@Zeguyfromgermany Visibility would be similar to flight sims certainly not horrible. Would also give full 360 visibility rare in bombers. The idea would be high speed very high altitude bomber. Optimizing for speed & service ceiling.

[@briansteffmagnussen9078]

Imagine if the pots both had flight controls and both pilots spotted a target in each direction, Garnish with some Monty Pyton humor and let the fight for the controls begin. Can this be made real in War Thunder?

[@vipondiu]

I imagine the brainstorm room at B&V after reading the request from the reichministerium, the engineers proceed to chug a barrel of Jäggermeister and snort some lines and start with the usual question; "Ok, how can we awnser this request with the weirdest proposal possible?" And then they glue different parts of other models together until getting something like the P163.

[@thingamabob3902]

I wonder how much glue they had left after snorting most of it ^^

[@onamazaku]

Anyone else getting Star Wars B-Wing vibes from this?

[@keithdurose7057]

As odd as this seems. The wing tips stay very stable in contrast to the fuselage. In another video production. The USAAF trialed such a modified US aircraft. The pilot reported this, but there was no follow up aircraft utilizing this approach to air power.

[@partciudgam8478]

The Blohm und Voss dude came with a joint and some Bob Marley records, the dude said "yeah!"

[@TheScandoman]

I have a dream too except for that I can't drive just fine it turns into a slow motion crash nightmare! 😮

[@joearnold6881]

I keep having these dreams where I have a ton of trouble getting my feet to hit the ground as I walk. Not like low gravity, exactly, nor like I’m floating with short legs… It’s just, I take a step but my foot just barely reaches, with each step getting harder until they won’t reach and I’m stuck I just thought I’d also share a dumb dream I have a lot. (I also get the one where your teeth feel loose and start to fall out, but I think that might be more common)

[@mandolinic]

There's an obvious weakness to frontal attacks on the pilot's pod.

[@Tugela60]

Landing that thing would be a nightmare.

[@KevinATJumpWorks]

When you want a bomber, an AC130 and visibility at the same time.

[@jpbatinic]

ah dream logic... in my dreams, I often fly uncontrollably, and in dream logic "oh yeah, forgot I do this sometimes, shit everyone's gonna be mad at me"

[@greghardy9476]

Bailing out in a spin would be a nice dream…

[@alfnoakes392]

Bailing out of anything in a spin would be 'interesting'. Bailing out of either pod would be safer than on a conventional aircraft as the chance of making contact with the fuselage or tailplane would be minimal.

[@coreyandnathanielchartier3749]

I think B&V knew that the RLM would never give them a decent contract for any aircraft they devised, so they entertained themselves by submitting outrageous proposals for absurd designs.

[@levischittlord6558]

I heard Pervitin was a hell of a drug but I didn't know it was this good 😂.

[@Robertlynschultz]

Remove the fuselage and stick the pods on a shortened winglet and you’d have a Cloud City Fighter from Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back.

[@timbrwolf1121]

Yo I have the exact same reoccurring dream about driving

[@stephenolson532]

Who ever designed that was already sky high 😮

[@mikepette4422]

honestly nobody else could have even dreamt this "thing". They might be the weirdest design company ever.

[@thingamabob3902]

ever seen some of the pre-war soviet designs ... they also had some weird sh!t, worth a look

[@jwessel1969]

Oddly enough, I've also had the dream where I'm driving from the back seat.

[@peterbrazier7107]

It's a Prototype of the Reble B-Wing from Star Wars.

[@user-tg3og3bi7c]

A long time ago in a galaxy Far far away .........

[@redlock4004]

I suspect that Burt Rutan's grand dad worked for Blohm and Voss. :)

[@jfu5222]

The Blohm und Voss engineers put on a pot of coffee, rolled up their sleeves and got to work on the P 163.

[@andrerousseau5730]

Before you make critical commentary on the subject of wing-droop and re-enforcement due to wing-tip weight loading maybe you should look up the loaded wet weight of the V1 flying-bomb - didn't stop He111's from air-launching them did it??

[@danko6582]

Gotta love B&V. They just hated doing anything the normal way.

[@joejoejoejoejoejoe4391]

Imagine the G force on the pilot doing a roll.

[@clockdva20]

German design in the 30's & 40's across the board was a gold mine of concepts and idea's both far ahead of there times or just so radical that they still have people talking about them to this day. This may have led to many invation that shaped the modern world but back in WW2 all these crazy idea's were just a drain on resources and time.something Germany did not have after 1943. Germans are famed for over thinking things instead of having a set of fixed concepts in place unlike other nations like the USA who streamlined their reseach and production methards to produce pratical designs even if they were not the best. They were more effective.and could be produced quickly. All these wild ideas in the German weapons industry was a major issue to effectively product much needed effective weapons as the tide turned.this is a simplified veiw of course as you have to allow for Germany been attack from all sides by this point and its Cities and industries been turned into rubble. Plus the major issue a lack of natural resorces and skilled labor. Desprate times leed to crazy idea's Still it did allow ideas that would have never seen the light of day to go far beyound simple just been a dream inside a persons head.

[@herrmaughan6711]

So this is what inspired the B-wing

[@RaytheonTechnologies_Official]

Cool Logo(TM)

[@LastGoatKnight]

Blohm&Voss is the Lockheed or Sukorsky of WW2 Germany. Unorthodox designs most of the time, few if any reaching the sunlight and thus the production line

[@merafirewing6591]

Imagine if they had moved into the US.

[@milferdjones2573]

The pod weapons seamed poorly considered. Too limited firing arcs. Maybe two 360 turrets one up one down on weapon pod. Or even one 360 turret on rig that would allow it to swing form upright to upside down.

[@bobmarley1686]

Omg is this the Great Grandfather of the B-Wing?!

[@pencilpauli9442]

I love how the Nazis wasted so much time and resources on silly projects.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

It stopped the designers, engineers and skilled technicians from ending up on the front lines.

[@pencilpauli9442]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 That's true.

[@PunkinsSan]

That was blohm&voss specialty

[@sonsofodin6143]

Like anything has changed in Democratic nations lol...

[@The67wheelman]

Seems to me someone else did this and the pilots where getting sick from the constant up and down action of the wings

[@clouddog2393]

Love their designs . Bizarre , weird but so original . l can see why the staid and conventional Luftwaffe top brass would look at them with scepticism and doubt but say what what you like about B and V designs they were different and imaginative . lf they were any good in combat had they ever been produced is another matter and a question that will never be answered . Shame .

[@rodbottomley4514]

Whats funnier is the hammerheads that came up with this idea.

[@Neithan02]

Oh look, the b wing

[@josephglatz25]

Did Richard Vogt win his game of weird plane bingo yet?

[@redtsar]

God, I love Blohm & Voss designs And damn, they really REALLY got the good meth

[@davidcarr7436]

Blohm and Voss, or Industrial Light and Magic?

[@Andrey1997452]

10:08 that sounds really bad for balance.

[@rockhouse7485]

It reminds me of that one airliner photoshop

[@johncox2865]

8:48 These guys were, like, EDUCATED 🤷🤪🤪🤪 They could add and subtract? Or, would it never have to land…

[@robert-oq9jq]

A pilot's worst nightmare

[@Fabermain]

i liked commented and subscribed for once.