Amusing Hobby 1/48 Scale Weserflug P.1003/1 - Plastic Model Building Kit # 48A002

Amusing Hobby 1/48 Scale Weserflug P.1003/1 - Plastic Model Building Kit # 48A002The VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft project design dates back to 1938. The fuselage was fairly conventional, with a standard tail unit. The real difference in this design were the wings, which were hinged and tiltable about halfway along the length of the wings. Mounted on each end of the wing was a nacelle featuring a large diameter propeller. The wing was mounted high on the fuselage so that the propeller would have the necessary ground clearance when the wing was tilted in-flight position. A single Daimler-Benz DB 600 series engine was located in the fuselage behind the cockpit and drove both propellers.The concept never left the drawing board, but a very similar design was later built by the United States as the V-22 Osprey that began testing in 1989. Even today, the tilt-rotor concept is proving troublesome, and the fact that there would have had to be a very complex gearing arrangement for the Weserflug P.1103 (to tilt the wings and keep constant power to the large diameter propellers) would have proven a very difficult design hurdle.This is a new kit of the WWII German VTOL Aircraft Weserflug P.1003/1 from Amusing Hobby.