Aerofoil travel by sea, snow, and in the air

Press, 29 July 1976, Page 16

Aerofoil travel by sea, snow, and in the air

Monchengladbach, a town on the Rhine between Cologne and the Dutch border in West German, is having its first look at the X-114. a craft that might have come straight out of the pages of science fiction, according to the West German Information Service. The X-114 is an aerofoil flying boat with a delta shaped fuselage-cum-hull. It was designed by Dr Alexander M. Lippisch, who died in February. Dr Lippisch, a world-famous specialist in aerodynamics, was one of the designers of the Messerschmitt Mel 63, the world’s first rocket-powered aircraft. The manufacturers are Rhein-Flugzeugbau. of Monchengladbach.

The X-114 can skim the surface of the water at 180 kilometres an hour and ascend to altitudes of several thousand yards. The proto-

type is due to undergo flight trials later this year. At a cruising speed of 150 kilometres an hour, fuel consumption is a modest fifteen litres per 100 kilometres, or nine miles to the gallon, which compares well with the average European family car.

On a flight from Munich to Hamburg, a distance of 500 miles, say, the X-114’s 200 h.p. combustion engine is claimed to burn only 10 per cent more fuel than a comparable light aircraft. The Monchengladbach flying boat can take off and land in snow without lowering its undercarriage and encounters no difficulty with choppy seas. It is a successful combination of ship, aircraft and hovercraft and, assuming trials progress satisfactorily, the X-114 could well be taken into civil, naval and police service by the 1980 s.