AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 121 / 338

Plate 121 of 338 · Second World War · Tactical reconnaissance aircraft

Blohm & Voss BV 141 B-0

BV 141 B-0 NC+RI, painted as Blohm & Voss BV 141 B-0 NC+RI, the tenth and last of the pre-series B-0s (V18, Werknummer 0210010), as photographed in early 1942: an asymmetric three-seat tactical reconnaissance aircraft with a BMW 801 fourteen-cylinder radial at the front of a slender tail boom, a fully glazed crew gondola set on the wing 2.5 m to starboard of the boom, a wing spanning 17.46 m that reaches further to starboard than to port, and a tailplane that extends to port only, shown tail down on its wheels: RLM 70 and 71 splinter green upper surfaces and sides over RLM 65 light blue undersides, black and white crosses on both sides of the boom and above and below both wings, the code ‘NC+RI’ split around the boom crosses, a black swastika edged white on both sides of the fin, and a dark green spinner and propeller (no BV 141 survives; shape from a BV 141B three-view scaled to the published dimensions and checked against Bundesarchiv photographs of this aircraft; the photographs are black and white, so the splinter pattern follows standard practice, the main-wheel positions are estimated from a rear photograph, and the fixed forward guns are left off).

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as Blohm & Voss BV 141 B-0 NC+RI, the tenth and last of the pre-series B-0s (V18, Werknummer 0210010), as photographed in early 1942: an asymmetric three-seat tactical reconnaissance aircraft with a BMW 801 fourteen-cylinder radial at the front of a slender tail boom, a fully glazed crew gondola set on the wing 2.5 m to starboard of the boom, a wing spanning 17.46 m that reaches further to starboard than to port, and a tailplane that extends to port only, shown tail down on its wheels: RLM 70 and 71 splinter green upper surfaces and sides over RLM 65 light blue undersides, black and white crosses on both sides of the boom and above and below both wings, the code ‘NC+RI’ split around the boom crosses, a black swastika edged white on both sides of the fin, and a dark green spinner and propeller (no BV 141 survives; shape from a BV 141B three-view scaled to the published dimensions and checked against Bundesarchiv photographs of this aircraft; the photographs are black and white, so the splinter pattern follows standard practice, the main-wheel positions are estimated from a rear photograph, and the fixed forward guns are left off). Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.5 MB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (BV 141B); engine, crew and dimensions are for the BV 141 B-0 NC+RI modelled here.

History

The BV 141

In 1937 the German Air Ministry asked for a single-engined, three-seat tactical reconnaissance aircraft that would give its crew the best possible view. Arado offered the Ar 198, and Focke-Wulf a twin-boom, twin-engined design that became the Fw 189. Blohm & Voss, whose aircraft department in Hamburg was led by Richard Vogt, built a design of its own without an order: an aircraft with no conventional fuselage at all. The engine drove a slender tail boom carrying the fin and tailplane, and the crew sat in a fully glazed gondola mounted on the wing well to starboard of it, with an all-round view broken only by the engine on one side. Vogt argued that the offset weights and thrust could be balanced like any others, and the first prototype, flying as the Ha 141-0, proved him right when it flew on 25 February 1938.

The early aircraft had the BMW 132 radial and were underpowered, so Blohm & Voss redesigned the type around the far more powerful fourteen-cylinder BMW 801. The BV 141B had a bigger wing, a strengthened structure and a new tailplane that stretched out to port only, leaving the rear gunner in the tail cone of the gondola a clear field of fire astern. It carried two fixed machine guns firing forward, two movable MG 15s for the observer and gunner, and cameras and light bombs. The first BV 141B flew in January 1941, and the Luftwaffe found that it handled well and was not handicapped by its strange layout.

It never went into production. The Fw 189 had already been chosen and was serving well, and every BMW 801 that could be built was wanted for the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter and for bombers. Development of the BV 141B dragged on with hydraulic and undercarriage problems, and the programme was ended in 1943. In all 28 BV 141s of all versions were built, including the prototypes and a pre-series of ten BV 141B-0s, some of which were used for trials and training. No BV 141 survives.

This airframe

BV 141 B-0 NC+RI

NC+RIThe airframe modelled

NC+RI was the tenth and last of the pre-series BV 141B-0s, Werknummer 0210010, also known as the V18. It appears in a series of Bundesarchiv photographs taken early in 1942, in flight, on the airfield and in the Blohm & Voss hangar, and one of them shows its codes clearly on the port side of the boom. No BV 141 survives and none is in a UK museum, so the model shows the B-0 that the photographs record best. It shows it as they do, standing tail down on its wheels: RLM 70 and 71 splinter green upper surfaces and sides over RLM 65 light blue undersides, black and white crosses on both sides of the boom and above and below both wings, ‘NC’ ahead of the boom cross and ‘RI’ behind it on the port side, a black swastika edged in white on both sides of the fin, and a dark green spinner and propeller. Its shape comes from a BV 141B three-view, scaled to the published dimensions and checked against the photographs. The photographs are black and white and the two greens can hardly be told apart, so the splinter pattern follows standard practice; the code is assumed to read the other way round on the starboard side, the main-wheel positions are estimated from a photograph taken from behind, and the fixed forward guns are left off because their position could not be confirmed.

Where to see one

Not on charge

No BV 141 survives.

All 338 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.