Focke-Wulf Project III

The Focke-Wulf Project III was a German design study for a jet fighter, worked out by Focke-Wulf in June 1943 as a follow-up to the Project II. Its aim was to reduce the danger of foreign objects being drawn into the engine, a risk foreseen for the Project II with its low underslung intake. To do this the designers moved the turbojet from beneath the fuselage to a position on top of it, with the jet intakes at the sides of the fuselage. In most other respects the layout resembled the Project II, but the conventional tail was replaced by twin tails at the ends of the horizontal stabiliser, which gave the jet exhaust a clear path. A related Project IV was to be virtually identical but with a liquid-fuelled rocket booster on each side of the turbojet nacelle. The Project III remained a design study.