RUDOLF SCHRIEVER FLUGKREISEL
(1941-1945)
by Rob Arndt(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs1.jpg)
QuoteThese Ernst Zündel mislabelings are all false except for the Repulsin depictions.
The reasons:
1) Schriever-Habermohl: This is in fact Habermohl's only known submission with a Walterrohr engine and was immediately rejected as impractical.
(http://naziufomythos.greyfalcon.us/flugkreisel.jpg)
Reconstruction of Schriever's Flugkreisel based on the 1975 Luftfahrt International magazine article
2) The supposed 1941-42 disc fan is not accurately depicted: The true Flugkreisel had 3 kerosene engines around the saucer rim plus two at the SIDES of the craft.
3) The Schriever-Belluzzo disc: Totally false misidentified Henri Coanda Lenticular disc that has NOTHING to do with the Flugkreisel project. This was to be powered by 12 Jumo 004s and was rejected as impractical. A scale model was wind tunnel tested only.
~Rob Arndt
QuoteThis disc aircraft without a doubt is the most controversial of all the non-occult discs supposedly constructed by Germany in the Second World War. So many different people, organizations, and facilities have been named in connection to this craft that properly identifying what was the Flugkreisel (Flight Gyro), as conceived by Rudolf Schriever himself, becomes almost impossible.
However, chronologically the pieces fall together to solve this puzzle.
The story originates with Viktor Schauberger, who under SS direction, started working on a revolutionary vortex motor in 1940 called the Repulsin(e), roughly translated as "Repulsor". The first model, the Repulsin A was a colloidal disc motor that utilized air and water contained in a copper casing to produce a mini-tornado, or vortex, inside the machine that caused levitation at some point.
The early results of Schauberger's work with the Repulsin A was reported to Heinkel for the purpose of exploring the possibility of adapting the discoid motor to aircraft. At that time the SS was leaning towards marine applications of the motor as an exotic propulsion system for an odd bio-submarine which would have been named the Forelle (Trout) due to its fish-shaped body and gaping water inlet mouth.
Heinkel clearly did not act on the early information it got from the Repulsin research, continuing instead on the development of its own jet aircraft projects and turbojets in competition with its bitter rival Messerschmitt. However, one year later in 1941, with Schauberger working on aircraft engine liquid cooling systems for Messerschmitt, one of Heinkel's own personnel, Flugkapitän Rudolf Schriever came up with the idea of a "Flugkreisel" (Flight Gyro) that did not rely on Schauberger's discoid motor but on developing turbojet technology. Schriever later claimed that the inspiration for his design originated with the discus sporting event observed by him at the 1936 Nazi Olympics. But this is doubtful given that his employer Heinkel was researching the Schauberger motor the same year as Schriever's idea came to him. Naturally, the SS responded to Schriever's proposal by taking control of it while Schauberger continued work on perfecting the Repulsin A model at Mauthausen along with 20-30 prisoner engineers.
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs8.jpg)
Kerosene-burning turbineQuoteSchriever produced the first drawings of the Flugkreisel in 1941. Now some accounts state that the first Flugkreisel flew under jet power in June 1942 but that is highly unlikely given the fact that the only available jets for the project would be Heinkel's HeS 8A centrifugal jets or early Junkers Jumo 004A turbojets which were not reliable enough to power such an exotic design as the Flugkreisel. The early BMW 003A jets were also discounted for this reason.
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs7.jpg)
Early Schriever Flugkreisel concept
The Flugkreisel itself was a large disc-fan of 20 meters diameter with 21 rotor blades that surrounded a hemispherical cockpit. Attached to the underside of the of the disc rotor were three jet engines that spun the rotor like a helicopter for VTO. Once in the air, two other lower body jets were attached to each side allowing the disc to achieve level flight.
In Schriever's postwar drawings one can clearly see that the jets depicted are not German conventional ones for the time period. While some illustrators depict BMW 003 and Jumo 004 jet engines in place, the engines were in fact kerosene burning jet turbines of immense power which places its true first flight well into 1943 or beyond.
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs5.jpg)
Artist impression of Schriever Flugkreisel taking off
By that time BMW had started testing its own "Flügelrad" (Winged Wheel) jet autogyros that superficially resembled the basic Flugkreisel design but on a much reduced scale and powered strictly by BMW 003 jet engines.
(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/germufo1.jpg)
BMW "Flügelrad" Art by Justo Miranda
This is where the confusion begins on what constituted the Flugkreisel project. Postwar interpretations of the two different craft mix the programs together which has led to discrediting the Flugkreisel altogether as a real machine that flew during the war.
The SS, however, continued with "Projekt Flugkreisel" despite the early machine's disappointing flight performance and instability at low altitude. Therefore, the SS brought in three other prominent specialists to aid in the Flugkreisel Projekt: Klaus Habermohl, Dr. Richard Miethe, and an Italian Guiseppe Belluzzo from the Riva Del Garda facility. Six other unnamed engineers also participated in the secret project.
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs6.jpg)
Bottom view drawing of Schriever Flugkreisel with 5 kerosene-burning engines (3 on the disc rotor, 2 on the underbody)(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs10.jpg)
Klaus Habermohl's design for the Flugkreisel replacement Art by Ernst ZündelQuoteAlong with the Schriever early designs, the three primary specialists produced concepts of their own within months. Habermohl proposed a large rotor disc with hemispherical cockpit on top and powered by a WalterRohr (Walter Rocket Pipe) deflector below. This design was rejected as impractical.
Dr. Giuseppe Belluzzo's designs aren't well known but his involvement in another Italian jet disc project, his Turbo Proietti (Turbine Projectile) that would serve as circular flying artillery, later removed him from the Flugkreisel Projekt entirely. So it was left up to Dr. Miethe to design the replacement disc.
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs11.jpg)
Dr. Miethe came up with various initial jet designs of a large diameter disc with a tear drop cabin on top and bulbous body below powered by multiple jets running along the lower body sides in a staggered formation. Other designs placed turbojets directly on the solid disc underneath while others even had the jets protruding from the rear upper disc body.
A solution needed to be found as all the jet designs were problematic at best.
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs12.jpg)
RUDOLF SCHRIEVER FLUGKREISEL (1941-1945) by Rob Arndt (http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/Rudolf%20Schriever.htm)
Retrieved from Grey Falcon
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs4.jpg)
QuoteDr. Miethe found the solution when word came of Schauberger's completion of the Repulsin B model discoid motor in 1943 and its radical vortex propulsion system that could be reasonably enlarged into a manned disc of incredible power. Work proceeded right away and by April 1944 the Miethe craft constructed in Breslau took off for flight tests over the Baltic. It was reported to Hitler on April 17, 1944 by the SS that the Miethe disc had successfully flown.
So what happened to Schriever's original Flugkreisel?
Destined for the scrap heap, the disc-fan was saved by transferring it to Prag-Kbley where BMW was testing out the Flügelrad models. Georg Klein claimed to have seen the strange craft at the aerodrome in 1945 and his description of a large disc-fan powered by 5 jet engines that produced a tremendous roar proves it was there. None of the BMW Flügelrads were powered by 5 jet engines and none were located anywhere on the Flügelrads except inside the disc body, not attached to the disc rotor and lower body sides as with the Flugkreisel. It is further stated that in February 1945 the Flugkreisel attained a top speed of 1,300 mph and a climb to 45,000 ft in two minutes! The Flügelrads by comparison could barely get off the ground, were highly unstable, and made frequent "hard" landings. Only one BMW Flügelrad II V-2 (or V-3) finally achieved powered level flight in April 1945 just before all the Flügelrads and Schriever's Flugkreisel were destroyed in the Russian advance.
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturesh/ciaklein.gif)
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(http://greyfalcon.us/restored/myPictures/klein.jpg)
QuoteMiethe's disc was at Breslau and its fate is unknown but was probably destroyed by the SS on orders from Berlin.
(http://greyfalcon.us//pictures/schrievertop.jpg)
Just following the 1950 "Der Spiegel" article about Rudolf Schriever, Arizona artist Jim Nichols produced this nice color artwork of Schriever's "Flugkreisel", which became an Icon for the German Discs
Just following the 1950 "Der Spiegel" article about Rudolf Schriever, Arizona artist Jim Nichols produced this nice color artwork of
Schriever's "Flugkreisel", which became an Icon for the German Discs
Postwar Schriever continued to make claims about his Flugkreisel being taken out of his hands and offered his non-patented designs to the Americans he worked for (as a delivery driver for the US Army). No one took him seriously and he died shortly thereafter. In his apartment was discovered many designs for disc aircraft including his original Flugkreisel.
(http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/picturese/f120.jpg)
Schriever Flugkreisel in flight drawing
As for the other "Projekt Flugkreisel" specialists, their fates are known. Habermohl was captured by the Russians and forced to produce a secret disc design for the USSR which still remains unknown. Dr. Belluzzo remained in Italy, his round bomb Turbo Proietti forgotten. Dr. Miethe was offered a position as team leader of AVRO Canada's disc development programs which he accepted.
AVRO Canada had tried to persuade Viktor Schauberger to join Miethe in producing a disc aircraft but he declined and stayed in Leonstein, Austria. The Russians and Americans had taken away all his Repulsins and documents, the US finally forcing him to sign over everything to them in 1958. He also died shortly thereafter.
It would seem that Miethe by himself could not replicate the Schauberger propulsion system so instead he resorted to designing Canadian discs powered by jets based on Henri Coanda's lenticular disc design. Dr. Miethe left AVRO Canada for the US and produced the first US non-VTOL disc aircraft which were at one time in storage at MacDill AB.
Like Viktor Schauberger, Rudolf Schriever never had any real control over his disc design. They both died while others took credit for their ideas and work.
RUDOLF SCHRIEVER FLUGKREISEL (1941-1945) by Rob Arndt (http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/Rudolf%20Schriever.htm)
Retrieved from Grey Falcon
The Schriever StoryQuoteRudolf Schriever was the first would-be inventor of a Nazi "flying saucer" More than Belluzzo, he launched the concept of man-made UFOs by the Nazis Like Beluzzo he died a few years after his claims and the mystery begins
Rudolf Schriever's story (as well as the others coming from later would-be inventors) and the concept behind it were really fascinating and well fitting the regular publications of news about more and more dreadful German secret weapons featured by the press since the end of WWII. Throughout the years the designers of many magazines tried to portray the mythical Schriever "Flugkreisel", most of them taking the original "Der Spiegel" artwork as a reference.
It is really amazing the quantity of drawings produced by illustrators aimed to portrait the Schriever "wonder machine". Most of them were quite faithful to the original 1950 description, while a few others were real wishful thinking.
Just following the 1950 "Der Spiegel" article, Arizona artist Jim Nichols produced this nice color artwork of Schriever's "Flugkreisel". Nichols produced at least three additional artworks devoted to Nazi UFOs, soon becoming very popular.
(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/sc9.jpg)
The German magazine "Heim und Welt" of April 2, 1950 (just very few days after the original Schriever interview) portrayed the "flying saucer" take off, flight and landing by these three artworks.
(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/sc3.jpg)
(http://[img]http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/sc8.jpg)[/img]
The first page of the original "Der Spiegel" article dated March 30, 1950. Mainly devoted to the overall "flying saucers" mystery (there was a huge on-going sighting wave all over Europe)(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/sc14.jpg)
This is close-up of one of the "Heim und Welt" artworks, later reprinted also by the French magazine "Tout Savoir" (November 1954)(http://greyfalcon.us/restored/myPictures/schriever2.gif)
Side view of the "flying disc"(http://greyfalcon.us/picturesd/mie508.jpg)
(http://greyfalcon.us/restored/myPictures/schriever1.gif)
Artist conception bottom view of the Schriever disc. The original description published by the "Der Spiegel" article was quite detailed and was taken again by the press in 1952, just after the claims from the never-traced Richard Miethe. Schriever died just one year later in a car accident, but his claims had already entered in the legend of Nazi UFOs.(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/sc15.gif)
Another sketch of the Schriever disc, from "Das Ufer" #18 of September 1952, introducing "flying saucers" as a possible secret German weapon developed during World War II.(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/sc18.gif)
Another view of the artist conception of the Schriever disc ("Flugkreisel")(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/sc16.gif)
A sketch of the Schriever "Flugkreisel" published by an Italian aviation magazine in the late '70s.(http://greyfalcon.us/picturesd/rs125.jpg)
The Legend continues.....
QuoteIn 1982, David Master's "German Jet Genesis" published by the prestigious Jane's military publisher introduced this sketch to illustrate the alleged Schriever's flying saucer".
It is very likely Masters based his information on Lusar's book about German secret weapons of WWII, who also had a short yet provoking chapter about German "flying saucers".
Lusar's source was likely to be early '50s newsclippings. Master's book illustrator got a quite free interpretation of the original Schriever description: this is a nearly classic "flying saucers", much closer to the descriptions of UFO witnesses than to the details published in 1950.
(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/sc20.gif)
(http://greyfalcon.us/restored/myPictures/schriever.jpg)
An artist's rendering of the Schriever 1950 description of his own "flying saucer", here flying over the German mountains. These artworks look really fascinating when thinking of secret highly advanced aircrafts from the evil and somehow mysterious Third Reich.
The great interest for "What If" situations is another of the reasons of the "Evergreen" interest for such stories.(http://naziufomythos.greyfalcon.us/BILDb.png)
QuoteThe Washington Post
February 18, 1957
Hitler's Arms Chief Tells of Plan to Bomb U.S.
by Super-Plane, Says Reich Had Flying Saucers
MUNICH, West Germany, Feb. 17 - Nazi Germany developed flying saucers that flew more than 1000 miles an hour and a bomber that could attack the United States and return without refueling, it was revealed today.
These and other details of Hitler's efforts to achieve a "wonder weapon" that would turn the tide of World War II in its closing stages are revealed authoritatively in a book called "The German Weapons and Secret Weapons of World War II and Their Development," by Rudolf Lusar, who during the war was head of the Technical Arms Department of the German War Ministry.
The flying saucers, designed by three German engineers and an Italian, were 138 feet in diameter. The first one flew Feb. 14, 1945, at Prague, and reached a height of more than 40,000 feet and a speed of 1250 miles per hour.
Germany, the book says, was also building the Heinkel 343, a bomber capable of reaching the United States and returning without refuelling. Several of the planes were ready at the end of the war. The book also said it was originally planned to stage the first air raid on the United States in May, 1945.
The Germans also were busy at work on the super V-Nine rocket, an outgrowth of the V-One and V-529 rockets which Germany aimed at England after the Allied landings in France in 1944.
Had they been completed, the book said, the V-Nine's would have been able to carry a one-ton warhead across the Atlantic to the United States in 35 minutes. The rocket was actually to have been guided by a pilot, who would jump out at the last moment with a parachute, to be rescued. If possible, by a German Submarine at sea.
Other weapons described in the book include the Viper, the world's first vertical take-off plane. Ten of these were ready for action at Kircheim Unter Tech in southwest Germany during 1945, but were never used against the enemy.
The book also described an acoustic cannon, which was supposed to be able to kill men with sound waves at a range of 70 yards but which turned out to be a failure and was scrapped.
But the Germans did turn out a wind cannon, which could shatter wooden boards at a distance of 200 yards with jets of compressed air, the book said. The wind cannon was ready for action at a bridge over the Elbe in 1945 but was never used.
Another weapon was the soundless electric cannon, which was to have expelled a conventional shell by electricity but was still in the experimental stage at the end of the war.
Lastly, the book described an automatic rifle that would fire around corners - to be used principally in house-to-house fighting. Lusar said the weapons was reported to be accurate up to 100 yards.
In his book, Lusar said the weapons helped bolster Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Göbbels in his fanatical belief that a "wonder weapon" would turn the tide at the last minute.
The Schriever Story (http://greyfalcon.us/the%20Schriever%20Story.htm)
Retrieved from Grey Falcon
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QuoteAll German wartime patents were carried off as booty by the Allies. This amounted to truckloads of information.
Fortunately, Rudolf Lusar, an engineer who worked in the German Patent Office during this time period, wrote a book in the 1950s listing and describing some of the more interesting patents and processes based upon his memory of them. They are surprisingly detailed.
Included is the Schriever saucer design with detail. Also discussed is the Miethe project. The significance of these two teams can not be minimized in the history of flying saucers or UFOs.
Already in this brief discussion, the evidence, taken as a whole, is overwhelming.
Please compare this to any and all extraterrestrial explanations of flying saucers.
Here we have Germans who claim to have invented the idea of the flying saucer.
We have Germans who claim to have designed flying saucers.
We have Germans who claim to have built flying saucers.
We have Germans who claim to have flown flying saucers.
We have Germans who claim to be witnesses to flying saucers known beforehand to be of German construction.
We have German construction details.
The facts speak for themselves. During the Second World War the Germans built devices we would all call today flying saucers.
No other UFO explanation can even approach this in terms of level of proof.
~Hitler's Flying Saucers, by Henry Stevens
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QuoteThe technological reservations cited here from the magazine Luftfahrt International (Nr. 9, May/June 1975) represent a sort of summation for critics of the German Flying Disk Mythos:
The whole story is incorrect from every angle. It is in fact highly unbelievable and would in all likelihood have died out in the 50s if, at that time, a technician had paid closer attention to this strange conception and done a few calculations. It would quickly have become evident that with the claimed 1800 rpm incredibly tremendous centrifugal acceleration forces would manifest themselves, forces that in this order of magnitude (26,200 g) are only known in experienced with armaments and even there only experienced with small caliber ammunitions. With a weight of 560 kg (BMW 003) of the propulsion unit, massive bolts of high tensile steel would be needed to mount the turbine, which, assuming equal distribution, would require a diameter of 142 mm for a two point attachment and still 116 mm diameter even for a three point one. This enormously heavy suspension would only suffice for a jet drive system at rest, not one in operation!
The saucer conceived by Schriever could thus not be realized in the planned configuration. In addition there a more reasons making it impossible. With an operational weight of approximately 3 tons, Schriever and his co-workers would have required about 2 tons of high grade material, numerous instruments and no less than five jet drive assemblies. At that time there were materiel and engine shortages that could not be alleviated with money alone or even organized. Whoever wanted to carry out such a project then, had to officially submit his list of requirements with the appropriate justification and only then, if approved, received the necessary authorization papers for procurement. In every case the responsible offices received notification of the new project and it was documented.
Despite all the confusions of war the files of Speer's Ministry remained fully intact , as well as the so-called 'MilchTalks' (named after Field Marshall Erich Milch, the man responsible for aircraft production at the time) and the war diaries of the various armaments commands containing incredibly detailed reports about raw materiel distribution, staffing, projects progress etc. Strangely enough none of these document collections, of which the Milch Talks alone amount to over 40,000 pages and the war diary of Rüstungs Kommando VII which covers the period 15.8.1939 - 31.12.1944 without a gap, contain even the slightest indication of Schriever's Flugkreisel, Miethe's Flugscheibe or the V 7 Flakmine. In other words none of these apparatuses existed; they were neither built, nor much less, flown.
How the V-7-Legend arose (http://greyfalcon.us/BACKUP.htm)The Schriever Story (http://greyfalcon.us/the%20Schriever%20Story.htm)
Retrieved from Grey Falcon
Exclusive - WWII German Flying Disk Schematic Drawing FoundBy Jeff Rense
Special thanks to Lea H. MacDonald for making this revelation possible(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/KA10.jpg)
Kenneth Arnold and his drawing of what he saw in 1947Quoten 1947 Kenneth Arnold, while flying in the Pacific Northwest, saw and later drew something the world had never seen before. Remarkably, his rendering turned out to be a near exact drawing of a German aircraft design war historians now know as the Ho Parabel (Horten Parabola), the astonishing twin-jet, 600 mph OPERATIONAL HO-229 (http://greyfalcon.us/The%20Horten%20Ho%20229.htm).
Incredible as this operational Horten design was, it did NOT represent the pinnacle of German advanced WWII flight technology.
There were a number of brilliant German scientists and engineers working on flying disc-shaped craft, many of which used traditional rocket/jet propulsion techniques...but some, apparently used methods far in advance of anything commonly known at that time. Or now, for that matter
Dr. Richard Miethe whose group allegedly built saucer craft at Breslau, came to Canada after the war and worked on saucer designs with the A.V. Roe Company on a joint American-Canadian project which 'officially' produced only a barely functional 'hovercraft' type 'saucer.' Most researchers today consider the Roe 'saucer' nothing less than a diversion. What was Miethe really working on?
Another highly-advanced group was led by Dr. Viktor Schauberger, who worked in Austria at the Kertl factory in Vienna. Schauberger's incredible craft allegedly utilized a tornado-like vortex which produced magnetic effects said to cause levitation. Two Schauberger models, both made of copper, were said to have been built with one of them successfully test flown. The story goes that it flew so well, in fact, that it impacted the inside roof of the hangar and was destroyed.
The SS which was apparently overseeing this and all German saucer research, allegedly stopped further experimentation after accident, dismissed Schauberger, and took all of his work and wizardry to some other location for further development. After the war, Schauberger was lured to the US by an alleged CIA front company and was then duped into signing a contract in English (he knew only German) giving the company all rights and title to his inventions, concepts, and designs. He was then returned to Austria...and died five days later.
As stated earlier, many of the German saucer craft were predicated upon known, if quite exotic, technology. Our source for the extraordinary drawing has been thoroughly interviewed over a lengthy period of time and is known to be of impeccable integrity. We have seen some of the hundreds of wartime documents from his long service with the Horten brothers, including personal correspondence from them to him.
When queried as to how he was able to obtain the drawing of the disc craft below, he would only say, "Sneaky...sneaky. No one was ever to know anything about this...I had to get the drawing from a friend who was very close to the project." He said he would never compromise his friend by disclosing his identity. Our source described how he was stationed at an airbase in Prague during the war while undergoing advanced mechanical training and also doing some teaching. On a number of occasions during his time at the base he heard, what he believes, was the disc-shaped vehicle shown in the drawing below being test flown. We say 'heard' because all those living on, or even near, the test area of the base were utterly forbidden to look out the windows...under penalty of being shot on the spot. In fact, all the windows in homes facing the test area were blacked out. No exceptions. He described the sound of the craft as absolutely 'deafening.' This would come as no surprise, given the 5 engines...three for lift and two for forward thrust...indicated in the drawing. This is a simple overview schematic of the craft which does not, obviously, reflect the finished detail of the pilot(s) controls, seating, and final interior configuration of the operational model.
(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/KA11.gif)
Note - We have been advised that the same Schriever schematic is in the book "UFO Crash At Aztec" by Bill Steinman, 1987:
Schriever says the blueprints were stolen for the machine he calls a 'flying top' before Germany's collapse and says the machine would be capable of 2600 mph and a radius of 4000 miles. The article states he would be willing to build one for the U.S. the time required being 6-9 months.QuoteOur source said the engines were not typical jet engines but were kerosene-fueled turbines of a type which he was told were capable of producing very high speeds. The drawing in his possession and shown here may be of the Schriever disc which was said to have used rotating metallic vanes set within the perimeter of the disc to achieve vertical lift similar to produced a helicopter. Once airborne, the two thrust turbines took over to push the craft on its way. Our source says he believes the first test flight occurred in 1942.
What happened to these craft after the war? Our source says that both the Russians and Americans were aware of the ultra-secret German disc research programs and had an agreement they would not shoot the discs down or apparently bomb the research facilities because the craft posed no hostile threat...unlike the facilities at Peenemünde. The eventual outcome of the war was a virtual certainty and both countries wanted the disc technology as one of the prime spoils of war.
As research continues probing the advanced German WWII programs, it is becoming more evident that at least some of the early - and current - UFO sightings may be directly related to, and descendants of, disc craft like the one depicted in this newly unearthed historic drawing.
We asked for a statement on this report from British disc researcher Tim Matthews. Our thanks to Tim for the following response:
QuoteRecent developments involving the emergence of some new evidence for the existence of an advanced discplane designed by a joint Heinkel/BMW team of engineers headed by Dr. Richard Miethe at a variety of facilities in Prague, Czechoslovakia, from 1942/3 are most intriguing.
There are several important points to note in terms of the witness testimony...that he heard the test-flights of a discplane whilst stationed at Prague from 1942.
1 - He does not claim to have actually seen the aircraft.
2 - As a result we have to accept that the information relating specifically to performance is second-hand and unverifiable.
3 - There is no evidence in any text relating to high-performance advanced German aircraft and missile developments during World War Two that indicate the speeds claimed for the 'Flugkreisel' or 'flying saucer'.
Nevertheless, there were significant developments in Prague some of which were focused upon the Kbely (Gbell) airfield. The airfield is still in existence and nowadays a Czech aviation museum and archive are located on the spot where early German discs were tested. The chief archivist tells me that all the information on German projects were taken in 1945.
Some of the best evidence relating to the existence of this discplane, said by some to be the 'Versuchs 7' and 'Versuchs 8' (V7/V8) models emerged in an article featured in the German-language magazine "Flugzeug" ("Aircraft") dated 2/1989 which details a sighting by a witness in August/September 1943 at the Kbely airfield.
The disc completed a very simple take-off and landing exercise and the test was witnessed by several people. The disc was said to be housed in a nearby hangar.
It is important to note that the Russians captured the facility on or about the 10th May 1945. It is true that the allies did have a great deal of information about advanced German technologies and this is covered in my book "UFO Revelation". I am not sure that there was any 'agreement' between the Russians and Americans in terms of similar technologies given our certain knowledge that the two competed for the spoils of war in a very aggressive manner. The Nordhausen example is perhaps the best....
Of course many of the records have been buried and are out of our reach - even after 54 years......
There is little evidence of high performance in any witness statement relating to the discplane tests, excepting the information supplied by Flight Captain Rudolf Schriever in several German newspapers in 1950.
The picture supplied by the witness, who now lives in the USA, is exactly the same as that featured in the original version of the Schriever story made available in an International News Service release dated 11th April, 1950, which I have in my possession. (The story was originally featured in "Der Spiegel", dated 30th March 1950, in an article entitled "Untertassen-Flieger Kombination".) The picture is also shown in the Hatcher Childress/Renate Vesco "Man-Made UFOs 1944-1994" (Adventures Unlimited Press) in the illustrated section between pages 241 and 243.
I suspect that talk of supersonic speeds for flying discs were an indication of those thought to be achievable by scientists after detailed research and development. I have no doubt that German discplanes flew and that they showed great potential but we can rule out high Mach flight or anything approaching it. Even the better postwar discplane sightings tended to indicate speeds of between 300-600 mph. The German most closely associated postwar discplane development for the US Air Force (US Navy programmes developed earlier from the Chance-Vought XF5U-1 and related to jet-powered 'pancake' designs) was Dr. Richard Miethe who worked closely with John C Frost and H Moody for AV Roe in Canada. Miethe was the brains behind efforts to build the ultimate VTOL discplane based upon German work on the 'radial flow engine' noted in the previously "Top Secret" 'Project Silver Bug' or 'Project Y' papers (dated 1955) that led to the emergence of several variants including a disc interceptor (WS 606A/B) that was perhaps a forerunner to the more reliable YF-12.
Information on Miethe is scare although is work for the USAF has been acknowledged by former Secretary to the USAF Dr. Alexander Flax. Several FOIA appeals for information on Miethe have gone to appeal and have been unsuccessful. There is an ongoing attempt to bury the truth about the German input into US discplane Research and Development and this might in part relate to WW2 war crimes involving slave labourers who 'worked' for BMW. Information on 'Operation Paperclip' is also scare and it is to be hoped that this new witness might be able to shed new light on this and similar activities.....
The witness notes the use of kerosene in a multi-engine VTOL disc. In fact most jets use kerosene anyway although it might be the case that the witness is talking about an early 'radial flow' engine. This seems to be suggested by his testimony relating to a hybrid helicopter/plane. (Curiously the jet-powered XF5U-1 was said to have similar novel qualities.)
Nevertheless, the suggestion that a five-engine prototype disc could have overcome the serious problems of parasitic drag and flown at high speed is not a realistic one. Even if some sort of Schauberger system of 'levitation' is invoked then there are serious problems.
(On a separate note work into similar systems HAS taken place at the University of Houston and was conducted by the late Dr. Mikhael Goldshtik. His 'vortex thruster' system is said to be a development along similar lines - some 50 years after Schauberger! Therefore the early German work seems to have been based upon some real science and might be said to have been vindicated)
In terms of the actual Schriever discplane diagram supplied there is no way that a pilot could have flown the aircraft at high speed in a standing position although it is understood that the 1950 picture was an artists impression. I would expect that in an aircraft attempting to overcome speeds approaching the supersonic regime (or as we are told; the high Mach regime!) the only solution, and one favoured by several of the better German aerodynamicists and designers would be to put the pilot in a prone position. This was also suggested specifically for the flight involving high 'g' turns expected from the more advanced AVRO discplanes and various other advanced aircraft of the mid-1950s. (Prone position had also been tested in the Lockheed F-80E and a variant of the B-17 bomber. This work was undertaken by a 'Paperclip' scientist Dr. Hans Amtmann at Wright Field.)
In terms of Vertical take-off and landing, which requires great control at low speed, the only way for a pilot in this position, or in a seated position, would be to see through an inset window in the floor of the aircraft.
The large bubble cockpit shown in the picture would be a killer in terms of high speed flight and a blended design would be expected. We cast our minds back to the sleek early postwar supersonic jets and earlier German missiles........
One thing is for sure; the information that the witness has about the Horten brothers aircraft is of the greatest potential significance and certainly his claim to have a Horten (design) glider stored away is one that will lead to great interest from all modern-day advocates of the flying wing and those interested in historical aircraft research.
One thing is for sure; the information that the witness has about the Horten brothers aircraft is of the greatest potential significance and certainly his claim to have a Horten (design) glider stored away is one that will lead to great interest from all modern-day advocates of the flying wing and those interested in historical aircraft research.
In 1942 the Hortens' had still not received much government funding although many of their gliders were being flown. It wasn't until 1944 that new life was breathed into the company after Göring saw the possibilities of developing the aircraft as a long range bomber. I am not aware of any specialist training relating to the test-flights of the Horten aircraft from 1944. The aircraft were actually flown by Heinz Scheidhauer, Erwin Ziller and Walter Horten himself. Knemeyer was the chief Reichsluftfahrtsministirium (RLM) test pilot. Testing took place in Oranienburg and Göttingen. (Josef Stuper undertook early flight tests with the HVc in 1943). Work on the Horten wings took place at those facilities and at Brandis and Friedrichsrode (where the Americans got hold of them). There is no information on flight testing or training re; the Horten wing in Czechoslovakia.
In order to fully convince the world the witness must be allowed to provide as much corroborative evidence as he can to investigators so that it may be fully checked. One thing is for sure; as times goes by, and though our efforts, the truth about man-made UFOs is slowly starting to emerge......
Tim Matthews, 12th Feb. 1999
The Schriever Story (http://greyfalcon.us/the%20Schriever%20Story.htm)
Retrieved from Grey Falcon(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/ho229B.jpg)
Ho Parabel (Horten Parabola), the astonishing twin-jet, 600 mph OPERATIONAL HO-229 (http://greyfalcon.us/The%20Horten%20Ho%20229.htm)(http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/1948_03mar.jpg)
I Did See the Flying Disks - Kenneth Arnold (http://greyfalcon.us/I%20Did%20See%20the%20Flying%20Disks.htm)