BMW 109-558

The BMW 109-558 is a liquid fuelled sustainer rocket motor developed by BMW at their Bruckmühl facility,[1] in Germany during the Second World War.

109-558
Type Liquid-propellant rocket (sustainer)
National origin Germany
Manufacturer BMW
Major applications Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling missile
Number built 120

The 109-558 (with the "109-" prefix being the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, or RLM, designation for reaction-propulsion aircraft power projects, encompassing all jet & rocket engine designs)[2] was designed as a sustainer rocket for the Henschel Hs 117 surface-to-air missile.[3] It was tubular, measuring 12.5 cm (4.9 in) diameter and about 46 cm (18 in) long overall.[4] The engine had a compressed air tank to pressurise tanks for the R-Stoff fuel (50% triethylamine and 50% xylidine) and SV-Stoff oxidiser (94% nitric acid with 6% dinitrogen tetroxide).[5] SV-Stoff was used to cool the combustion chamber.[6]

The 109-558 was capable of propelling an Hs 117 at 900–1,000 km/h (560–620 mph; 490–540 kn), with throttle control by sliding valves in the exhaust nozzle, operated by a servomotor controlled by a Mach sensor. Production of the 109-558 took forty to sixty hours using a very high proportion of slave labour.

Applications

Specifications

General characteristics

Components

Performance

Notes
  1. Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes (The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013), p.127.
  2. Christopher, p.124.
  3. Christopher, p.127.
  4. Christopher, p.127.
  5. Christopher, p.127.
  6. Christopher, p.127.
  7. Christopher, p.127.

Sources
  • Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes. The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.