In 1979,
West German special forces soldiers recovered some secret plans from an
office in East Berlin. These plans showed what looked like a heavily armed
flying tank. The tank resembled a PzKpfwV Panther. The aircraft side was a
bit of a shock. To all who saw these secret plans, it looked like the tail
section and wings came from a Hawker-Siddley Harrier.
Later, in the 80's, it was found that a jump jet - bearing striking resemblance
to the Harrier - was in flight-testing stage with the
Luftwaffe in 1945. After the war, the chief project engineer, Werner Von
Brockwurst, was spirited away from Germany and into Britain. Once in
Britain, Von Brockwurst was tasked with carrying out his work on a
jump-jet. His participation in the Hawker-Siddley Harrier was concealed by
the government.
It would appear that the secret plans recovered in 1979 are the only
surviving records of any of Von Brockwursts work. This flying tank has
been nicknamed the PanzerHarrier V. I
have managed to obtain a copy of these plans and have built a scale model
of this amazing German design. (The paint scheme is based on late war
RLM patterns).
Ian
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