Delta IV - Fieseler F3 Wasp During the early 1930's, Lippisch received an order from the Fieseler Aircraft
Company in Kassel, for a sport monoplane with folding wings. The plane was intended to be an entry in the European Rally taking place in 1932. The resultant
airplane, the Delta IV - Fieseler F3 Wasp, was quickly designed and did not fulfill the requirements.
Fieseler terminated the test flights in the fall of 1932. The elevators (canards?) in front of the wing were retarding stalling in the midsection of the wing, allowing the outer
sections of the wing to stall at smaller angles of attack, and this led to dangerous instability. The center of pressure also shifted, making the airplane tail-heavy. Near
the conditions of maximum lift, the controls were not sufficiently responsive to compensate for this shift, and at the end of the test flights the airplane was seriously damaged during landing.
Schematic of the Delta IV- Fieseler F3 Wasp |
On the ground with the wings folded |
In the air. Note the 'elevators' in front of the wing |
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