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.

lippisch_delta_iv_schematic_sm
Schematic of the Delta IV- Fieseler F3 Wasp

lippisch_delta_iv_1_sm
On the ground with the wings folded

lippisch_delta_iv_2_sm
In the air. Note the 'elevators' in front of the wing