The Blohm und Voss Bv 237 was a design for an asymmetric dive-bomber largely based on the earlier Bv 141 reconnaissance aircraft.
The Bv 141 had carried its single engine in a long boom that ended in the tail plane. The glazed crew compartment was to its right, connected by a short central wing section. This gave the crew an excellent view, but did complicate the development of the aircraft, and by 1943 it had been abandoned.
Dr-Ing Richad Vogt's design team at Blohm und Voss continued to work on asymmetric aircraft. Work on project P.177 began in 1942. This would have been a single-seat dive bomber or two man ground attack aircraft, with the pilot in a more standard right-hand nacelle, heavily protected by armour, and the engine in the main boom on the left, following the same basic layout as the Bv 141. Bombs were to be carried below the wings. The ground attack version would have carried up to 8 guns, while the dive-bomber had two forward and two rear firing guns as well as up to 2,205lb of bombs. The proposed B-1 version was also to carry a Jumo 004B jet engine in a third nacelle.
Blohm und Voss were given a production order for the P.177, as the Bv 237 early in 1943. After the bombing raids on Hamburg in the summer of 1943 development was suspended for a period, but it soon resumed. One key element of the design was the use of wood and steel in place of light metals, which by 1944 were in short supply in Germany. Blohm und Voss were working on ways to simply the overall production of the aircraft, which was expected to begin in mid-1945, but towards the end of 1944 the plans for a pre-production 0-series of aircraft was cancelled, leaving the project at the mock-up stage.
| Type |
Single seat dive bomber |
| Engine |
1 × BMW 801D 3-bladed VDM
, 1,300 kW (1,700 hp) 2-seat
Powerplant: 1 × Junkers Jumo 004B axial flow turbojet engine, 8.22 kN (1,850 lbf) thrust BV 237B-1 only |
| Dimensions |
Length 10,75 m , height 3,3 m , span 14,46 m , wing area 42 m2 , |
| Weights |
Empty , loaded , max. take off weight 6685 kg , fuel capacity: 1,900 l |
| Performance |
Max.. speed 579 km/h , cruising speed , range 2000 m, endurance , service ceiling , climb |
| Armament |
2x15 mm MG 151 cannon - Sturzkampfflugzeug / Schlachtflugzeug and 2x rear firing 13 mm MG 131 machine guns - Sturzkampfflugzeug / Schlachtflugzeug , 3x forward firing 30 mm MK 103 cannon - Schlachtflugzeug
Bombs: 2,000 kg of bombs - Sturzkampfflugzeug 6x 70 kg bombs - Schlachtflugzeug |
Variants
P.177: Original project which led to the BV 237.
BV 237 (single seat) A single seat Sturzkampfflugzeug (dive bomber) armed with two fixed forward firing 15 mm MG 151 cannon and two rear firing 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, carrying 2,000 kg of bombs.
BV 237 (2-seat) A twin seater Schlachtflugzeug (ground attack) aircraft armed with two fixed forward firing 15 mm MG 151 cannon and three forward firing 30 mm MK 103 cannon, with six 70 kg bombs.
BV 237B-1 A proposed mixed-power version with a podded Junkers Jumo 004B underslung between the BMW 801 nacelle and the fuselage.
