Mistel 5 – Ju268/He 162

In response to an RLM enquiry whether a highly aerodynamic, fast, wooden flying bomb could be made cheaply to replace the Ju 88, in 1944 Junkers prepared various ideas including Mistel combination 5, an He 162 with a BMW 003 E-l turbine as the cheap, manned upper part, a Ju 268 below. This is detailed in files dated 12 May 1945 and compiled for the occupation powers at Dessau. The Mistel 5 was to have been powered by two BMW 003 A-l and one BMW 003 E-l turbine. The Ju 268 was of wooden construction and had a wingspan of 11.5 metres and was 14.5 metres long (37 ft 9 in x 47 ft 7in). Wing area was 22 square metres (237 sq. ft). The undercarriage was not retractable and would have been jettisoned after take-off. The combination weighed 6,030 kg, the Ju 268 4,300 kg. Together with 4,200 kg fuel, a 2-tonne explosive payload plus the He 162 with 1,270 kg fuel atop the fuselage, the take-off weight was 13,500 kg. Supplementary tanks were necessary for the He 162 in the turbo or ramjet variants because the standard He 162 A-2 range did not allow for the return flight. Top speed was estimated at 840 km/hr at 6,000 metres (520 mph at 20,000 ft).The range was 1,000 km at 11,000 metres (620 miles at 36,000 ft).

The lower component would have had nine separate fuel tanks in the fuselage in the basic configuration. An SC 2000 was to be carried in a makeshift bomb –

bay. A variant had room for an SHL 3500. This combination would have needed a lot of fuel and was thus only suitable for shorter range missions. In the third, trainer version the pilot could fly the lower Ju 268 unit from a perspex cockpit in the nose; 400 kg ballast was needed in the nose to fix the centre of gravity if no extra fuel tanks or payload was carried.

According to a document of 18 February 1945, OKL was interested principally in the 3C variant with 2,500 kilometres range, but other suggestions were being investigated by the various aircraft manufacturers. According to the Chief-TLR War Diary, Mistel 5 was at the final drawings stage at the beginning of March 1945, and the new SHL 3500D (a land mine with shrapnel) first tested on 2 March 1945 was included in the later drawings. None of the designs being worked on at Dessau in April 1945 was ever realised and the occupation forces for whom the project had been committed to paper also showed little enthusiasm for it.