Blohm & Voss BV P.

215 Luft '46 Entry

Blohm & Voss BV P.215

A specification was
issued by the Technische
Luftrüstung (Technical Air
Armaments Board) in late
January 1944 for the
definitive night fighter.
Preliminary requirements
were to be a top speed of
900 km/h (559 mph), an
endurance of four hours,
armament consisting of four
cannon and internally
mounted radar (FuG 240 or
244).
Dr. Richard Vogt, who designed the BV P.212, immediately began work on an aircraft to meet the
specifications issued for the new night fighter. Vogt used the BV P.212 as the overall basis for the new BV P.215
night fighter. The fuselage was short, with an air intake in the nose leading directly to the two Heinkel He S 011
mounted in the rear fuselage. As with other Blohm & Voss Vogt designs, the fuselage structure was built up out of
the intake tube, and all components attached to this structure (see the BV P.211.02). The wings featured a 30
degree sweepback and 6 degrees of dihedral; internally the support came from a wide wing box, constructed from
welded steel. The outer wing tips angled down at 23 degrees, and assisted stability and control. Warm air diverted
from the engine compartment was circulated through the wings for de-icing purposes. There were two small
vertical fins and rudders located on the trailing edge of the wing, where the outer wing tips angled downwards.
Total fuel capacity was 7800 liters (2061 gallons), stored mainly in wing tanks. An ingenious system to pre-heat the
fuel was designed; a pump would circulate the fuel of the fuselage feeder tank through a spiral line around the
engine compartment and into the wing tanks. The nose landing gear was taken from the Heinkel He 219 and
retracted to the rear, and the two main wheels (angled forward by 16 degrees) also retracted forwards into the
fuselage. The pressurized cockpit held a three man crew; a pilot, radar operator and navigator/radio man, and all
three were provided with ejection seats. A wide variety of offensive armament could be carried in the aircraft's
nose, and defensive armament consisted of a FHL 151 remote controlled, rear-facing turret armed with either one
or two MG 151/20 20 mm cannon. A provision was made for possibly mounting two MK 108 30 mm cannon firing
upwards, located behind the cockpit. Two SC 250 250 kg (551 lbs) or SC 500 (1102 lbs) could be carried in a belly
recess. The BV P.215's constuction was mainly of metal througout, except for wooden control surfaces and the
aircraft's nose. The nose was made of wood because of the installed electrical equipment. The installed electrical
radio/radar equipment is listed below.
In the original Blohm & Voss proposal, it was pointed out that the P.215 was easily transportable. After
removing the wings, the fuselage would be easily transportable with no need for specialized lifting equipment. On
February 27, 1945, the specifications were upgraded for the future nightfighters, which none of the competitors'
aircraft were able to achieve.Although the P.215 would have had good performance figures, it too did not reach the
new specifications either. Nevertheless, it was chosen for further development on March 20, 1945. The end of the
war ended any further development of this novel aircraft.

View Andreas Otte's BV P.215 LuftArt images

Blohm & Voss BV P.215.02 Dimensions

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 Blohm & Voss BV P.215 Luft '46 Entry

Span Main Wing Span Length Height Track Width Wing Area
18.8 11.6
14.4 m 5.0 m 2.8 m 63.0 m²
m m
47' 3" 16' 5" 9.2' 678.13 ft²
61' 8" 38' 1"
Blohm & Voss BV P.215.02 - Weights
Empty Weight Crew Ammunition* Fuel Equipment Bombs Flying Weight* Wing Loading
300 1000
7400 kg 600 kg 6500 kg 766 kg 14680 kg 233 kg/m²
kg kg
16314 lbs 1323 lbs 14330 lbs 1689 lbs 32364 lbs 47.7 lbs/ft²
661 lbs 2205 lbs
*Ammunition and flying weight varies according to weapons load, listed weight for five MK 108 w/120 rounds each
Blohm & Voss BV P.215.02 Performance
Max. Speed Rate of Climb Ceiling Range Endurance
870 km/h / 8500 10 m /sec 14800 2340 km 5.2 hours w/ one engine @
m 22 ft /sec m 1454 miles 6000m
541 mph / 27887' 48556' 19685'
Blohm & Voss BV P.215 Models
Manufacturer Scale Material Notes
CzechMaster(CMK) #235 1/72 resin Wings & fuselage molded in one piece
Special Hobby #72002 1/72 Injected, Photoetch & Decals

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Blohm & Voss BV P.215 Luft '46 Entry

Section A-A Section B - B Section C - C Section D - D

Weapon Variants for the BV P.215 Night Fighter

click on the small bluprint icon for original BV drawings

Weapon Number Installed Rounds Each Additional

MK 108 30mm cannon Four 200 56 R4M rockets
MK 108 30mm cannon Five 150
MK 112 55mm cannon Two 50
MG 213/30mm cannon Four 200 56 R4M rockets
MG 213/30mm cannon Six 160
Electrical Equipment Wing drawing of March 23, 1945

Equipment Description Weight

Airborne Search Radar
concave mirror antenna 150 kg Wing drawing of March 27, 1945
FuG 244
Range: 200 m - 50 km (331 lbs)
(656 ft - 31 miles)
Ground-to-air Identification 12 kg
FuG 25a Outer wingtip drawing of March 19,
friend or foe (IFF) (26 lbs)
Airborne Search Radar 1945
15 kg
FuG 280 infra-red homing
(33 lbs)
Range: 4 km (2.49 miles)
Airborne Search Radar
Component list (by material type &
passive receiver for enemy 24 kg
FuG 350 weight)
radar (53 lbs)
Range: 50 km (30 miles)
46 kg
FuG 218R
(101 lbs)
Ground/Air Radio 18 kg
FuG 24SE
homing device (40 lbs)
Bad Weather Landing Aid 10 kg
Fu Bl 3 E
blind landing radio equipment (22 lbs)
Bad Weather Landing Aid 16 kg
FuG 101a
precision altimeter (35 lbs)

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Blohm & Voss BV P.215 Luft '46 Entry

Navigation 24 kg
Peil G6
direction finding equipment (53 lbs)
Ground/Air Radio 8 kg
FuG 29
Airborne situation report receiver (18 lbs)

Above color images from:

Left: Luftwaffe Secret projects Right: Koei German Project Aircraft
Three-view drawing: Reichdreams Dossier #15 "Bats"

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