View source for DFS 194

{{short description|German rocket-powered aircraft prototype}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2024}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{{Infobox aircraft
 |name = DFS 194
 |image = DFS194.JPG
 |caption =Model of DFS 194
 |type = Experimental
 |manufacturer = [[Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug]]
 |designer = [[Alexander Lippisch]]
 |first_flight = [[1940 in aviation|1940]]
 |introduction =
 |retired =
 |produced =
 |number_built = One
 |status =
 |unit cost =
 |primary_user = [[Luftwaffe]]
 |more_users = 
 |developed_from = [[DFS 40]]
 |variants = [[Messerschmitt Me 163]]
}}
The '''DFS 194''' was a [[rocket]]-powered [[aircraft]] designed by [[Alexander Lippisch]] at the ''[[Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug]]'' (DFS - "German Institute for Sailplane Flight").

==Design and development==
The DFS 194 was based on the Alexander Lippisch ''Delta'' series of tailless designs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DFS 194 Prototype rocket powered aircraft |url=https://www.wehrmacht-history.com/luftwaffe/prototypes/dfs-194-prototype.html |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=www.wehrmacht-history.com}}</ref> As originally conceived, it would have been a tailless aircraft similar to his [[DFS 40]], powered by a conventional piston engine driving a [[Pusher configuration|pusher]] propeller. The airframe was completed in this configuration in March 1938.

Lippisch's designs had attracted the attention of the ''[[Reichsluftfahrtministerium]]'' (RLM - Reich Aviation Ministry) who believed that tailless aircraft were the best basis for a rocket-powered fighter. On January 2, 1939, Lippisch and his team were transferred to the [[Messerschmitt]] company to begin work on such an aircraft, under what was known as ''Project X''. The DFS-194 was modified to accept a Walter R I-203 rocket engine designed by [[Hellmuth Walter]], and by October, the aircraft was undergoing engine tests at [[Peenemünde]].

These were followed by glide tests in early 1940 leading to the first powered flight in August with [[Heini Dittmar]] at the controls. The flight went well, the DFS 194 reaching {{convert|550|km/h|abbr=on}}, bettering the speed of the earlier (20 July 1939), Walter rocket powered [[Heinkel He 176]].

The aircraft proved to have excellent flying characteristics and proved safe to fly at nearly twice the anticipated speed. These results paved the way for the next stage of the project, which now received priority status from the RLM. The [[Messerschmitt Me 163]], a considerably refined design along the same basic lines, flew the following year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DFS 194 |url=https://www.nevingtonwarmuseum.com/dfs-194.html |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=Nevington War Museum |language=en}}</ref>

==Specifications==

Source:<ref>{{Cite web |title=DFS-194 |url=http://www.wardrawings.be/WW2/Files/2-Airplanes/Axis/1-Germany/01-Fighters/Me-163/DFS-194.htm |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=www.wardrawings.be}}</ref>

{{Aircraft specifications/switch
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<!-- please answer the following questions -->
|plane or copter?=plane
|jet or prop?=jet
|ref=
<!-- Now, fill out the specs. Please include units where appropriate (main comes first, alt in parentheses). If an item doesn't apply, like capacity, leave it blank. For instructions on using |more general=, |more performance=, |power original=, and |thrust original= see [[Template talk:Aircraft specifications]]. To add a new line, end the old one with a right parenthesis ")", and start a new fully formatted line beginning with * -->
|crew= one, pilot
|capacity=
|payload main =
|payload alt =
|payload more =
|length main= 20 ft 11 in
|length alt= 6.4 m
|span main= 34 ft 1 in
|span alt= 10.4 m
|height main= 7 ft
|height alt= 2.13 m
|area main= 193 ft<sup>2</sup>
|area alt= 18 m<sup>2</sup>
|airfoil=
|empty weight main=
|empty weight alt=
|loaded weight main= 4,620 lb
|loaded weight alt= 2,100 kg
|useful load main=
|useful load alt=
|max takeoff weight main=
|max takeoff weight alt=
|more general=
|engine (jet)= Walter R I-203
|type of jet= rocket
|number of jets= 1
|thrust main= 882 lbf
|thrust alt= 3.9 kN
|thrust original=
|afterburning thrust main=
|afterburning thrust alt=

|max speed main= 343 mph
|max speed alt= 550 km/h
|cruise speed main=
|cruise speed alt=
|never exceed speed main=
|never exceed speed alt=
|stall speed main=
|stall speed alt=
|range main=
|range alt=
|ceiling main=
|ceiling alt=
|climb rate main= 5,297 ft/min
|climb rate alt= 1,615 m/min
|loading main=
|loading alt=
|thrust/weight=
|power/mass main=
|power/mass alt=
|more performance=
|armament=
|avionics=
}}

==See also==
{{Aircontent
|related=
*[[DFS 39]]
*[[DFS 40]]
*[[Messerschmitt Me 163]]
|similar aircraft=
*[[Focke-Wulf Volksjäger]]
*[[Messerschmitt Me 263|Junkers Ju 248]]
*[[Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270]]
|sequence=
[[Focke-Wulf Fw 191|Fw 191]] -
[[AGO Ao 192|Ao 192]] -
[[DFS 193]] -
'''DFS 194''' -
[[Arado Ar 195|Ar 195]] -
[[Arado Ar 196|Ar 196]] -
[[Arado Ar 197|Ar 197]]
|lists =
* [[List of military aircraft of Germany]]
* [[List of Luftwaffe aircraft prototype projects during World War II]]
* [[List of rocket planes]]
|see also=
}}
{{commons category|DFS 194}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Lippisch aircraft}}
{{DFS aircraft}}
{{RLM aircraft designations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dfs 194}}
[[Category:1940s German experimental aircraft]]
[[Category:Rocket-powered aircraft]]
[[Category:Tailless aircraft]]
[[Category:DFS aircraft|DFS 194]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1940]]