Focke-Wulf
"Triebfluegel"
Focke-Wulf "Triebfluegel". Possibly the most bizarre aircraft concept ever, the Triebfluegel was to have been powered by 3 pulse jets (as in the V1 'buzz bomb') turning 3 winglike rotors around the longitudinal axis of this remarkable craft. When running it would seem to have a ring of flame around it. It represents the fanatical desire of it's designers to not lose WWII. This was to have been the world's first tail-sitting fighter and though it never flew in WWII, work was far enough along to interest the Allies. By the time the Triebfluegel was concieved, most German airfields were under constant attack. The Luftwaffe was flying from well camoflaged positions on the Autobahns. The appeal of the Triebfluegel was that it could take off and land vertically from any flat spot in the rubble.