Walter HWK 109-500

HWK 109-500
HWK 109-500 on display at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford
Type	Liquid-propellant rocket (assist unit)
Manufacturer	Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft
Number built	6,000

Walter 109-500 on display

The Walter HWK 109-500 was a liquid fuelled rocket motor developed by Walter in Germany during the Second World War.

The 109-500 is a Starthilfe (take-off assist) motor in a pod, able to produce 500 kg (1,100 lb) thrust for thirty seconds. After the fuel was expended, the pod was jettisoned and it returned to earth by parachute,^[1] with the parachute packed externally, onto the blunt forward end of the pod.

It entered service in 1942, and some 6,000 were built, by Heinkel.^[2] It was "used extensively on a wide range of aircraft", especially the potentially underpowered (when heavily laden with external ordnance) Jumo 004-engined Arado Ar 234B,^[3] with two of the units uniquely displayed as mounted operationally on the NASM's sole surviving, restored Ar 234B.

Applications

• Arado Ar 234
• Blohm & Voss Bv 138
• Dornier Do 18
• Heinkel He 111
• Messerschmitt Me 321

See also

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines
• List of aircraft engines of Germany during World War II

Specifications

Data from Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes. The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013.

General characteristics

• Type: liquid propellant rocket
• Length:
• Diameter:
• Dry weight:

Components

• Compressor:

Performance

• Maximum thrust: 500 kg (1,100 lb)
• Power-to-weight ratio:

Notes

1. Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes (The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013), p.125.
2. Christopher, p.125.
3. Christopher, p.125.

Sources

• Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes. The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013.