With the LP-12, German aircraft pioneer Alexander Lippisch intended to mate a powerful ramjet engine with a delta-wing aircraft to create a small, simple aircraft capable of supersonic flight. His first model, the Entwurf 1, utilized a circular ramjet motor with a grid-like fuel-injection system. A wind tunnel model of this plane was tested in March 1944 -a model that ultimately served as the basis for the GB 3/L radio-controlled bomb in July of that same year. However, the Entwurf I was never intended to be piloted. As a result, a larger, more sophisticated Entwurf II was subsequently developed. This plan had a wider fuselage than the Entwurf I, thereby making room for the pilot. While the circular air intake was retained, a dividing wall now directed the incoming air through two D-shaped ducts on either side of the cockpit. As promising as this design looked on paper, wind tunnel tests indicated that the model had too much drag. Undaunted, Lippisch developed the Entwurf III, which included numerous aerodynamic refinements, including the adoption of an elliptical rather than a circular ramjet motor. The wings and tail surfaces were also redesigned, but still the model produced a large amount of drag. Its complex system of internal ducts also precluded the plane from having any supersonic capacities. Lippisch's final design for this plane, the Entwurf IV, simplified the air intake by removing the bifurcation by placing the pilot in a prone (stomach down) position. Once again, the air intake had an elliptical section that now ended in an elliptical sprinkler grid that led to an hexagonal combustion chamber. The nozzle had a variable-geometry rectangular section and was fitted with four hydraulically operated flaps. The plane's landing gear consisted of a retractable main skid and two smaller ones at the wing roots. Germany's loss to the Allies in May 1945 prevented this promising plane from ever being produced. Today, most Luft '46 literature refers to the Entwurf IV as the "Lippish Supersonic Flying Wing"

This is a small kit and very easy to build. The cockpit interior, designed for a prone pilot, is very detailed and can be easily viewed throught the clear canopy. A winged base engraved "LP-12" is include. Two different box-arts -- the two color pictures shown in this page -- have been drawn for this kit. e-mail us This kit is available again (jul2002)