DFS 40

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DFS 40
Description
Role Experimental
Crew one, pilot
Dimensions
Length 5.10 m 16 ft 9 in
Wingspan 12.00 m 39 ft 4 in
Height
Wing area
Weights
Empty
Loaded
Powerplant
Engine 1x Argus engine
Power 75 kW 100 hp
Performance
Maximum speed
Range
Service ceiling
Rate of Climb
Armament
None

The DFS 40 (originally developed as the Delta V) was a tail-less research aircraft designed by Alexander Lippisch in 1937 as a follow-on to his Delta IV aircraft. In construction, the DFS was more like a flying wing than its predecessor, and was intended to provide a comparison with that aircraft.

The DFS 40 was flown for the first time by Heini Dittmar in 1939, shortly before Lippisch departed the DFS (Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug - German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight) to begin work at Messerschmitt. Soon afterwards, without Lippisch there to supervise the project, the aircraft was crashed due to an error in center of gravity calculations that resulted in it entering a flat spin during flight.