1. Design and development

2. Specifications (RMI-8)

3. References

4. External links

The RMI-8 (RMI - Repülő Műszaki Intézet, Aviation Technical Institute) was a Hungarian twin-engined single-seat fighter designed during World War II.

The final result of a development project (1943-1945) running under the codename X/V. The fast fighter was designed by Vilmos Marton, Dezső Marton and László Varga as a high-speed, heavily armed replacement for both the Bf 109G and the Me 210Ca, two aircraft then being produced under licence in Hungary by Rába and MÁVAG from 1943 onwards. This RMI-8 project was the peak of Hungarian aircraft development.^[1][2]

Design and development

RMI-8 was designed to be a pure interceptor in order to defend Hungary from terror-bombings. This demanding role needed a very capable fighter that could fight against the numerical superiority of Allied and Soviet fighters (manoeuvring dogfight) while able to protect the cities from bombers (high-speed striking) simultaneously.^[3]

In order to attack the Allied and Soviet bomber groups accompanied by numerous fighters the designers planned a relatively small, fast airplane using the best existing elements of types produced in Hungary (mainly the Bf 109 G-6 version). Hungary had no engine powerful enough by the standards of 1944, thus they chose to use two Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1 in a push-pull configuration in order to minimize drag. Unlike the German Do 335 the propeller was not driven by shaft, it was directly behind the engine, so the control surfaces were carried by twin booms, as on the SAAB 21 or de Havilland Vampire.^[4][5]

With two engines the RMI-8 would have been able to achieve a fairly high speed; according to theoretical calculations 800 km/h v_max would have been possible even without MW 50 boost in clean level flight. This aircraft was a pure interceptor (maneuvering aerial combat), thus it was designed to be relatively small in size (only 15% bigger than a Bf 109G-6) in order to achieve as good manoeuvrability as possible. X/V carried a relatively small amount of fuel and weaponry, which means two 8 or 13 mm machine guns (cowling) and two 30 mm autocannons (wing/boom hubs), and not more than 500 kg external load. As the type was not designed for bombing, only drop tanks would have been carried in practice.^[6][3]

Due to the rear propeller, the pilot could not leave the airplane in a conventional manner, so a spring-driven catapult was designed for the prototype. The rear engine also functioned as "armor", because it would have provided some protection for the pilot and the first engine, so the survival of the type could have been quite high despite the lack of real armor (RMI-8 could fly with a single working DB 605 like a Bf 109).^[3]

The prototype (XV+01 callsign) was destroyed during a bombing raid on April 13, 1944 before its maiden flight; due to the deteriorating war situation there was no possibility to build a second prototype.^[2]

Specifications (RMI-8)

|crew=1
|length m=10.2
|span m=11.8
|height m=3.5
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=
|wing area note=
|swept area sqm=
|swept area sqft=
|swept area note=
|volume m3=
|volume ft3=
|volume note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=4000
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|lift kg=
|lift lb=
|lift note=
|more general=

|eng1 number=2
|eng1 name=Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1
|eng1 type=V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engines
|eng1 note={{cvt|1475|PS|hp kW|2}}
|prop blade number=
|prop name=
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=-->
|max speed kmh=800
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|minimum control speed kmh=
|minimum control speed mph=
|minimum control speed kts=
|minimum control speed note=
|range km=
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|range note=
|combat range km=
|combat range miles=
|combat range nmi=
|combat range note=
|ferry range km=1000
|ferry range note=with drop tank
|endurance=
|ceiling m=11500
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|sink rate ms=
|sink rate ftmin=
|sink rate note=
|lift to drag=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|disk loading kg/m2=
|disk loading lb/sqft=
|disk loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=
|more performance=

|armament=

• 2 × {{cvt|30|mm|2}} MK 103 cannon (in wing)
• 2 × {{cvt|13|mm|2}} MG 131 machine gun or 2x {{cvt|8|mm|3}} Gebauer machine guns, cowl-mount and synchronized.
• 1x drop tank (normally RMI-8 would not have carried any external load, because speed and maneuverability were priority)

References

External links

• Line drawing

• Jigalovskiy Raion
• Jigalovsky
• Jigalovsky District
• Jigalovsky Raion
• Jigan
• Jiganab
• Ji Gang
• Jigaon
• Jigardan
• Jigariyaa
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• Jigar Shah
• Jigarthanda (2014 film)
• Jigarthanda film
• Jigarthanda (soundtrack)
• Jigarwala
• Jigas
• Jigawa Golden Stars
• Jigawa State, Nigeria
• Jigawa state polytechnic library
• Jigda-Khatun
• Jig (dance)
• Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (2nd Dudjom Rinpoche)
• Jigee Viertel
• Jigegol station