The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 'Condor' was a long-range reconnaissance bomber, which was in service with the Luftwaffe between 1940 and 1945, during World War II. Designed as an airliner aircraft, it performed its first flight on July 27, 1937. Although at the beginning the Third Reich showed little interest in this plane, they changed their mind when the Fw 200C version rolled out of the factory, because of its 60% more fuel capacity in internal fuselage tanks. The Luftwaffe received the first batch in early April 1940, just before the Norwegian Campaign, during which it would be used as military transport aircraft.
The initial production reconnaissance version of the Condor was the Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-1, whose main addition was a ventral gondola to provide room for a weapon bay. A 20mm gun was mounted at the front of the gondola, which also carried 250-kg bombs. This variant had five crew members: pilot, co-pilot, a radio operator/navigator, and two gunners. All crew stations had provisions for heating and electric light. Since the production of the Condor was not a priority for the Luftwaffe, by February 1944, only 252 aircraft had been built for the Wehrmacht. It had performed its first combat mission on April 8, 1940, flying from Danish airbases to attack British ships.
Technical Characteristics
The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 was a four-engine monoplane. It featured full-cantilever wings mounted low on the fuselage, with an aspect ratio of 9.15 for high range efficiency. The wing was built as a horizontal center-section, with tapered outer panels. The structure was stressed skin throughout, with flush riveting. The split flaps were hydraulic and the landing gear was retractable. The Fw 200C-4, which was produced in 1942, was equipped with Lofte 7D bombsight and FuG Rostock search radar. The aircraft was powered by four, three-bladed, BMW-Bramo 323R2, 9-cylinder radial piston engines, each delivering 1,200 HP.
Specifications
Type: reconnaissance/bomber
Length: 23.45 m (76 ft, 11 in)
Wingspan: 32.85 m (107 ft, 9 in)
Wing Area: 119.85 sq meters (1,290.10 sq ft)
Maximum Speed: 360 km/h (224 mph).
Range: 3,560 km (2,212 miles)
Crew: five
Armament: four 13mm MG-131 machine guns on dorsal and beam positions; one 20mm MG-151 cannon set up in forward ventral gondola. Maximum bomb load of 2,100 kg (eight 250-kg, or four 500-kg bombs).
Below, the Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-1 version in flight, banking right.
The Fw 200A early variant, which was used only as an airliner. You can see it lacks the ventral gondola.
Below, the Fw 200C-8, which was festooned with antenna arrays for the FuG 200 Hohentwiel radar.
