Focke-Wulf Fw 187
Encyclopedia
The Focke-Wulf
Fw 187 Falke ("falcon
") was a German
aircraft developed in the late 1930s. It was created by Kurt Tank
as a twin-engine, high-performance fighter
, but the Luftwaffe
never saw a need for the design, which fitted "between" the Messerschmitt Bf 109
and Bf 110
. Later prototype
s were adapted as two-seat versions as a competitor to the Bf 110 in the Zerstörer (heavy fighter) role, but only nine aircraft were built in total.
design outstripped aircraft engine
s, allowing large aircraft to be built that existing engines could not power, at least not alone. This led to a period in which multi-engine designs outperformed single-engine designs in almost every way. In air racing in Europe, the Dornier Do 17
outran every single-engine fighter it competed against. In Germany
, this led to the idea of the "schnellbomber
", fast bomber
s that were expected to fly right by the defensive fighters. Although this period of twin-engine superiority was to prove short-lived, it also led to most air forces considering twin-engine fighters, leading to the Lockheed Model 22
, Grumman G-34
, Westland P.9, and the Fw 187.
In 1935, Kurt Tank
made the suggestion of creating a long-range single-seat fighter under a private venture within Focke-Wulf. The idea was not to produce a heavy fighter
or bomber destroyer like the Bf 110, but instead a long-range design that would have the performance of a single-seat design. Powered by the new 736 kW (1,000 PS) Daimler-Benz DB 600
, it had an expected speed of 560 km/h (350 mph). The design was unveiled in 1936 at an exhibition of new weapons, prototypes and projects held at the Henschel factory at Berlin-Schönefeld, where it was viewed by a number of high ranking Nazi officials, including Hitler. However, the Reich Air Ministry
(RLM) rejected the design on the grounds that the single-engine Bf 109 had comparable performance but would cost roughly half as much. The need for a long-range design was not considered serious, as at the time it was believed bomber escort was simply not needed.
, chief of the development section of the Technischen Amt, the research and development
arm of the RLM. Richtofen was not so convinced that bomber performance would remain superior to fighters, and gave the go-ahead for the construction of three prototypes, but on the condition that they replace the DB 600, which was in extremely short supply, with the less-powerful 515 kW (700 PS) Junkers Jumo 210
.
R. Blaser was assigned to detail design. In order to improve performance compared to the Bf 110, the fuselage
was made as small as possible, so small that there was no room on the instrument panel for the complete set of engine instruments, which were instead moved to the inside faces of the engine nacelle
s, as would be done for some versions of the Bf 110
. The engine nacelles were relatively normal, including both the engine and the main landing gear
storage, but the front-mounted radiator
s for the engines were retractable for high speed when less frontal area would be needed to get the same airflow. The mainwheels were fully retractable and faired and the design required no struts or supports, in order to further reduce drag. The wing's two spar
s passed under the pilot's seat. As was common on pre-war designs, the rear of the fuselage was raised which blocked direct viewing to the rear, but the aircraft nevertheless used a bubble
-type canopy, opening rearward and upward at an angle of about 15°. Although the cockpit
was located well forward, a small window panel was fitted in the underside of the nose by the pilot's feet to improve the view for landing.
The first prototype, Fw 187 V1 (D-AANA) flew for the first time in late spring 1937, with Hans Sander at its controls. In testing it demonstrated 523 km/h (325 mph) despite the use of the low-powered Jumo engines. In fact, it was 80 km/h (50 mph) faster than the contemporary Jumo-powered Messerschmitt Bf 109
B, despite having twice the range, more than twice the weight, and using two of the same engines. Members of the RLM complained that this was due to faulty flight instruments
, but further testing ruled this out. The Fw 187's climb
and dive rates were also on par - if not superior - to the single-seater.
Several changes were made to the design as a result of the testing, including new DVL propellers in place of the original Junkers-Hamiltons, and experimental twin-wheel bogies that were abandoned after testing. Blaser was concerned about flutter in the rudder
at high speed and had fit a weight to reduce it, but in testing this proved to cause flutter and was torn away at high speed. A second prototype followed, differing in having fixed radiators in place of the retractable versions, a semi-retractable tailwheel, changes to the elevator
, and a vertical stabilizer
with somewhat less chord
. The engine was also upgraded to the 210G version of the Jumo, which featured direct fuel injection and a fairly dramatic boost in power as a result. New ejector exhaust stacks were fitted for a small boost in speed. Fw 187 V2 started testing in the summer of 1937, but crashed on landing when one of its landing gear legs failed, and V1 was destroyed on 14 May 1938 after a high-speed pass over the Bremen facilities, when the pilot, Paul Bauer, pulled up too sharply at the end of the pass, stall
ing the aircraft and spinning into the ground.
had replaced von Richtofen in 1936, and although he was a major proponent of high-speed monoplane
fighters, he also demanded maneuverability and was unconvinced that a twin-engine design could ever stand up in this regard. Nevertheless, he felt the performance of the aircraft warranted its development as a potential replacement for the Bf 110 in the bomber destroyer role. Even before V1 flew, Tank had been instructed to convert the design to a two-seater for this role, although the need for a second crewmember in this role was marginal. The first two prototypes were already well advanced in construction at this point, so they began with the third prototype, which had just begun construction.
Blaser adapted the design by stretching the fuselage only slightly, but this did have the effect of moving the center of gravity
, which demanded the engine nacelles be modified to return the balance to the proper point in relation to the wing. A new extended-length cockpit with two crew members covered by a "framed" canopy was added, but due to the high line of the fuselage there was nowhere to put any defensive armament, reducing the second crewmember to the role of radio operator only. The offensive armament was improved by replacing two of the 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine gun
s with 20 mm MG FF cannon
s, although these were never actually fitted.
Fw 187 V3 (D-ORHP) flew in spring 1938, but it suffered a starboard engine fire during one of the initial test flights, and damaged both landing gear during the forced landing that followed. It was quickly repaired and returned to service. Two additional two-seat prototypes, V4 (D-OSNP) and V5 (D-OTGN), followed in the summer and autumn of 1938 respectively. Also powered by the Jumo 210, they proved to have less performance than expected, and did not warrant replacing the Bf 110.
The final prototype, Fw 187 V6 (D-CINY), was more heavily modified. It received the originally-specified 736 kW (1,000 PS) DB 600 engines, as well as a new surface evaporative cooling system for reduced drag. It was first flown in early 1939, and proved to have serious cooling problems (in common with other designs using the system, like the Heinkel He 100
) and suffered some skin buckling and distortion. Nevertheless, during a series of carefully timed and measured runs in October 1939, the Fw 187 V6 clocked 634 km/h (395 mph) in level flight, making it the fastest fighter in Germany at the time.
. There was a brief study in the winter of 1942/43 as a night fighter
, but the lack of room in the cockpit for the radar
equipment quickly eliminated it from contention. After rejecting the design, the RLM "recycled" their 8-187 airframe number to Junkers for their Junkers Ju 187
dive bomber
prototype.
Tank nevertheless directed studies on a wide variety of new versions of the basic airframe, everything from dive bomber, night fighter, fighter-bomber
, high-altitude interceptor (with greater wingspan
and lengthened rear fuselage) and others. These sported a variety of engines, including the Daimler-Benz DB 601
, DB 605
and even the BMW 801
radial
. The Ta 154
Moskito resulted from the Luftwaffe requirement for a twin-engine heavy fighter like the Fw 187, but constructed from wood instead of light alloys. Due to the different material, Kurt Tank couldn't make any use of the work done for the Fw 187 but had to design a completely new aircraft to meet this requirement. The surviving Fw 187s were apparently used as testbeds during this program.
. Although there are claims that they scored several kills, it is likely that these were propaganda claims. The three A-0s were even sent to Norway
and promoted as evidence that the aircraft was entering service to replace the Bf 110, but by this time any such plan was long dead. The pilots reportedly found the Fw 187 generally superior to the Bf 110 in almost all respects, but the RLM quickly withdrew them from service. They returned to Focke-Wulf, where they were again used for plant defense. One Fw 187 was sent to the aerial shooting school in Vaerlose, Denmark in 1942.
Focke-Wulf
Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.-History:...
Fw 187 Falke ("falcon
Falcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
") was a German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
aircraft developed in the late 1930s. It was created by Kurt Tank
Kurt Tank
Kurt Waldemar Tank was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot, heading the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931-45. He designed several important aircraft of World War II, including the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.-Early life:Tank was born in Bromberg , Province of Posen...
as a twin-engine, high-performance fighter
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
, but the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
never saw a need for the design, which fitted "between" the Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
and Bf 110
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
. Later prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s were adapted as two-seat versions as a competitor to the Bf 110 in the Zerstörer (heavy fighter) role, but only nine aircraft were built in total.
Design and development
In the early-to-mid 1930s, developments in airframeAirframe
The airframe of an aircraft is its mechanical structure. It is typically considered to include fuselage, wings and undercarriage and exclude the propulsion system...
design outstripped aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
s, allowing large aircraft to be built that existing engines could not power, at least not alone. This led to a period in which multi-engine designs outperformed single-engine designs in almost every way. In air racing in Europe, the Dornier Do 17
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
outran every single-engine fighter it competed against. In Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, this led to the idea of the "schnellbomber
Schnellbomber
A Schnellbomber is a high-speed bomber. The concept developed in the 1930s when it was believed that a very fast bomber could simply outrun its enemies....
", fast bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s that were expected to fly right by the defensive fighters. Although this period of twin-engine superiority was to prove short-lived, it also led to most air forces considering twin-engine fighters, leading to the Lockheed Model 22
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
, Grumman G-34
XF5F Skyrocket
|-Notable appearances in media:The XF5F Skyrocket featured in the Blackhawk comic books.-See also:-Bibliography:* Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters. London: Macdonald & Co., 1961. ISBN 0-356-01448-7....
, Westland P.9, and the Fw 187.
In 1935, Kurt Tank
Kurt Tank
Kurt Waldemar Tank was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot, heading the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931-45. He designed several important aircraft of World War II, including the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.-Early life:Tank was born in Bromberg , Province of Posen...
made the suggestion of creating a long-range single-seat fighter under a private venture within Focke-Wulf. The idea was not to produce a heavy fighter
Heavy fighter
A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to carry heavier weapons or operate at longer ranges. To achieve acceptable performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engined, and many had multi-place crews....
or bomber destroyer like the Bf 110, but instead a long-range design that would have the performance of a single-seat design. Powered by the new 736 kW (1,000 PS) Daimler-Benz DB 600
Daimler-Benz DB 600
|-See also:-References:* Green, William. The Augsburg Eagle: A Documentary History - Messerschmitt Bf 109. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishing Group Ltd. 1980. ISBN 0-7106-0005-4...
, it had an expected speed of 560 km/h (350 mph). The design was unveiled in 1936 at an exhibition of new weapons, prototypes and projects held at the Henschel factory at Berlin-Schönefeld, where it was viewed by a number of high ranking Nazi officials, including Hitler. However, the Reich Air Ministry
Reich Air Ministry
thumb|300px|The Ministry of Aviation, December 1938The Ministry of Aviation was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany...
(RLM) rejected the design on the grounds that the single-engine Bf 109 had comparable performance but would cost roughly half as much. The need for a long-range design was not considered serious, as at the time it was believed bomber escort was simply not needed.
Prototypes
Tank then took the design directly to Wolfram von RichthofenWolfram von Richthofen
Dr.-Ing. Wolfram Freiherr von RichthofenIn German a Doctorate in engineering is abbreviated as Dr.-Ing. . was a German Generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War...
, chief of the development section of the Technischen Amt, the research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
arm of the RLM. Richtofen was not so convinced that bomber performance would remain superior to fighters, and gave the go-ahead for the construction of three prototypes, but on the condition that they replace the DB 600, which was in extremely short supply, with the less-powerful 515 kW (700 PS) Junkers Jumo 210
Junkers Jumo 210
The Jumo 210 was Junkers Motoren's first production inverted V12 gasoline aircraft engine, produced just before the start of World War II. Depending on version it produced between 610 and 700 PS and can be considered a counterpart of the Rolls-Royce Kestrel in many ways...
.
R. Blaser was assigned to detail design. In order to improve performance compared to the Bf 110, the fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
was made as small as possible, so small that there was no room on the instrument panel for the complete set of engine instruments, which were instead moved to the inside faces of the engine nacelle
Nacelle
The nacelle is a cover housing that holds engines, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. In some cases—for instance in the typical "Farman" type "pusher" aircraft, or the World War II-era P-38 Lightning—an aircraft's cockpit may also be housed in a nacelle, which essentially fills the...
s, as would be done for some versions of the Bf 110
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
. The engine nacelles were relatively normal, including both the engine and the main landing gear
Undercarriage
The undercarriage or landing gear in aviation, is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land...
storage, but the front-mounted radiator
Radiator
Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in automobiles, buildings, and electronics...
s for the engines were retractable for high speed when less frontal area would be needed to get the same airflow. The mainwheels were fully retractable and faired and the design required no struts or supports, in order to further reduce drag. The wing's two spar
Spar (aviation)
In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings whilst on the ground...
s passed under the pilot's seat. As was common on pre-war designs, the rear of the fuselage was raised which blocked direct viewing to the rear, but the aircraft nevertheless used a bubble
Bubble canopy
A bubble canopy is a canopy made like a soap bubble, which attempts to provide 360° vision to the pilot.-History:Bubble canopies have been in use since World War II. The British had already developed the "Malcolm hood", which was a bulged canopy, but the British Miles M.20 was one of the first...
-type canopy, opening rearward and upward at an angle of about 15°. Although the cockpit
Cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin...
was located well forward, a small window panel was fitted in the underside of the nose by the pilot's feet to improve the view for landing.
The first prototype, Fw 187 V1 (D-AANA) flew for the first time in late spring 1937, with Hans Sander at its controls. In testing it demonstrated 523 km/h (325 mph) despite the use of the low-powered Jumo engines. In fact, it was 80 km/h (50 mph) faster than the contemporary Jumo-powered Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
B, despite having twice the range, more than twice the weight, and using two of the same engines. Members of the RLM complained that this was due to faulty flight instruments
Flight instruments
Flight instruments are the instruments in the cockpit of an aircraft that provide the pilot with information about the flight situation of that aircraft, such as height, speed and altitude...
, but further testing ruled this out. The Fw 187's climb
Rate of climb
In aeronautics, the rate of climb is an aircraft's vertical speed - the rate of change in altitude. In most ICAO member countries , this is usually expressed in feet per minute and can be abbreviated as ft/min. Elsewhere, it is commonly expressed in metres per second, abbreviated as m/s...
and dive rates were also on par - if not superior - to the single-seater.
Several changes were made to the design as a result of the testing, including new DVL propellers in place of the original Junkers-Hamiltons, and experimental twin-wheel bogies that were abandoned after testing. Blaser was concerned about flutter in the rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
at high speed and had fit a weight to reduce it, but in testing this proved to cause flutter and was torn away at high speed. A second prototype followed, differing in having fixed radiators in place of the retractable versions, a semi-retractable tailwheel, changes to the elevator
Elevator (aircraft)
Elevators are flight control surfaces, usually at the rear of an aircraft, which control the aircraft's orientation by changing the pitch of the aircraft, and so also the angle of attack of the wing. In simplified terms, they make the aircraft nose-up or nose-down...
, and a vertical stabilizer
Vertical stabilizer
The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...
with somewhat less chord
Chord (aircraft)
In aeronautics, chord refers to the imaginary straight line joining the trailing edge and the center of curvature of the leading edge of the cross-section of an airfoil...
. The engine was also upgraded to the 210G version of the Jumo, which featured direct fuel injection and a fairly dramatic boost in power as a result. New ejector exhaust stacks were fitted for a small boost in speed. Fw 187 V2 started testing in the summer of 1937, but crashed on landing when one of its landing gear legs failed, and V1 was destroyed on 14 May 1938 after a high-speed pass over the Bremen facilities, when the pilot, Paul Bauer, pulled up too sharply at the end of the pass, stall
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
ing the aircraft and spinning into the ground.
Two-seater prototypes
Ernst UdetErnst Udet
Colonel General Ernst Udet was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war . His 62 victories were second only to Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus...
had replaced von Richtofen in 1936, and although he was a major proponent of high-speed monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
fighters, he also demanded maneuverability and was unconvinced that a twin-engine design could ever stand up in this regard. Nevertheless, he felt the performance of the aircraft warranted its development as a potential replacement for the Bf 110 in the bomber destroyer role. Even before V1 flew, Tank had been instructed to convert the design to a two-seater for this role, although the need for a second crewmember in this role was marginal. The first two prototypes were already well advanced in construction at this point, so they began with the third prototype, which had just begun construction.
Blaser adapted the design by stretching the fuselage only slightly, but this did have the effect of moving the center of gravity
Center of gravity
In physics, a center of gravity of a material body is a point that may be used for a summary description of gravitational interactions. In a uniform gravitational field, the center of mass serves as the center of gravity...
, which demanded the engine nacelles be modified to return the balance to the proper point in relation to the wing. A new extended-length cockpit with two crew members covered by a "framed" canopy was added, but due to the high line of the fuselage there was nowhere to put any defensive armament, reducing the second crewmember to the role of radio operator only. The offensive armament was improved by replacing two of the 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine gun
MG 17 machine gun
The MG 17 was a 7.92 mm machine gun produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use at fixed mountings in many World War II Luftwaffe aircraft.- History :...
s with 20 mm MG FF cannon
MG FF cannon
The MG FF was a drum-fed, 20 mm aircraft autocannon, developed in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Germany. It was a derivative of the Swiss Oerlikon FF F cannon, itself a development of the German World War I Becker 20 mm cannon, and was designed to be used in fixed or flexible mountings, as...
s, although these were never actually fitted.
Fw 187 V3 (D-ORHP) flew in spring 1938, but it suffered a starboard engine fire during one of the initial test flights, and damaged both landing gear during the forced landing that followed. It was quickly repaired and returned to service. Two additional two-seat prototypes, V4 (D-OSNP) and V5 (D-OTGN), followed in the summer and autumn of 1938 respectively. Also powered by the Jumo 210, they proved to have less performance than expected, and did not warrant replacing the Bf 110.
The final prototype, Fw 187 V6 (D-CINY), was more heavily modified. It received the originally-specified 736 kW (1,000 PS) DB 600 engines, as well as a new surface evaporative cooling system for reduced drag. It was first flown in early 1939, and proved to have serious cooling problems (in common with other designs using the system, like the Heinkel He 100
Heinkel He 100
The Heinkel He 100 was a German pre-World War II fighter aircraft design from Heinkel. Although it proved to be one of the fastest fighter aircraft in the world at the time of its development, the design was not ordered into series production. Approximately 19 prototypes and pre-production machines...
) and suffered some skin buckling and distortion. Nevertheless, during a series of carefully timed and measured runs in October 1939, the Fw 187 V6 clocked 634 km/h (395 mph) in level flight, making it the fastest fighter in Germany at the time.
Production run
A small production run of three Fw 187 A-0 followed in the summer of 1939, based upon the V3 prototype and using the Jumo 210G engines. The Luftwaffe, however, stated that without defensive armament the aircraft could not fit the Zerstörer role, and remained uninterested in the design. The three two-seat prototypes were returned to Focke-Wulf after testing at RechlinRechlin
Rechlin is a municipality in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. The town's airport has a long history and was the Luftwaffe's main testing ground for new aircraft designs during the Third Reich....
. There was a brief study in the winter of 1942/43 as a night fighter
Night fighter
A night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility...
, but the lack of room in the cockpit for the radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
equipment quickly eliminated it from contention. After rejecting the design, the RLM "recycled" their 8-187 airframe number to Junkers for their Junkers Ju 187
Junkers Ju 187
-References:D. Herwig & H. Rode Luftwaffe Secret Projects - Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft. ISBN 1-85780-150-4-External links:*...
dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
prototype.
Tank nevertheless directed studies on a wide variety of new versions of the basic airframe, everything from dive bomber, night fighter, fighter-bomber
Fighter-bomber
A fighter-bomber is a fixed-wing aircraft with an intended primary role of light tactical bombing and also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. This term, although still used, has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial...
, high-altitude interceptor (with greater wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
and lengthened rear fuselage) and others. These sported a variety of engines, including the Daimler-Benz DB 601
Daimler-Benz DB 601
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Mankau, Heinz and Peter Petrick. Messerschmitt Bf 110, Me 210, Me 410. Raumfahrt, Germany: Aviatic Verlag, 2001. ISBN 3-92550-562-8.* Neil Gregor Daimler-Benz in the Third Reich. Yale University Press, 1998-External links:...
, DB 605
Daimler-Benz DB 605
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9* Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7...
and even the BMW 801
BMW 801
The BMW 801 was a powerful German air-cooled radial aircraft engine built by BMW and used in a number of German military aircraft of World War II. The engine's cylinders were in two rows of seven cylinders each, the bore and stroke were both 156 mm , giving a total capacity of 41.8 litres...
radial
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
. The Ta 154
Focke-Wulf Ta 154
|-See also:-External links:*...
Moskito resulted from the Luftwaffe requirement for a twin-engine heavy fighter like the Fw 187, but constructed from wood instead of light alloys. Due to the different material, Kurt Tank couldn't make any use of the work done for the Fw 187 but had to design a completely new aircraft to meet this requirement. The surviving Fw 187s were apparently used as testbeds during this program.
Operational history
An Industrie-Schutzstaffel = (Industry-Defense Squadron) comprising the three Fw 187 A-0s was manned by Focke-Wulf test-pilots in defense of the factory in BremenBremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
. Although there are claims that they scored several kills, it is likely that these were propaganda claims. The three A-0s were even sent to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and promoted as evidence that the aircraft was entering service to replace the Bf 110, but by this time any such plan was long dead. The pilots reportedly found the Fw 187 generally superior to the Bf 110 in almost all respects, but the RLM quickly withdrew them from service. They returned to Focke-Wulf, where they were again used for plant defense. One Fw 187 was sent to the aerial shooting school in Vaerlose, Denmark in 1942.