Model of the month Juli 2017 - Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor
In 1938 the Danish airline DDL (Det Danske Luftfartselkab) was the first foreign company to buy two Fw 200, followed by the Brazilian „Sydicato Condor“, which also bought two planes.
Bear in mind: already in 1934 there were two airplanes operating in regular sevice: the Boeing 247 (12 passengers) and the Douglas DC-2 (14 passengers), two smooth sheet steel aircraft with retractable gear and variable pitch propeller. These planes were clearly superior to the German Ju 52 with its corrugated steel fuselage and fixed gear.
When it became known that Douglas developed a replacement for its DC-2, the DC-3 for 24 passengers, the Lufthasa had to react and find a similar plane.
In 1936 the Deutsche Lufthasa made contact with the Focke-Wulf company and Kurt Tank, one of its engineers. Tank proposed a passenger aircraft with four engines for 28 passengers. This plane was supposed to have a long range and be more economical than the omnipresent Ju-52.
After a year the plane was finished, equipped with four air-cooled BMW Hornet nine cylinder rotary engines (like the Ju 52), built under license of Pratt & Whitney – but with metric measurement. The aircraft was a success, flew records and crossed the Atlantic from Berlin to New York, thus proving that landplanes could successfully negotiate the oceans.
The Danish airline was quite satisfied wit the performance of these planes and deployed them in their regular sevice in Europe. The identifications were OY – DEM Jutlandia (formerly D – ADHR Saarland) and OY – DAM Dania (newly built). When Denmark was occupied by the Germans in 1940 the civil use of the Condor nearly ended. The British confiscated the OY – DAM in GB and from then on this booty flew for BOAC. After a landing accident the plane was scrapped. It is important to know that for the Germans Denmark was an „occupied neutral country“ and was able to carry on her airline activities.
After the war the British compensated the DDL with a captured Condor (the formerly D – ASVX Thüringen), but this plane never entered service again. In 1946 the British even wanted to re-assign a second Condor, the Fw 200 C-U/U1 from Farnborough, but this aircraft was in such a condition that they did not dare to fly it across the North Sea.
The remaining Condor OY – DEM Jutlandia was oprated until 1945, servicing Central Europe: Copenhagen, Vienna, Malmö, Berlin and Munic. Initially it was painted like the model, later it carried the inscription „Danmark“ and was painted orange-red-
Technical data Fw 200 A:
Commercial aircraft with four engines, carrying 28 passengers and a crew of four.
wingspan 32.84 m; length 23.85 m; height 6.00 m; wing area 118 m2
construction weight 9200 kg; take-off weight 14000 kg;
cruising speed 355 km/h at 1000 m; maximum speed 375 km/h; sevice ceiling 6100 m;
power plants: 4 x BMW 132 G air-cooled 9-cylinder rotary engines with 537 kW/720 hp;(further development of the P & W Hornet)