This was a beautiful , powerful , well armed aircraft , and had it been put into full production it might have been a nasty burr to the Allies.
The first prototype made its first flight in late spring 1937 with Hans Sander as its pilot. 560km/h were expected with the 1000PS DB 600, but 523km/h were already reached with the 700 PS Jumo 210 in the unarmed V-1 prototype. While testing, several details changed: new props, twin wheels (as an experiment), and the rudders got a shortened profile.
Meanwhile, the guys in the RLM got crazy; they wanted this plane as a destroyer (one definition of a destroyer: two crew members, heavy armament, two engines). Of course, everybody can see that there is no place for defensive weapons, and on long range escort missions, the bombers navigate and the escorts only have to stay in relative position, but they wanted a second crew member. Although this reduced the range and the dogfight abilities.
So Focke-Wulf designed the third prototype Fw 187V-3 with two crew members, new engine covering, different fuselage structure and two 20mm MG FF. It flew first in spring 1938, and two similar planes followed. The first prototype was destroyed on 14.05.1938 (the pilot paul bauer flew too risky and stalled during a loop), but the program continued, and Focke-Wulf got two 1.000PS DB 600 engines for the sixth prototype (Fw 187V6), which reached a speed of 636km/h
(60-120km/h more than the fighters of the Battle of Britain reached in 1940 with 1050 to 1330PS engines). Next, three Fw 187A-0 (based upon the third prototype) pre-serial planes were built and used since summer 1940 as a defense for the Focke-Wulf facilities at Bremen, later in the Winter inofficially at the 13. destroyer squadron in Norway. The pilots in Norway were enthusiastic about its potential and demanded quantity production, but instead they were ordered to give the planes back to Focke-Wulf because they were only in inofficial use. Some Fw187 were also used in the aerial shooting school in Vaerlose, Denmark.
In the facility defense role, they shot down several aircraft. One Fw187 ace was killed in his aircraft.
Remarkable was the great maneuvrability; the Rechlin test pilot Heinrich Beauvais was of the opinion that it circled comparable to the Bf109 and rolled only slightly slower than the Bf109, while speed and range were superior .
Kurt Tank didn't accept the decision of the high ranks in the ministry and offered further variants of the Fw187; DB601, DB605 and even the radial BMW801 engines were proposed. Stuka, nightfighter, fighter-bomber, high-altitude interceptor (with greater wingspan and lenghtened rear fuselage), but the disastrous (but good-looking) Me210 and Me410 design was preferred by the ministry - another mistake, although the wing load of the Fw187 was increased by heavier armament, armour and engines.
Unfortunately NOT historically significant.
Kopfdorfer
Author
Topic: FW-187 Falke (Falcon) (Read 7900 times)
