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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1796.PDF
FLIGHT Eleventh of the New Recognition Series AIRCRAFT TYPES AND Condor and Liberator THE original Focke-Wulf "Condor," the Fw.200, was a 26-passenger air liner powered by four B.M.W. 9-cyl. air-cooled radial engines each developing 850 h.p. For military purposes the passengers would be replaced by troops, and, since the comfort of the latter is not considered very much by the Germans, there is little doubt that far more fully-equipped men would be crammed in than the mere removal of the civilian seating arrange ments would normally suggest. The official troop capacity, however, is 30 men. The version illustrated here is the FW.200K, and the chief modifications comprise the addition of a gondola-like bomb bay beneath the fuselage and slightly offset to star board ; the provision of a gun position amidships above the fuselage; a small power-operated turret above and behind the pilots' cabin, and gun positions in the front and rear of the gondola. The forward gun in the gondola is usually a 20 mm. cannon, but the others are invariably 7.9 mm. machine guns. When it first made its appearance during the present war the FW.200K was named the "Kurier," but more recently it seems to have become customary to apply the old name of "Condor" to the later models which are widely used for attacking Allied convoys in the Atlantic and for long-range oversea reconnaissance and mine-laying. This version of the Condor formerly had Bramo-Fafnir 323 air-cooled radial engines of approximately the same power as the B.M.W.s, but there is now also a K2 version fitted with the new B.M.W 801 engine of 1,320 h.p., and heavier armament, the precise disposition of which cannot be stated with certainty; in any case it probably varies from time to time. The top speed of the Bramo-Fafnir engined Condor is quoted as 2-50 m.p.h. at 13,120ft., but that of the FW.200K2 is increased to 279 m.p.h. at 18,100ft. The former's cruising speed is about 180 m.p.h. at sea-level as against the 224 m.p.h. at 19,700ft. of the latter, and its service ceiling 21,500ft., compared with 28,850ft. But the maximum range of the K2 appears to be slightly less at 2,300 miles com pared with the former's 2,430 miles. Constructionally the Condor remains just the same, the fuselage being an all-metal monocoque with stressed-skin covering, the low, cantilever wings each comprising a single main spar with two auxiliary spars. 9f Like the fuselage, wings and tail are covered with smooife metal covering except for the control surfaces, which are fabric covered. Slotted ailerons and split trailing-edge flaps ars fitted. Twin wheels are employed on the undercarriage, and important details from the spotter's point of view are the familiar kink in the trailing-edge of the wings, the large, angular, low aspect-ratio single fin and rudder, the small, beak-like nose, and the offset bomb gondola. SQUARE SECTION FUSELAGE LARGE BROKEN LINE OF TRAILING EDGE DIMENSIONS Span Length Height Wing area .. .. /08ft. 3in. .. 78ft. 3in. .. 23ft. 4in. .. 1,290 sq. ft. 4
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