Focke-Wulf Aircraft Books - History, Types and Construction

Focke Wulf Jet Fighters

The biggest success of the Focke Wulf company during the Second World War was the choice of a radial engine for the Fw 190 fighter, in this way avoiding to compete against Messerschmitt for the in line engines.

The decision of the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe to assign the few turbojets available to the Messerschmitt and Arado firms and the discovery of the terrible aerodynamic effect known as compressibility buffeting by mid-1942, made the life of fighter designers of the time very interesting.
The Kurt Tank team proposed to install a centrifugal turbojet of his design in the nose of an Fw 190 A/3 with the intention of replacing it with a Jumo 004 B when available in 1943.
Several designs followed that were able to use all turbojets, turboprops, ramjets and rocket engines, either projected or at their disposal. They constitute the documental foundation of this book.

After failing in the TL Jagdfleugzeug contests in March 1943, Volksflugzeug in September 1944 and Hochleitungs Nachtjager in January 1945, Focke Wulf could finally overcome its competitors with the great Jagernotprogramm design Ta 183.
Although it was too late to intervene in the Second World War, it served as inspiration for numerous designs of other countries during the first years of the Cold War.

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Focke-Wulf Fw 187 : An Illustrated History

The twin-engined Focke-Wulf Fw 187 was a contemporary of the Messerschmitt Bf 110, however production was limited to a handful of prototypes. So far the story of this largely forgotten fighter has been shrouded in darkness.
Developed by Professor Kurt Tank, the Fw 187 first flew in the summer of 1937. Not only was it faster than any other German fighter with similar engines, it was also earmarked for record attempts which had to be abandoned with the outbreak of war.

The debacle of the Me 210, which was supposed to succeed the Bf 110, revived the Fw 187's fortunes. With a speed of 700 km/h, it was faster than any contemporary fighter and was considered as a replacement for the Me 210. Once again, however, no production contract was forthcoming.
The few Fw 187s built served in industry defense and were later operated by the Vaerlose Aerial Gunnery School.

This little-known aircraft is documented with numerous photographs and drawings, many of them never before published. This is a book for aviation enthusiasts and modelers, which closes a significant gap in German aviation history.

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The Focke-Wulf Ta 152 - The Story of the Luftwaffe's Late-war, High Altitude Flyer

From the time of its appearance in 1939 the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was one of the best fighter aircraft of the Second World War - a masterpiece produced by chief designer Kurt Tank. In 1943 he developed a new fighter aircraft based on this successful concept.
The project soon deviated far from the original Fw 190 and as an honor to the designer it was designated the Ta 152. The great performance potential of this fighter was obvious from the very first prototypes of the Ta 152A and Ta 152C. The production was however limited to a few examples. But at the same time Focke-Wulf was developing the Ta 152H high-altitude fighter which, powered by the Jumo 213E and equipped with a pressurized cockpit, was capable of reaching altitudes on the order of 35,000 feet and speeds in excess of 430 mph.

A few Ta 152Hs saw action at the beginning of 1945 and they made an excellent impression on their pilots. Compared to the older fighters they exhibited significantly better flight characteristics and performance at high altitude. The Ta 152 could also stand up to the best Allied fighter aircraft, such as the American P-51 Mustang. The heavy Allied bombing at the end of the war prevented production from beginning as planned, and as a result only a very few Ta 152Hs could be delivered.
With the aid of a large number of photographs - some previously unpublished - and drawings, this book details the development history of the Ta 152, one of the most advanced fighter aircraft of its day.

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Dragonfly: The Luftwaffe's Experimental Triebflügeljäger Project

This is the story of the world's first attempt at perfecting a true, tail-sitting vertical take off and landing (VTOL) interceptor flying machine - Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau's proposed "Triebflügeljäger" or thrust wing fighter project of 1944.

The Triebflügeljäger was not intended to be an air-superiority dogfighter, but a bomber killer rising straight up from its hiding place in the forest or urban area to meet and attack Allied bombers head on. With its mission completed it would return to its hiding place on the forest floor and wait to arise again.

The Triebflügeljäger would have been a point-defense interceptor intended for the Luftwaffe home defense squadrons and its most important virtue was that it would not need a runway. Highly unusual, then as well as today, the "Triebflügeljäger" was an amazing prototype.

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Flugzeuge aus Bremen

With over 150 largely unpublished photographs and profound texts, Ulf Kaack and Peter Kurze document Bremen's aviation history, starting with the aircraft manufacturers Focke-Wolf and Weserflug.
They show innovative developments such as the first helicopter as well as civil and military aircraft for a wide variety of applications, describe how the merger of German and European aircraft manufacturers to form the Airbus Group came about and, last but not least, the development of Bremen Airport.

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