The Focke-Wulf Fw 159 was an experimental

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

fighter of the 1930s, designed by

Kurt Tank Kurt Waldemar Tank (24 February 1898 – 5 June 1983) was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot who led the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931 to 1945. He was responsible for the creation of several important Luftwaffe aircraft o ...

which never reached production, as it was considered inferior to the

He 112 The Heinkel He 112 is a German fighter aircraft designed by Walter and Siegfried Günter. It was one of four aircraft designed to compete for the 1933 fighter contract of the ''Luftwaffe'', in which it came second behind the Messerschmitt Bf ...

and

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

. It was a heavier variant of the

Focke-Wulf Fw 56 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. It is one of the p ...

, with several improvements, such as a retractable landing gear and enclosed cockpit.

Design and development

The

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. It is one of the ...

company designed the aircraft as one of the four entries for the ''Rüstungsflugzeug'' IV ("Armed Aircraft IV") 1934 fighter competition. Its

parasol wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

configuration was based on the company's successful trainer product, the

''Stösser'', and it used a Junkers Jumo 210 engine. The plane had an enclosed

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

and a rearward-retracting lever-action suspension main undercarriage which retracted completely into the lower

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

. This mechanism was complicated, fragile and endlessly troublesome. The first

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

, the Fw-159 V1, was ready in the spring of 1935 but was destroyed when it crash-landed following the failure of the main undercarriage to deploy properly. The second prototype, the V2, had a reinforced undercarriage. The general flight characteristics were good but the

rate of climb In aeronautics, the rate of climb (RoC) is an aircraft's vertical speed, that is the positive or negative rate of altitude change with respect to time. In most ICAO member countries, even in otherwise metric countries, this is usually expressed ...

and rate of turn were unsatisfactory, and the aircraft suffered greater drag than its competitors in the contest, the

Arado Ar 80 The Arado Ar 80 was a pre-World War II fighter aircraft, designed by Arado Flugzeugwerke to compete for the ''Luftwaffe''s first major fighter contract. The Ar 80 was uninspiring in terms of performance and also suffered a number of failures. T ...

Heinkel He 112 The Heinkel He 112 is a German fighter aircraft designed by Walter and Siegfried Günter. It was one of four aircraft designed to compete for the 1933 fighter contract of the ''Luftwaffe'', in which it came second behind the Messerschmitt Bf 10 ...

and

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

. The competition was won by the Bf 109. ModellPhoto Fw159

Specifications (V2)

References

External links

* * * {{RLM aircraft designations 1930s German fighter aircraft Fw 159 Single-engined tractor aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935

Design and development

Specifications (V2)

See also

References

External links