Focke Wulf TA154 Moskito
The Ta154 was developed because the Mosquito night bombers were almost invulnerable for a long time. (1 loss in the first 600 sorties of one squadron, for example, compared to around 5% losses of heavy night bombers!) The chief designer of Focke-Wulf, Kurt Tank, had so much prestige after the success of the Fw190A, that this Focke-Wulf aircraft carried his name (but after first design, Ernst Nipp was the chief designer of this project).
The airframe was made of wood, a quite unusual feature for a german frontline aircraft, and there was just one
production plant for a suitable glue, which was destroyed by a bombing raid. Instead, another glue was used,
which caused some damage to nearby wood. This was the reason why Tank cancelled the quantity production after
8 prototypes, 7 pre-serial planes and only 10 serial planes until a better glue was available (indeed, there was none).
Another weakness was the bow-wheel landing gear, which caused some crashes. Interesting was the method how
the stability of the structure at high speeds was tested; they dragged a hull through water at high speed!
The Ta154C was supposed to make use of the modern 1750PS Jumo213 engines.
Specifications:
Tank Ta154A-1 german nightfighter
Dimensions:
Wing span: 16m
Length: 12.6m
Height: 3.67m
Weights:
Empty: ???? kg
Maximum Take-Off: 8.147kg
Performance:
Maximum Speed: 632km/h (with radar antenna)
Service Ceiling: 10.920m
Normal Range: 1.370km
Powerplant:
two 1.500PSJunkers Jumo211R 12-cylinder inverted Vee,liquid-cooled engines with direct fuel injection
Armament:
two 3cm Mk108 on the sides of the fuselage,two 2cm MG 151/20 on the sides of the fuselage,two 2cm MG151/20 as "schraege Musik", firing ca. 60° upwards
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