Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor

what is it?

The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, also known as Kurier (German for courier) to the Allies, is an all-metal four-engined monoplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf. It was the first heavier-than-air aircraft to fly nonstop between Berlin and New York City, about 4,000 miles (6,400 km), making the flight from Berlin-Staaken to Floyd Bennett Field on 10/11 August 1938 in 24 hours and 56 minutes. It was originally proposed by the aeronautical engineer Kurt Tank as a long-range land-based airliner for the flag carrier Deutsche Luft Hansa.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 32.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 380 km/htop speed
• range 3,560 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 30passengers
• size 22.7 tmax take-off weight
• built 263made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 89 years ago, in 1937.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 32.9 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 3,560 km: 20× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1937-07-27

introduced

1937

number built

263

role

bomber

makers

Focke-Wulf

engines

4× Bramo 323R-2

passengers

30

length

23.5 m

wingspan

32.9 m

height

6.3 m

max take-off weight

22.7 t

top speed

380 km/h

cruise speed

335 km/h

range

3,560 km

ceiling

6,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.