Focke-Wulf Fw 238

what is it?

The Focke-Wulf Nr. 238 Fernkampfflugzeug was a four-engine strategic bomber developed by the German aeronautical company Focke-Wulf-Flugzeugbau AG in the early 1940s and remained at the project stage.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 52 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 670 km/htop speed
• range 14,100 kmwithout refuelling
• size 114.5 tmax take-off weight

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

• 🏎️Top speed is 5.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 52 m: about 12 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 19 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 14,100 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.

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

spec sheet

first flight

—

number built

—

role

strategic bomber project

origin

🇩🇪 Germany

makers

Focke-Wulf

engines

4× BMW 803

length

35.3 m

wingspan

52 m

height

8.7 m

max take-off weight

114.5 t

top speed

670 km/h

cruise speed

500 km/h

range

14,100 km

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