Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe

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Fw 58 Weihe
Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-2094-11, Bulgarien, Flugzeug Focke-Wulf Fw 58.jpg
Role Trainer, Transport, Air Ambulance
Manufacturer Focke-Wulf
First flight1935
Introduction1937
Retired1940s
Primary user Luftwaffe
Number built1,350

The Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe (Harrier) was a German aircraft, built to fill a request by the Luftwaffe for a multi-role aircraft, to be used as an advanced trainer for pilots, gunners and radio operators.

Contents

Design and development

The Fw 58 was a low-wing monoplane with two piston engines mounted in nacelles on the wing leading edges. The crew sat under an enclosed canopy. Aft of the flight deck, the fuselage was open to form a moveable machine gun station. The tailwheel undercarriage was retractable.

Operational history

The Fw 58 was widely used for training Luftwaffe personnel. It was also used as a VIP transport, ambulance, feeder airliner, photo reconnaissance and weather research aircraft. [1] It was built under license in Bulgaria, Hungary and Brazil. It was also operated by several countries such as the Netherlands, Romania, Croatia and Turkey.

Variants

Fw 58 V1
First prototype, first flown in 1934 [2] [3]
Fw 58 V2
Second prototype.
Fw 58 V3
Third prototype.
Fw 58 V4
Fourth prototype.
Fw 58 V14
Fw 58 V14, D- OPDR, was fitted with Fowler flaps and boundary-layer suction for high-lift experiments at AVA, Göttingen. The suction system was powered by a Hirth aircraft engine in the fuselage and the air exited through two circumferential, parallel rows of slots in the rear fuselage section. [4]
Fw 58B
Fw 58B-1
Fw 58B-2
This version had a glazed nose and was armed with a 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 15 machine gun.
Fw 58C
Solid-nosed, the main wartime production variant, six passenger transport with 260hp Hirth HM 508D engines
Fw 58W
Twin-floatplane version.

Operators

Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria
Flag of Independent State of Croatia.svg  Croatia
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Nazi Germany
Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946).svg  Hungary
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania
Flag of Slovakia (1939-1945).svg  Slovakia
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
Flag of the USSR (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union

Surviving aircraft

The only Fw 58 on display is at Museu Aeroespacial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil used this airplane mainly for maritime patrols and the example on display was one of the 25 Fw 58B-2 units license-built in Brazil by Fábrica de Galeão, circa 1941.

An Fw 58 C-2 is stored in the Norwegian Aviation Museum in Bodø. [9]

An Fw 58 C crashed on 30 March 1943 in the Lac du Bourget, France, after a low-flying training pass over the lake went wrong. Two of the four airmen on board were rescued by local fishermen. The wreckage lies at a depth of over 112 meters. Due to the dark and cold water, it is still fairly well preserved, though the canvas over the tube frame light structure is gradually deteriorating. A proposal has been made to raise the wreckage, but local divers are strongly opposed because of its status as a war grave, and the risks of damaging it.[ citation needed ]

Specifications (Fw 58B)

Focke-Wulf Fw.58 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile February 1936 Focke Wulf Fw.58 3-view L'Aerophile February 1936.jpg
Focke-Wulf Fw.58 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile February 1936

Data from Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 Vol.2 – Flugzeugtypen Erla-Heinkel [2]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related lists

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References

  1. Wilson, James (2007). Propaganda Postcards of the Luftwaffe. England: Pen and Sword. p. 60. ISBN   978-1844154913.
  2. 1 2 Nowarra, Heinz J. (1993). Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 Vol.2 – Flugzeugtypen Erla-Heinkel (in German). Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. pp. 60–63, 264–265. ISBN   3-7637-5464-4.
  3. Munson 1978, p. 55.
  4. Luftfahrt international 18 (1976), pp. 2829ff
  5. FR010 Fw 58B South America
  6. "THE FOCKE WULF Fw 58 IN BRAZIL". Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  7. Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Gulub
  8. Oryx. "Bye Bye Berlin: Türkiye's He 111 Bombers". Oryx. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  9. Norsk Luftfartsmuseum Archived 2011-08-25 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

Bibliography

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