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The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ''Condor'', also known as ''Kurier'' to the Allies〔("Friend or Foe? Two Four - Engined Bombers With Single Tails." ) ''Flight'' 16 October 1941, p. ''b'' (between pages 256 and 257).〕 was a German all-metal four-engined monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft led to military versions that saw service with the ''Luftwaffe'' as long-range reconnaissance and anti-shipping/maritime patrol bomber aircraft. The Luftwaffe also made extensive use of the Fw 200 as a transport. It achieved success as a commerce raider before the advent of long-range RAF Coastal Command aircraft and CAM ships eliminated its threat.〔Wheeler 1992, p. 40.〕 ==Design and development== The Fw 200 resulted from a proposal by Kurt Tank of Focke-Wulf to Dr. Rudolf Stuessel of Deutsche Lufthansa to develop a landplane to carry passengers across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA.〔Karl-Dieter Seifert "Der Deutsche Luftverkehr 1926 - 1945" Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1996 ISBN 3-7637-6118-7 (in German) p. 303-304〕 At that time this was unusual, as airlines used seaplanes on long over-water routes. To fly long distances economically, the Fw 200 was designed to cruise at an altitude of over - as high as possible without a pressure cabin. Existing airliners were designed to cruise at altitudes below 5,000 feet. The Fw 200 was briefly the world's most modern airliner, until other high-altitude airliners started operating: the Boeing 307 in 1940 and the Douglas DC4 in 1942. The designation "Condor" was chosen because, like the condor bird, the Fw 200 had a very long wingspan, to facilitate high altitude flight. Deutsche Lufthansa issued a specification in June 1936 after discussions between Tank, Dr. Stüssel and Carl August von Gablenz. The plane was designed by Ludwig Mittelhuber with Wilhelm Bansemir as project director. The first prototype, the Fw 200 V1, made its first flight after just over one year of development on 27 July 1937 with Kurt Tank at the controls. It was an all-metal, four-engined monoplane powered by four American 875 hp Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial engines, and intended to carry 26 passengers in two cabins for up to 3,000 km (1,860 mi). Two further prototypes were powered by German 720 hp BMW 132G-1 radials.〔"Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II" Compiler: David Mondey, Temple Press Aerospace 1984 ISBN 0 600 35027 4 p. 73-74〕 The Japanese Navy requested a military version of the Fw 200 for search and patrol duties, so Tank designed the Fw 200 V10 with military equipment. This Fw 200 was held in Germany because war had broken out in Europe by that time. This aircraft became the basis for all later military models used by the ''Luftwaffe''. To adapt it for wartime service, hardpoints were added to the wings for bombs, the fuselage was strengthened and extended to create more space, and front, aft and dorsal gun positions were added, in addition to an extended-length version of the ''Bola'' ventral gondola typical of World War II German bomber aircraft; for the Fw 200's militarization this incorporated a bomb bay as well as heavily glazed forward and aft flexible defensive machine gun emplacements at either end. The extra weight introduced by its military fitments meant that a number of early Fw 200 aircraft broke up on landing, a problem that was never entirely solved. Later models were equipped with Lorenz FuG 200 ''Hohentwiel'' low UHF-band ASV radar in the nose. In 1943 a version entered service that could carry the Henschel Hs 293 guided missile,〔 mandating fitment of the associated ''Funkgerät'' FuG 203 ''Kehl'' radio guidance gear on a Condor to steer them. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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