The Plane that Had to Fly Really Low to Attack

In 1941, famed Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm  pilot Eric “Winkle” Brown was returning home after a mission to protect British  convoys in Gibraltar from the Germans when a shell smashed through his windshield and  a large piece of glass came into his mouth. Concussed, Brown began to fade out of  consciousness. Fortunately, however, his wing leader talked to him during the entire  trip, urging him to stay awake - and alive. If he had closed his eyes, he recalled:  (QUOTE) “that would have been that.”

The whole time, his leader made an effort  to keep him going. Barely conscious, the extraordinary pilot seemed to be  doing exactly what he was told to with his aircraft. Under the expert direction  of his superior, Brown managed to land on the deck of a friendly carrier, although  he didn’t remember the incident at all. Out of action, Brown returned home to  recover from his injuries. When he woke up, he was shocked to learn that the  aircraft that had almost ended his life had been an airline

r:  the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor. Resolved to take it down, the young  pilot devoted himself to studying the German design closely. But he soon realized  that it had no blindspots - except for one… In the mid-1930s, Germany and the US were  building a reputation as the emerging technologies of the 20th century built bridges  across continents. At a time when airlines used seaplanes for long routes in order to afford  flying such distances over water, the concept of a landplane that could carry p

assengers from  Berlin to New York and back was groundbreaking. In that context, engineer Kurt Tank of  Focke-Wulf sent an ambitious design to Doctor Rudolf Stüssel of Deutsche Lufthansa. The  proposed aircraft would have to be big, so big and with such a tremendous wingspan that it earned  the nickname "Condor" in honor of the condor bird. The Fw 200 was innovative in its cruising  altitude; it was designed to fly 9,800 feet above the ground without a pressurized  cabin. In fact, the plane reac

hed twice the altitude of conventional airliners of the 1930s  until other high-altitude passenger aircraft, such as the Boeing 307 in 1940 and the  Douglas DC-4 in 1942, started flying. As the Condor was being developed, relations  between America and Germany had still not deteriorated completely, and flying to the US  was not only the Condor's primary objective, but it also used American parts in its design. The initial prototype, finished in 1937, was  powered by four American 875 horsepower

Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial engines and could take up to  26 passengers to a distance of 3,000 kilometers. Later on, Germany switched the American engines  to German 720 horsepower BMW 132G-1 radials. The amicable relationship  between the two superpowers was just about to take a turn for the worse. The improved Fw 200 S-1,  with additional fuel tanks, made numerous record flights in its day.  As the first heavier-than-air airliner to fly nonstop between Berlin and New York City,  the type cov

ered over 4,000 miles in the air. Besides, the novel aircraft also accomplished a  flight between Berlin and Floyd Bennett Field, New York, in August of 1938 in just under  24 hours and 56 minutes. The return flight on August 13 broke the record in  19 hours and 47 minutes. Likewise, that same year, the Fw 200 flew to  Tokyo in 46 hours, with three stops. Soon after, with World War 2 looming  ever closer, the Imperial Japanese Navy requested a military version of the  Fw 200 for reconnaissance m

issions; thus, Kurt Tank designed a Condor with  several military tools and capabilities. However, the military Condor would  never be delivered to the Japanese, as the full-scale conflict  broke out in September 1939. At that point, Germany decided to keep  the military version for its own use, and as flights from Germany to  the US were increasingly unlikely, most of the remaining Condor units  were retrofitted to serve as warplanes. Despite the sudden role change, many  Condors had already be

en sold to Brazil, and they continued to serve as airliners;  in Germany, Deutsche Lufthansa also kept several planes that would continue to  carry passengers - except that now, in a divided world, they would only  operate between Axis-friendly territories. Even before the war broke  out, the Condor was already part of the planning for the German  onslaughts that were soon to come. In 1939, German Foreign Minister Joachim von  Ribbentrop used a specially equipped Condor "Grenzmark" during his tw

o visits  to Moscow to negotiate and sign the Non-Aggression Treaty between  Germany and the Soviet Union. The Luftwaffe initially used the modified  Condor to support the Kriegsmarine, making broad trips across the North Sea and,  after the fall of France, the Atlantic Ocean in extensive patrols and reconnaissance  sorties. The Condors would pinpoint the location of Allied convoys and warships so  that German U-boats could intercept them. Soon, the makeshift reconnaissance Condors were  fitted

to carry explosive payloads of up to 2,200 pounds as well as naval mines. Also, the Condors  became exceptionally efficient bombers during the war's early phase as the Allies still  lacked substantial anti-maritime equipment. From June 1940 to February 1941, the  aircraft sank over 365,000 tons of Allied shipping despite their rather  primitive bombing maneuvers. Because the Condors were not designed as bombers,  they had to perform extremely low-altitude raids to cover the target ship with  thr

ee bombs that guaranteed a hit. Still, the airliner-turned-bomber performed  so well that Winston Churchill called it the: (QUOTE) "Scourge of the Atlantic"  for contributing to the severe Allied shipping losses during the Battle of  the Atlantic. But that would soon change. It was then that Captain Eric “Winkle” Brown  first met with the enemy. In September 1941, he was sent to protect Allied supply lines that  sailed from Liverpool to Gibraltar and back. Their targets were the fairly imposing

Condors. In his  words: (QUOTE) “It’s a thrill because it’s a dark, menacing shape. It really looks evil. It is  electrifying, and you feel a little helpless.” Upon return, the pilot was attacked,  and his aircraft was seriously damaged by a Focke Wulf Fw 200. He narrowly  survived. Following the incident, Brown studied the Condor intently for some time.  But he couldn’t find any weaknesses - at first. Eventually, he found a soft spot. Through  painstaking work, Brown found out that the forward-

firing machine gun positions could  swivel to an extent but could only fire at a certain angle. Beyond that point,  a round would hit its own fuselage. Working out the arc and trajectory  of the projectile, the astute Brit realized the Condor had a blindspot. But  that required a head-on frontal attack. The Condor was a huge threat to  Allied shipping in the Atlantic, but Winkle Brown resolved to take the matter into  his own hands. Noting that the type had a single blindspot and that it would o

nly be vulnerable to  a frontal attack, the brave pilot charged ahead. During his second trip to Gibraltar, he put  his discovery into practice. He recalled in an interview: (QUOTE) “When I eventually managed  to get this aircraft into a situation where he was nipping in and out of a cloud, it was  rather difficult to keep up with him. I made an absolutely flat attack. When I opened fire,  I could see the pilot’s windscreen shattering.” Immediately, the Condor plummeted into the abyss. Brown con

tinued using this tactic  and soon taught it to other pilots, who promptly downed four more Condors. As the war dragged on, Germany's aircraft  manufacturing capabilities became severely strained, and the BV 138C flying boat became  Germany's primary reconnaissance aircraft. Thus, ordered the Condor crews to immediately  stop attack operations and preserve the already low numbers that remained in service. As a result, the Condors were solely  used as transport aircraft, delivering men and suppli

es to the ever-spreading  German forces on the Eastern Front. However, as the German 6th Army became  entrapped within the city ruins during the Battle of Stalingrad, the Condors were  used in attempts to supply the starving soldiers. Hitler himself had taken  command of the Stalingrad operation, and he vehemently refused to withdraw  or surrender before the Soviets. Still, such stubbornness came  from an infamous miscalculation, as Hermann Göring assured Hitler that  the Luftwaffe could effecti

vely supply the stranded troops using cargo planes and air  superiority. Göring then used all the Condors available to him and other cargo planes  to deliver food and ammunition to the 6th Army as it fiercely withstood the Soviet  attacks and the overwhelming winter cold. However, the Germans significantly overestimated  their airborne capabilities against the Soviets’ anti-aircraft operations, resulting in the  starvation of thousands of German soldiers trapped in Stalingrad and leading to the 

surrender of the few remaining troops. The Condor would continue serving as a German  transport aircraft until the war's end. The Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-1, initially seen  as an aviation marvel, faced significant structural challenges. The aircraft's  fuselage, especially behind the wing, was prone to breaking during landings, resulting  in the loss of at least eight units. This flaw revealed a critical underestimation of the  airframe's ability to handle increased weight and stress, making it a ha

stily adapted  combat aircraft plagued by shortcomings, including insufficient armament  and a vulnerable fuel system. The subsequent Fw 200C-3 model incorporated  improvements like structural reinforcements, an added gun turret, enhanced armaments, and an  additional crew member. However, these upgrades paradoxically increased its weight, reducing  its speed. In terms of offensive capabilities, the Fw 200C was equipped with advanced targeting  equipment, including the Revi bombsight and the Lof

te 7D. The Fw 200C-4 further integrated  radar systems for anti-shipping operations, representing technological advancement  but also adding to the weight problem. The Fw 200C's performance was subpar, with a top  speed of 330 kilometers per hour at altitude, dropping to 280 kilometers per  hour at sea level. Pilots were advised against exceeding 450  kilometers per hour or making sharp maneuvers to avoid structural  failure. Despite these limitations, the aircraft had impressive endurance, capa

ble  of 14 to 18-hour flights, though this meant a reduced bomb load, usually limited to four  250-kilogram bombs on extended missions. But the Condor also gained a prestigious  role as Adolf Hitler's personal transport, reflecting the novelty of air travel for  world leaders at the time. Hitler's pilot, Hans Baur, advocated for the Condor  over the previous Junkers Ju 52, highlighting its safety and reliability. This  led to the selection of a specific Condor for Hitler, which underwent signifi

cant  modifications to meet his requirements. The 26-passenger aircraft was transformed into  a luxurious two-cabin plane. Hitler's main cabin featured an armored, parachute-equipped desk and  a quick-escape hatch. The windows were reinforced with bullet-proof glass. The second cabin,  designed for advisors and guests, mimicked a first-class railway carriage. Additionally,  the plane was armed with defensive turrets, including a 13-millimeter MG 131 machine  gun and a 7.1-millimeter MG 15 nose t

urret. Named "Immelmann III" after World War 1 ace  Max Immelmann and marked "D-600," Hitler's Condor was always accompanied by a second Condor  carrying his staff and personal items. Security measures were stringent, including a pre-flight  test to rule out altitude-triggered bombs. As World War 2 neared its end,  Hitler's travels decreased, and the Immelmann III remained mostly at  Berlin Tempelhof Airport. On July 18, 1944, an Allied bombing raid destroyed the aircraft  as the days of the Thi

rd Reich neared the end.