Focke-Wulf Fw 238

{{Infobox aircraft begin

| name=Nr. 238

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| type=Strategic bomber project

| national origin=Germany

| manufacturer=Focke-Wulf

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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. Designed to the same specifications issued by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) which led to the Focke-Wulf Ta 400 and Junkers Ju 390, its development was cancelled by the RLM.

Design and development

In March 1941 the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (ministry of the air, abbreviated RLM), the ministry that during the Nazi period was responsible for the whole aviation of Germany, expressed the need to acquire a new long-range bombardment aircraft capable of carrying a war load of 5,000 kg of bombs with a range of 15,000 km. Focke-Wulf and Junkers responded to the request by starting a project for a large tactical bomber suitable to meet the specifications issued.

Focke-Wulf planned the development of an all-encompassing four-engine aircraft in a trailing configuration that could be equipped with the best engines currently being developed, the BMW 803 of 3 900 PS combined with four-bladed propellers counter-rotating or BMW 801. The baseline design conceived under drawing Nr. 238 had four BMW 803s, a long fuselage integrated the cockpit pressurized for the five (or according to other sources ten) crew members on the front, the ventral bomb compartment and a twin-tail, chosen to improve the field of fire of the two barbette hydraulically driven dorsal turrets equipped with a pair of MG 151/20 gauge 20 mm autocannons. An additional two identical ventral turrets and, optional for the anti-shipping configuration, a gondola equipped with 4 cannons MK 108 caliber 30 mm. The landing gear was the typical tail-wheel configuration, with the two front axle springs cushioned and equipped with twin wheels integrated by a retractible tailwheel. A somewhat smaller four-engine version, equipped with radial BMW 801 D, with a length of 30.6 m by 5.8 m height with a 50 m opening wing and a surface area of 240 m². Although these designs are known in some sources as Fw 238, this was a postwar invention by some aviation historians derived from Nr. 238 for the early BMW-powered Focke-Wulf Fernkampfflugzeug designs.Sharp, Dan. (2016) Luftwaffe: Secret Bombers of the Third Reich. Mortons.

In reality none of the versions passed the design phase and their development, which according to some estimates could have been completed with a prototype able to fly by the end of 1944, was terminated by an order dated 14 February 1943 in which the RLM required companies to devote themselves as a priority to the development of models to be used in the air defense of the Reich.

Variants

; Nr 238

: four-engine version equipped with BMW 803 radial engines driving counter-rotating propellers.

; Nr. 238H

: small four-engine variant, length - {{cvt|30.6|m}}, height - {{cvt|5.8|m}}, span - {{cvt|50|m}}, wing area {{cvt|240|m2}}, equipped with BMW 801 engines.

Specifications (Nr. 238, larger design)

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 Vol.2 – Flugzeugtypen Erla-Heinkel{{cite book |last=Nowarra |first=Heinz J. |title=Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 Vol.2 – Flugzeugtypen Erla-Heinkel |year=1993 |publisher=Bernard & Graefe Verlag |location=Koblenz |isbn=3-7637-5464-4 |language=German |pages=104–105, 266–267}}

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|length m=35.3

|span m=52

|height m=8.7

|wing area sqm=290

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|empty weight kg=55620

|gross weight kg=114530

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|eng1 number=4

|eng1 name=BMW 803

|eng1 type=28-cylinder 7-bank liquid-cooled coupled inline radial engine

|eng1 note={{cvt|3900|PS|hp kW}}

|prop blade number=8

|prop name=Contra-rotating propeller

|prop dia m=

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|prop dia note=

|max speed kmh=670

|max speed note=at {{cvt|8000|m}}

|cruise speed kmh=500

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Landing speed: {{cvt|130|km/h|mph kn}}

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|range km=14100

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Focke-Wulf Fw 238

Design and development

Variants

Specifications (Nr. 238, larger design)

References

Further reading