Focke-Wulf Ta 154

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Ta_154

The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito was a fast twin-engined German night fighter
aircraft designed by Kurt Tank and produced by Focke-Wulf during late World War
II. Only a few were produced, proving to have less impressive performance than
the prototypes.

Kurt Tank's team at Focke-Wulf had been working for some time on a fast
attack-bomber aircraft named Ta 211, so named because it planned to use an
uprated Jumo 211R engine. The intended "Ta 211" design was a high-wing
twin-engined design, built primarily of plywood, bonded with a special phenolic
resin adhesive called Tego film. The only large-scale use of metal was in the
pressurized cockpit.

The project's designation was changed to Reichsluftfahrtministerium
(RLM—Ministry of Aviation) airframe number 8-154 (hence Ta 154) when it became
apparent that the most suitable engine for the aircraft was the more powerful
Jumo 213, and that Junkers could not deliver the Jumo 211R in time due to
technical and production problems. The 154 was also allocated the name "Moskito"
as a form of recognition of the Royal Air Force's (RAF) de Havilland Mosquito.

It was at about this time that the light and very fast de Havilland Mosquito,
also made of wood, arrived over Germany. It quickly racked up an impressive
record; in its first 600 bombing missions, only one was shot down, compared to
an average of 5% for RAF medium and heavy bombers. Erhard Milch personally
requested a purpose-built German answer, and selected the 154. Infighting within
German circles started almost immediately, because the RLM and night fighter
units — as well as Ernst Heinkel himself — still wanted the Heinkel He 219.
Milch took this personally, and spent the better part of the next two years
trying to have the 219 program terminated, partly against Ernst Heinkel's
wishes.


Role
Night Fighter

Manufacturer
Focke-Wulf

Designer
Kurt Tank

First flight
1 July 1943

Primary user
Luftwaffe

Variants
Focke-Wulf Ta 254

Development of the Ta 154 was already well advanced, and the first prototype V1
with Jumo 211F engines, bearing the Stammkennzeichen identification code TE+FE,
made its maiden flight on July 1, 1943. It was followed by V2 with Jumo 211N
engines, which was kept at the factory for handling trials. V1 was then sent to
Rechlin-Lärz Airfield for fly-off testing against the He 219A and the new
Junkers Ju 388. There the 154 reached almost 700 km/h (440 mph) and easily
outflew the other two aircraft, but those were both fully armed and equipped
with radar.

The first armed example of the Ta 154 was the V3 prototype, which was also the
first to fit the Jumo 211R engines. The added weight of the guns and drag of the
32-dipole element Matratze radar antennas used on its UHF-band FuG 212 C-1
Lichtenstein radar unit slowed the aircraft by a full 75 km/h, although it was
still somewhat faster than the He 219. The rest of the 15 prototypes were then
delivered as A-0 models, identical to the V3. Some of these also included a
raised canopy for better vision to the rear.

By June 1944, the Jumo 213 was finally arriving in some numbers, and a
production run of 154 A-1s was completed with these engines. Just prior to
delivery the only factory making Tego-Film, in Wuppertal, was bombed out by the
Royal Air Force, and the plywood glue had to be replaced by one that was not as
strong, and was later found to react chemically, apparently in a corrosive
manner, with the wood in the Ta 154's structure. In July, several A-1s crashed
with wing failure due to plywood delamination. This same problem also critically
affected the Heinkel He 162 Spatz, Ernst Heinkel's "Volksjäger" jet fighter
program entry.

Tank halted production in August, and the RLM eventually cancelled the entire
project in September (Milch had been removed by then). At that time about 50
production aircraft had been completed, and a number of the A-0 preproduction
aircraft were later modified to production standard. An unknown number of the
aircraft served with Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, and a few were later used as
training aircraft for jet pilots.

Specifications (Ta 154 A-1)

General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 12.45 m (40 ft 10 in) (without radar antennae)
Wingspan: 16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Height: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 32.4 m2 (349 sq ft)
Empty weight: 6,600 kg (14,551 lb)
Gross weight: 8,930 kg (19,687 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 9,550 kg (21,054 lb)
Fuel capacity: 1,500 l (400 US gal; 330 imp gal) in two fuselage tanks
Powerplant: 2 × Junkers Jumo 213E V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engines for
take-off
984 kW (1,320 hp) at 10,000 m (33,000 ft)Propellers: 2-bladed Junkers VS-9
wooden constant-speed propellers

Performance
Maximum speed: 650 km (400 mph, 350 kn) at 7,090 m (23,260 ft)
534 km/h (332 mph; 288 kn) at sea levelRange: 1,365 km (848 mi, 737 nmi) at
7,000 m (23,000 ft)
1,860 km (1,160 mi; 1,000 nmi) with two 300 l (79 US gal; 66 imp gal)Service
ceiling: 10,900 m (35,800 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 8,000 m (26,000 ft) in 14 minutes 30 seconds

Armament

Guns: ** 2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/20 cannon 200 rpg. 2 × 30 mm (1.181 in)
nose-mounted MK 108 cannon 110 rpg.
(Ta 154C + 2 × fuselage-mounted Schräge Musik 20 mm (0.787 in) MK 108 cannon)


Avionics
variously:-
FuG 218 Neptun radar
FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1
FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2
FuG 350 Naxos Z H2S detector
Revi 16B gunsight
FuG 10P HF comms
FuG 16ZY VHF radio
FuG 25a IFF
FuG 101a radio altimeter
FuBl 2 blind approach receiver
PeGe 6 radio compass





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