OneEighthBit Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 (edited) All, I've been reading a translated French document from 1940 that describes some Luftwaffe experiments with towed gliders. There are no pictures but there is an interesting description that I'd love to see if anyone can identify the aircraft types from. "The Jarhbuch des deutschen Luftfahrtforschung draws attention to the towing of a FOLKE WULF [sic] by a MUSTER HE 46 [sic] aircraft. the FOLKE WULF, with it's propeller removed and weighing 850kk was towed at a height of several thousand of metres..." I'm taking a guess that the tow aircraft was an Heinkel HE 46 though I'm not familiar with the "Muster" name. But what about the Focke Wulf? I'm not massively familiar with their range of products and services apart from the best sellers but give the year and 1940 date, and the weight, any thoughts which one it might be? Edited February 11, 2020 by OneEighthBit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 The weight indicated for the FW type is consistent with either the FW.44 or the FW.56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewerjerry Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Hi not sure but i think muster is german for type ? so maybe type HE-46 aircraft ? cheers jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tail-Dragon Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 According to a translation search, "Muster" is German for (among other things) 'Type' or 'Model'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudioN Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 11 hours ago, Giorgio N said: The weight indicated for the FW type is consistent with either the FW.44 or the FW.56 Good find! The Fw 44 is a biplane, the Fw 56 is a parasol monoplane. For a towed glider experiment, I'd think the latter. So, maybe a Heinkel He 46 towing a propeller-less Focke-Wulf Fw 56? Tried this on Google, but no joy. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 The 850 kg weight as for airplane without fuel (besides the lack of propeller) points to FW 56 more than to FW44, which had maximum take of weight of 885 kg. The FW 56 empty weight was 695 kg. J-W 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 24 minutes ago, ClaudioN said: Good find! The Fw 44 is a biplane, the Fw 56 is a parasol monoplane. For a towed glider experiment, I'd think the latter. So, maybe a Heinkel He 46 towing a propeller-less Focke-Wulf Fw 56? Tried this on Google, but no joy. I have found reference to a scientific paper dated 1938 describing some tests conducted by the same Luftfahrtforschung to determine the performance of the FW.56 with propeller removed. Wonder if these are related ? In any case the FW.56 seems to have been used for a large number of tests in those years. One of them was even used as "upper part" in the early Mistel tests 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneEighthBit Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 Thanks all for the great replies. I wrote the extract as written in the translated report do the capitialisation of MUSTER through me off. I think an HE 46 towing a FW.56 seems about the most likely candidate in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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