Indeed it will … but you’ll have to wait until next year for Volume II !
Interesting photo… I was on that photo-flight, and am wondering if this is one of my photos, as it looks very familiar. Just curious, but who is credited with the image?
Cheers,
Richard
German WW2 helos:
Fletner 282: frst flight 1941; intermeshing rotor configuration (think Kaman HH-43 Husky)
By 1943 over 20 B-1 models were in service in the Baltic, Mediterranean and Aegean. Their roles included ferrying items between ships and reconnaissance. However, as the war progressed, the Luftwaffe began considering converting the Fl 282 for battlefield use. Until this time the craft had been flown by a single pilot, but now a position for an observer was added at the very rear of the craft, resulting in the B-2 version. The B-2 proved a useful artillery spotting aircraft and an observation unit was established in 1944 comprising three Fl 282 and three Fa 223 helicopters.
In 1944 the German Air Ministry issued a contract to BMW to produce 1,000 units. However, the company’s Munich plant was destroyed by Allied bombing raids after producing just 24 machines.
Towards the end of World War II most of the surviving Fl 282s were stationed at Rangsdorf, in their role as artillery spotters, but gradually fell victim to Soviet fighters and anti-aircraft fire.
pic during US trials of captured example:
Focke-Achgelis Fa-223: first flight 1940
Although the Fa 223 could maintain a top speed of up to 175 km/h (109 mph), speeds as high as 182 km/h (113 mph) were recorded, and altitudes of up to 7,100 m (23,300 ft) {in ground effect}. The Drache could transport cargo loads of over 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) at cruising speeds of 121 km/h (75 mph) and altitudes approaching 2,440 m (8,010 ft).
Two of the 20 built were seized by the US, but one of these was given to the RAF. The US intended to ferry captured aircraft back to the USA aboard a ship, but only had room for one of the captured Draches.
The RAF objected to plans to destroy the other, the V14, so Helmut Gerstenhauer (FA-223 pilot since early 1944, when he recovered the dismantled wreckage of a Do-217 & another Fa-223 from a mountain using V14 with the parts slung underneath the fuselage), with two observers, flew it across the English Channel from Cherbourg to RAF Beaulieu on 6 September 1945, the first crossing of the Channel by a helicopter.
The V14 later made two successful test flights at RAF Beaulieu before being destroyed on 3 October, when a driveshaft failed. The accident was thought to be due to a failure to correctly tension the steel cables which secured the engine, despite warnings from Gerstenhauer.
WOW… that’s a big beasty! It could carry an immense payload for the time too… never heard of it before. Too bad none survive today.
Thanks for posting!
Cheers,
Richard
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