Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito

The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito was a fast twin-engined night fighter aircraft designed by the German aeronautical engineer Kurt Tank and produced by the aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf. It was unofficially named Moskito due to its similarities with the de Havilland Mosquito (which was also largely made of wood) that were already in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF).

This requirement was received by the German aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf, who quickly decided to undertake work towards fulfilling it. The material composition of the basic design included approximately 57 per cent wood, 30 per cent steel, and 13 per cent duralumin. Both single-seat and twin-seat variants were proposed at a relatively early stage. It had a stepped cockpit canopy, the windscreen of which was composed of armoured glass; an additional 150 kg of armour was strategically distributed around the cockpit to protect its occupant(s). Dependent upon the variant, the cockpit contained a single pilot and a radio/radar operator, the latter just aft of the former.

By 14 October 1942, the basic calculations were complete; layout drawings were completed five days later. Erhard Milch personally requested a purpose-built German answer, and selected the Ta 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 He 219 program terminated, partly against Ernst Heinkel's wishes.

During the aircraft's development, it became apparent that the most suitable engine to power the Ta 154 was the more powerful Jumo 213, and that Junkers could not deliver the originally-desired Jumo 211R engine on schedule due to technical and production difficulties.

Into flight and production issues

thumb|Focke-Wulf Ta 154 V2

On 1 July 1943, the prototype Ta 154 V1, which was outfitted with Jumo 211F engines and bore the Stammkennzeichen identification code TE+FE, performed its maiden flight in the hands of Kurt Tank. By June 1944, the Jumo 213 was finally arriving in some numbers, permitting the completion of several Ta 154 A-1s with these engines.

However, the Ta 154 received a fatal blow when the only factory that produced Tego-Film, in Wuppertal, was bombed out by the RAF, and the plywood glue had to be replaced by an alternative. and a number of the A-0 preproduction aircraft were later modified to production standard.

It was hoped that this flying bomb system would tear large holes in the Anglo-American bomber streams at little cost to the Luftwaffe in terms of pilot casualties. The six Ta 154A-2/U3 'Bomb Moskitos were completed at the Focke-Wulf plant near Poznań shortly before the occupation of the area by the Red Army, but were not used in combat. Their ultimate fate is unknown, though it is likely they were destroyed by the plant's staff to prevent them being captured. One Ta 154 Mistel scheme, reportedly designated Mistel 7, envisaged a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 'mother aircraft' mounted on struts above an unmanned Bomb Moskito. Takeoff would be effected via a sturdy three-wheeled trolley of the same type designed for the abandoned A-series of the Arado Ar 234 jet reconnaissance bomber. The trolley would be jettisoned after takeoff, leaving the Mistel Moskito to fly to its target with all three engines running. The combination would formate above an Allied bomber stream before the 190 pilot released the Bomb Moskito, which would then hopefully crash straight into a bomber with massively destructive effect. A related scheme would see a standard Ta 154 towing a Bomb Moskito behind it into the middle of a bomber stream, whereupon release and detonation would be initiated by the manned Ta 154's pilot.

Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito

Into flight and production issues

Specifications (Ta 154 A-1)

See also

References

Citation

Bibliography

Further reading

External links