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Old 28th July 2019, 11:14
INM@RLM INM@RLM is offline
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INM@RLM will become famous soon enoughINM@RLM will become famous soon enough
Re: Fw 200 C-5, the invisible sub-type? A review of published and documentary sources.

A pleasure, Martin.

One caveat on AIR 40/154 at TNA. Although rich in sub-type information on the C-1 & C-2 it is barren as to material on the individual identities of these sixteen aircraft.

Also in AIR 40/254 I found only a single C-1/-2 snippet: one photograph of the wreckage of C-1, W.Nr. 0003 crash-landed at Moura on 08-Feb-41 (without any surviving commentary or context on this file). However, we can be sure of the identity because you can see the exact same trees in the background of another photo of this wreck printed at the foot of Goss Classic p.38.

And that is all I found, but a second careful look by you might turn up something more. If you contact me at inm.at.rlm@gmail.com I'll happily share with you what I have.

At the level where you are working my only two contributions are these:

the apparent conundrum that only W.Nr. 0008, 0012 & 0014 were still recorded in the Änderunsanweisung as surviving in service by 18-Aug-41, yet there are two later reports of damage apparently relating to C-1, W.Nr. 0013: 25% on 08-Jul-42 at Orleans-Bricy with IV./KG 40 and 40% on 08-Dec-42 at Vaernes with 12./KG 40.
So perhaps my picture is too simplistic and a few Change Notices were deliberately restricted to aircraft still in service with operational units? Or was this a typo in the Fw 200 Änderungsanweisung Nr. 12 and it was W.Nr. 0013 that was meant instead of 0012? {A study of the Änderunsanweisungen for the Bf 109 shows many small inconsistencies between the W.Nr. ranges assigned to different sub-types in different Change Notices. Fortunately there are enough of those for the 109 to carefully pick out data that looks to be the most valid.}
You will have already picked up the point that although I wrote that W.Nr. 0008 was included in the list of survivors at 18-Aug-41, in fact this C-1 seems to have actually been lost on 15-Jun-41. What I had I missed was that this Änderunsanweisung was actually signed off on 23-May-41, so prior to the loss of 0008 in Jun-41, and it was only the distribution of the Change Note that was delayed until 18-Aug-41.

I have a suspicion that F8+EK, the C with Bramo 132 engines in the photos at: Goss Units p.33 and Goss Classic p.92 & top of p.93 is the second C-2, W.Nr. 0016 and that this aircraft was used as the Erprobungsträger for trialling the DL 15 turret in the A Stand (subsequently standardized for the Fw 200 C-3). So despite what is in the captions this aircraft was never a C-3 with BMW 132 H engines (!)
All these photos have been artfully posed to conceal the tail scoreboard markings, but there is just a smidgeon of one corner visible in the photos at Goss Units p.33 (engines stopped) and at Goss Classic p.92 top (engines running) and that for now is the very slim basis for my attribution.

Over to you.

Last edited by INM@RLM; 28th July 2019 at 16:56. Reason: 'orrible errors (Fafnir when BMW 132 was meant & May/Aug dates)
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