Focke-Wulf Ta 152 - Design and Development

Design and Development

Due to the difficulties German interceptors were having when battling American heavy bombers at altitudes above 20,000 feet, and in light of rumors of new B-29 bombers with better altitude capabilities, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Air Ministry, or "RLM") requested proposals from both Focke-Wulf and Messerschmitt for a high-altitude interceptor. Messerschmitt answered with the Bf 109H, and Focke-Wulf with the Fw 190 Raffat-1, or Ra-1 (fighter), Ra-2 (high altitude fighter) and Ra-3 (ground-attack aircraft).

These designs developed into the Fw 190 V20 (Ta 152A), V30 (Ta 152H) and V21 (Ta 152B) prototypes, all based on the then successful Fw 190 D-9 but with varying degrees of improvement. The V20 used the same Jumo 213E engine as the Fw 190 D-9, while the V21 used the DB 603E. Neither of these offered any significant improvement over the Fw 190 D-9, and so further development of the Ta 152A and B was cancelled. The V21 airframe, however, was further modified as the V21/U1 and became the prototype for the Ta 152C.

Kurt Tank originally designed the Ta 152 using the Daimler-Benz DB 603 engine as it offered better high-altitude performance and also a greater developmental potential. The DB 603 had been used in the Fw 190C with many problems and was considered too difficult to implement in the Ta 152 by RLM officials. With this in mind, Tank focused his efforts on the Junkers Jumo 213E as the Ta 152H's power plant. However, he insisted that the Daimler-Benz DB 603 be retained for the Ta 152C versions and as an option for later versions of the Ta 152H.

The Ta 152's fuselage was an extended version of the Fw 190 D-9 fuselage with wider-chord fixed vertical tail surfaces (especially the top half), and hydraulic rather than electrically-controlled undercarriage and flaps. Due to the changes in the center of gravity and overall balance, the nose was also lengthened. Wingspan was changed from the Fw 190's 10.51 m (34 ft 5 in) for both versions. The H had a span of 14.44 m (48 ft 6 in) and the C a wingspan of 11.00 m (36 ft 1 in).

The Ta 152 also featured the FuG 16ZY and FuG 25a radio equipment (some aircraft were issued with FuG 125 Hermine D/F for navigation and blind landing, LGW-Siemens K 23 autopilot, and a heated armorglass windscreen for bad-weather operations).

Fuel capacity was 595 L (157 US gal) for the H-0 model, with the option of a 300 L (80 US gal) drop tank on the centerline. The H-1 model carried an additional 454 L (120 US gal) of fuel in six unprotected bag tanks in the wings; typically, one of these tanks was used to hold the MW 50 methanol-water mixture and another for GM-1 nitrous oxide. The H-1 could also carry a 300 L (80 US gal) underbelly drop tank.