Focke-Wulf Fw 47

Focke-Wulf Fw 47
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Type:	Weather plane
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Focke-Wulf
First flight:	1932
Production time:	1934-1939
Number of pieces:	35

The Focke-Wulf Fw 47 was a high- wing weather aircraft developed in the 1930s . Before the company abbreviation was changed, the name was A 47 . The machine was intended to replace the now outdated Focke-Wulf A 20 and A 35 used as weather planes . For this purpose, a high strength of the cell and good flight stability were required.

history

In September 1931, Focke-Wulf received the order to build a special aircraft for the weather service, as requested by Kurt Wegener . The prototype was completed in 1932, still under the designation A 47 , test pilot was Cornelius Edzard . At the end of November of the same year, after tests by the Reich Association of the German Aviation Industry , which took place in Travemünde from August , the machine was handed over to the Hamburg weather station, where it was regularly used successfully in the weather service from December. A series of nine machines of the improved A 47C version followed. Another eleven of the Fw 47D version (company name now Fw) were built, and an order for more than 20 machines followed. Between 1934 and 1936, they went to the meteorological offices in the Reich. They were supposed to be scrapped in 1944, but escaped it by being handed over to the glider groups as tow planes.

description

The Fw 47 was designed as a stripped high-decker in composite construction. It had a tubular steel lattice fuselage, the wings were made of wood. The fuselage and wings were covered with fabric. The high-decker had two open cockpits one behind the other. In the planned variant Fw 47B, a Roots blower was provided for the Argus-As-10C engine to improve altitude performance. However, the engine was not ready for series production.

The first production version, the Fw 47C, achieved a top speed of 190 km / h with an Argus AS 10C with 240 hp. A radio was installed next to the new engine and the rear cabin was equipped with a windshield. To increase the rate of descent and to shorten the long ascent distance, this variant also received airbrakes on the outer wings. This aircraft was known to meteorologists as the "Höhengeier".

The Fw 47D version received an even more powerful As 10 E Argus engine with 270 hp (approx. 200 kW). One machine received a skid-type chassis for use in snow. This variant also received improved equipment through a course control. A total of 35 machines were built of this variant.

Technical data (Fw 47C)

Parameter	Data (Fw 47C)
crew	2
length	10.55 m
span	17.75 m
height	3.04 m
Empty mass	1065 kg
Max. Takeoff mass	1580 kg
Engine	a hanging eight-cylinder V-engine Argus As 10 C with 240 PS (177 kW)
Top speed	190 km / h
Service ceiling	5000 m
Range	about 640 km

literature

• Wolfgang Wagner: Kurt Tank - designer and test pilot at Focke-Wulf. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1980, ISBN 3-7637-5271-4 ( Die Deutsche Luftfahrt 1).

Web links

• avia.russian.ee: Focke-Wulf Fw 47 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Focke-Wulf A 47. In: www.luftarchiv.de. Bert Hartmann, accessed on May 12, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Types of aircraft in the world. Bechtermünz Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-86047-593-2 , p. 421.