Focke-Wulf Fw 200 A-0 Condor
This model is based on the superb Koster Vacuum-formed Fw 200 C-3 kit.
Dedicated to Mr. Guenther Georgs
The Fw 200 Condor, with its distinctive lines and unique history, presented a significant modelling challenge: converting the model of a warplane into a sleek airliner.
The project began with a photo-etched bulkhead designed to house the main wing spar, serving as the primary structural component. Two additional photo-etched bulkheads, placed fore and aft, created a robust, box-like structure that reinforced the thin but accurately molded vacuum-formed plastic. Every other component—including the cabin interior, flight deck, freight hold, engine nacelles, landing gear, and flaps—was scratch-built. Completed in 2019, the model depicts the aircraft in its A-0 configuration during the summer of 1938.
Historical Background
Fw 200 V2 D-AETA “WESTFALEN,” the second of two prototypes built between August 1936 and October 1937, may not have achieved the same renown as the first prototype, Fw 200 V1 D-AERE “BRANDENBURG” (later re-registered as D-ACON), with its record-breaking flight from Berlin to New York on August 11, 1938. However, D-AETA “WESTFALEN” played a vital role in demonstrating the aircraft's capabilities to potential clients during a promotional tour of the Baltic states, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands. On May 29, 1938, to celebrate the opening of Aalborg Airport in Denmark, with Siegfried Graf von Schack at the controls, D-AETA executed a complete loop—a feat unprecedented for an aircraft of its size. Similarly, on June 9, 1938, before landing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, von Schack performed a steep climb followed by a half-Immelmann maneuver, astonishing onlookers. These peacetime demonstrations came to an abrupt end in August 1939, when the aircraft was converted at Erprobungsstelle Rechlin (E-Stelle Rechlin) for long-range reconnaissance missions. On November 28, 1939, it was assigned to 1./KG 40 of the Luftwaffe and was ultimately destroyed in May 1940.
Recommended Reading: Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor with Danish Air Lines in War and Peace, 1938 - 1946. Rob J.M. Mulder & Guenther Ott, European Airlines, 2013
Presumably the roll-out of the second prototype Fw 200 V2 Condor in October 1937. The aircraft is in its initial configuration prior to its modification to A-0.
(Nationaal Archief - Netherlands via Airhistory.net Archive Photo ID: 301002)