FOCKE-WULF FW 44

Flight Journal, Feb 2004 by Meal, Xavier

KURT TANK IS BEST KNOWN as the father of the Butcher Bird, the famous Fw 190 WW Il fighter. But the German engineer started in aviation by designing a more sedate bird-the Goldfinch, or Stieglitz to the German pilots.

After his first employer, Albatros-Flugzeugwerke, merged with Focke in 1931, Tank started to work on a sport tandem, two-seat biplane design following specifications given by such famous German pilots as Ernst Udet, Gerd Achgelis and Emil Kropf. The new baby bird, designated Fw 44, was first flown in September 1932 and was powered by a 150hp sevencylinder radial SH 14 Siemens engine.

On June 9 and 10,1934, during the first ever World Aerobatic Championship organized by Aero Club de France in Vincennes, near Paris, Gerd Achgelis finished a respectable third with his Fw 44 behind Michel Detroyat and Gerhard Fieseier. Then in 1936, Otto von Hagenburg, flying an Fw 44, won the gold at an international aerobatic competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games in Berlin. The Fw 44 quickly turned out to be Focke-Wulf's first commercial success.

The Luftwaffe used the Fw 44C-the final version-almost universally as a trainer during WWII. This one, number 2782, was built under license in April 1940 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, for the Norwegian Air Force. But as Germany invaded Norway, it went to the Finnish Air Force with 35 other Fw 44s. It was used as a trainer near Helsinki until it was withdrawn from service in July 1960. After being auctioned, it became a civilian plane as OH-SZF and flew until 1969.

Famous French vintage-plane guru Jean Salis bought it as a project in 1986, and during the next 15 years, Gerard Marchadier, Marcel Bellencontre and Richard Broggio restored it in their spare time. After restoration, it flew again in May 2002 and was subsequently bought by Jean-Marie Tawil, who had it painted to his taste, although not in an accurate, historic scheme.

- Text and photos by Xavier Meal