BERNHARD C.F. KLEIN MEMORIAL COLLECTION
No. 10913. Focke-Wulf Fw 200 S-1 (D-ACON c/n 2000) Lufthansa "Brandenburg"
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Focke-Wulf Fw 200 S-1

10/31/2011. While series production of the airliner was being established, the Condor had undertaken a series of long-distance publicity flights, the first of these, from Berlin to Cairo with one intermediate stop at Salonica, being flown by the Fw 200 V4 (V = Versuchsflugzeug, test aircraft) (D-ADHR) on June 27, 1938.

A further long-distance flight began on August 10, 1938, when the first prototype took off for a non-stop flight from Berlin to New York. For this flight the Fw 200 V1 D-AERE Saarland was redesignated Fw 200 S-1 (S = sonder, special), reregistered D-ACON and renamed Brandenburg.

The aircraft covered the 4,075 mls (6,558 km) against strong headwinds in 24 hr 55 min at an average speed of 164 mph (264 kmh). The return journey was effected in 19 hr 47 min at an average speed of 205 mph (330 kmh) over a slightly more southerly route, arriving at Berlin on August 13, 1938.

On November 28, 1938, the Fw 200 S-1 D-ACON took off for Tokyo, Japan, stopping at Basra in Iraq, Karachi in Pakistan, and Hanoi in Vietnam for refueling, and arriving at the Japanese capital in slightly less than 48 hours elapsed time of which 42 hr 18 min was spent in the air. On the return flight, however, a fuel shortage resulted in the aircraft being ditched in shallow water off Manila, Philippines.

Created October 31, 2011