World War II AircraftThe Focke-Wulf FW200 C-5 Condor was designed by Kurt Tank and originally developed as a long-range airliner for Lufthansa; the type set several pre-war records; including the first non-stop flight from Berlin to New York in 1938. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime patrol bomber and the Luftwaffe's need for a similar aircraft led to military versions that saw service in the role despite inherent weaknesses that caused several to break in half behind the wings on landing; designed for higher-altitude civilian cruising; low-level operation with heavy warloads of bombs (up to a normal total of 2;200 lb) and defensive armament of up to eight machine guns and cannon was more than the fuselage structure could really cope with. It achieved sufficient success attacking Allied merchant shipping until mid-1941 to be described as 'the Scourge of the Atlantic' by Winston Churchill; but increasingly effective defences including fighters flown from Catapult Armed Merchant Ships (and; later; escort carriers) combined with the increasing use of the Bv138 flying boat in the patrol-bomber role to cause the Condor to be used more for finding and reporting the location of Allied convoys for subsequent attack by other types such as the Heinkel He111 and Ju 88. The C-5 was adapted to carry the Hs 293 guided bomb in 1943 and the last variant was the C-8. Maximum speed was 240 mph at 15;700 feet; range was 2;210 miles at 200 mph at 13;000 feet; endurance was 14 hours and service ceiling was 20;000 feet. Production of all versions totalled 276.Illustration (Tim Brown); 2019.