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Germany's Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito ("mosquito") night fighter¹

Focke-Wulf Ta 154A Moskito night fighter¹:
Germany's Focke-Wulf Ta 154A Moskito night fighter

Design

The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 was inspired by the British Mosquito.¹ To save on strategic materials the Ta 154 was primarily made out of wood.¹ A specification was put forth in September 1942 for a night and all weather fighter.¹

Prototype

The first prototype flew on July 7, 1943.¹ It had Jumo 211F engines (1,480 HP).¹

Production

An order for 250 Ta 154s was placed in November 1943.¹

Manufacturing was to be based in Poznan, Poland.¹ Many subcontractors were to be used.¹

Prototypes: 3¹
Ta 154A-0: 22¹
Ta 154A-1 through Ta 154A-4: ~50¹
Total: ~75¹

Variants

Ta 154A-0: Preproduction.¹ Some were converted to Mistel ("flying bombs") that would have a Fw 190 guide it to the target.¹
Ta 154A-1: Production model.¹ Had FuG 212 radar.¹
Ta 154A-2: Single crew.¹
Ta 154A-3: Trainer.¹
Ta 154A-4: Had FuG 220 or FuG 218 radar.¹

Usage

In June 1944 the 2nd production model came apart in a high speed flight.¹ There was too high of an acid content in the glue that was used to bond the wood.¹ In August 1944 it was decided to cancel the aircraft as it would take to long to solve the glue problem.¹

There were two night fighter groups that were equipped with the Ta 154.¹

	Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito¹	Focke-Wulf Ta 154A-1 Moskito¹
Type	Night fighter¹
Crew	2¹
Engine (Type)	2: Junkers Jumo 213E¹
Cylinders	V 12¹
Cooling
HP	1,750 each¹
Propeller blades	3 each¹
Dimensions
Span	52' 6"¹ 16 m¹
Length	41' 3"¹ 12.57 m¹
Height	11' 10"¹ 3.61 m¹
Wing area
Weight
Empty		13,933 lb¹ 6,320 kg¹
Loaded		19,842 lb¹ 9,000 kg¹
Performance
Speed at sea level		332 mph¹ 534 kph¹
Speed @ 26,247' / 8,000 m		399 mph¹ 642 kph¹
Climb to 26,245' / 8,000 m		14.5 minutes¹
Service ceiling		35,760'¹ 10,900 m¹
Range		855 miles¹ 1,376 km¹
Range with drop tanks		1,156 miles¹ 1,860 km¹
Armament	2: 20 mm¹ 2: 30 mm¹

Sources:

Aircraft of WWII, Stewart Wilson, 1998