The Focke-Wulf A 36 was built to a Luft Hansa specification for a fast mailplane. Focke-Wulf made the double mistake to combine a thick fuselage with a high lift wing. Equipped with a 450 HP P&W Hornet, the A 36 prototype, originally named "Brieftaube" (carrier pigeon), couldn´t exceed 218 kph and quicky earned the nickname "Mastgans" (stuffed goose). Focke-Wulf tried to improve the wing section by fairing over the wing´s undercamber(!), thereby turning the concave lower surface of the wing into a convex one. This raised the top speed to 236 kph, still far below the specified speed of 260 kph. In the end, Luft Hansa bought the plane but never put it into service. Presumably the plane never carried it´s registration markings.
Wind tunnel model tested at Göppingen
| Type |
2-seat mail carrier |
| Engine |
1 Pratt & Whitney Hornet with a 2-bladed Standard-Steel-Mk 2 propeller |
| Dimensions |
Length 10.30 m, height 4.00 m, span 14.00 m, wing area 28.00 m2, aspect ratio 7.0 |
| Weights |
Empty 1280 kg, fuel 420 kg, oil63 kg, crew 160 kg, freightload 477 kg, flying weight 2400 kg |
| Performance |
Max. speed 260 km/h, cruising speed 220 km/h, climb to 1000 m 4.0 m, service ceiling 5000 m, range 1600 km, landing speed 100 km/h |
| Type |
Werk.Nr |
Registration |
History |
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Designed as an mail carrier testing was initiated in late 1931. Used for a short period by the Lufthansa ? |
