FS98 Focke-Wulf Fw 200-A Condor "Abaitara"
------------------------------------------ by Stephan Scholz, August 2012


Instructions:
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1) Unzip Abaitara.zip into a temporary directory.
2) Copy the folder "Abaitara" into the FS98 aircraft directory. The Aircraft will appear as "Focke-Wulf FW 200-A Condor "Abaitara"" in the aircraft index.

The real Focke Wulf FW 200-A Condor "Abaitara".
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The PP-CPI "Abaitara" was one of two Focke Wulf Fw200-A units sold to Syndicato Condor Ltda of Río de Janeiro in 1939.

Designed and built by Kurt Tank at Focke Wulf, Germany, in 1937, the Condor was a new generation of four-engined, long-distance transports, the first long-range passenger plane of all time. It had elegant, graceful lines and comfortably seated 26 passengers. The first prototype, renamed D_ACON "Brandenburg", set two long-range speed records in 1938: It covered the route from Berlin Tempelhof to New York Floyd Bennet non-stop and back with an average speed of 205 mph, twice the speed of typical landplanes of the time, and also flew to Tokyo with three stops in only 46 hours and 18 minutes. Unfortunately it ran out of fuel on the way back and was lost after an emergency landing in the sea opposite Manila Harbour.

The second prototype was delivered to DLH (Deutsche Lufthansa) and used as a civilian airliner, and the third prototype had a long career as D-2600 "Immelmann III", Hitler´s personal aircraft during WWII.

The Focke Wulf FW200-A Condor was powered by four 720 hp BMW 132G-1 radial engines (licence built Hornets). Nine pre-production units were built. Two were sold to DDL of Denmark and two to Syndicato Condor Ltda of Rio De Janerio, Brazil in 1939: ex-unit D-AMHL/D-ABOD "Pommern" as civil registration PP-CBI "Abaitara", and ex-unit D-ASBK "Holstein" as PP-CBJ "Arumani". Remaining units saw serice with DDL (Deutsche Lufthansa).

The Condor was designed for the Deutsche Lufthansa, as an airliner for a route to South America. It had a high aspect ratio, long-span wing, characteristic of long-range aircraft, and was named after the Condor bird, the high-altitude soarer of the Andes. Wings were equipped with split trailing edge landing flaps and fuel tanks. Its modern, flush-riveted light alloy construction aimed for maximum efficiency. With up to 1152 US Gallons of fuel the Condor was intended to fly 26 passengers over long distances, and demonstrated this with the two speed records it set in 1938. Unfortunately the outbreak of WW2 thwarted its very promising career, and further development led to military variants of only limited effectivity.

The Deutsche Technik Museum in Berlin, are at present undertaking the restoration of the wreck of a Fw 200 Condor recently recovered from a fjord in Norway, and expect to complete this work by 2025.

FW 200-A Condor Specifications:
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Crew: 4
Pax: 26
Length: 76 ft 11.5 in
Height: 20 ft 8 in
Span: 107 ft 8 in
Area: 1270 sq ft
MTOW: 32187 lb
Empty: 21364 lb
Power: 4x720 hp BMW 132G-1 radials
Fuel: 911 to 1152 USG

Performance data:
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Top speed: 197 kt 365 kph
Cruise: 181 kt 335 kph
Eco cruise: 172 kt 320 kph
Raise tail: 48 kt 90 kph
Take-off: 75 kt 140 kph
Approach: 86 kt 160 kph
Touchdown: 58 kt 107 kph
Stall clean: 64 kt 118 kph
Stall dirty: 60 kt 111 kph

Range: 2397 nm 4440 km
Rate of climb: 1582 ft/min 8 m/sec
Ceiling: 19700 ft 6000 m

The Virtual Focke Wulf FW 200-A
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Model:
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Built with Abacus Aircraft Factory 99 and Animated with Abacus Aircraft Animator. Parts count is at an appreciable 143.4 %, with a surprisingly low incidence of bleedthrough, thanks to the use of glue, templates and insignia, as well as convenient grouping of parts. Priority was given to the rounded shaping of the diverse elements such as engines and nacelles, and detailed landing gear, in detriment of niceties like a transparent flight deck/passenger cabin or a virtual cockpit, for which there were insufficient parts left over.

Note: The un-animated model will not load into FS98, and the virtual cockpit is not intended to be of any use.

Textures:
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The very fine textures for this aircraft have been expertly created by Udo Entenmann. Artwork includes detailed Logos of Syndicato Condor Ltda and Focke Wulf.

Flight Dynamics:
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The flight dynamics are a modification of the fine Paradise Air Tours DC-3 (Abacus "We Fly the World"), kindly supplied by Abacus together with AF99, and have been carefully adapted to the specifications and performance of the Focke Wulf FW200-A.

Simple three-fold checklists are supplied for take-off, general flight and approach/landing. Abaitara_CHECK.cfg is the checklist in knots (default) and Abaitara_metric_CHECK.cfg is the checklist in kilometres per hour. This can be changed from the aircraft.cfg file.

Sounds:
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Default C182 sounds, but large propliner sounds will be infinitely more adequate, as in Dave McQueen´s Super Constellation or in Matthias Jacob´s Douglas DC-3.

Panel:
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FSFSConv panel.Recip.rg.4, but the FW200-A panel by Michael Vader of Pegasus Aviation Design is of course the obvious choice.



Legal stuff:
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This aircraft is freeware, and cannot be sold. No responsibility is taken for any loss or damage incurred directly or indirectly from its use. The original unaltered aircraft files may be freely distributed, uploaded, downloaded and shared. Please maintain proper credit, of course, and make no financial gain whatsoever.
Enjoy!

Stephan Scholz
aleatorylamp@vfemail.net August 2012