After having read and been delighted by Crecy's previous books in their 'Complete History' line, along comes this one on the Condor. Like many of you, I've always liked the FW-200. Despite having all that 'war stuff' tacked onto the airframe, it is still a very nice looking aircraft and one that has delighted both modelers and aircraft buffs alike for decades. It is probably one of the few purpose built airliners that has successfully been transferred over to the world of bomber aircraft. While Douglas tried to do the B-18 and B-23 on the DC-2/3, in both cases, these planes had very different fuselages.

Briefly, the FW-200 was originally developed as a long range airliner by Focke-Wulf after their chief designer, Kurt Tank, had discussions with the state airline, Deutsch-Luft Hansa (DLH) about building them a world class airliner. It was to be four engines, provide comfortable accommodations for about two dozen passengers, and have the range to allow it to reach the United States via the great circle route through Iceland, Greenland, Canada and then on to New York. As range was a major concern, the aircraft was built more lightly than would a standard military aircraft. This was to plague the aircraft in military service as the additional weight of more fuel and all that defensive equipment as well as bomb load resulted in an aircraft that could break in two behind the wings if it suffered a hard landing.

Despite this, the dream of DLH to open trans-Atlantic service to the US was rebuffed by the US who refused to give the aircraft landing rights in the US except at New York and then only for a small number of flights per year. In the end, only a test flight was made to New York before war took over and put to past any hopes of any regularly scheduled US flights. Though not a success as an airliner, several were sold to both Denmark and Brazil. Japan had also shown interest in the type, with one aircraft making the long flight to demonstrate the aircraft. It was lost due to the inexperience of a crewman on the way back and no Condor was actually used by the Japanese.

It was the start of the war and the realization that a long range reconnaissance aircraft was needed that brought the Condor to the attention of the Luftwaffe. Most of the airliner aircraft were impressed into Luftwaffe service at the start of the conflict and included several that were used for VIP transport for Hitler and some of his cronies. Focke-Wulf was able to provide a military version of the FW-200 in a remarkably short period of time. Modified airliners fitted with recce gear were in service and used by mid 1940 with purpose built patrol planes entering service within a year of that.

In this book by the late Jerry Scutts, the entire history of the Condor is provided. It starts with the initial plans, design and development of the airliner versions along with their use and eventual fate. There is then a section on the different variants of the FW-200, followed by the core of the book, a monthly diary of the operational use of the Condor until the end of the war and even after. For appendices, there is a timeline of service with various units and movement, specifications on the different variants, camouflage and markings, and a section on FW-200 losses. Throughout there are a myriad of period photos and drawings, some of them in color. A section of color three views and profiles is also provided.

Besides being a great read, this is also a good book to use for research and reference. In all, an excellent reference book that I know you will find as useful as have I. A book that seriously deserves a space on your library shelf and one that I can easily recommend to you.

October 2010

Review book courtesy of Specialty Press , where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and modeling books. Visit their website at the link above or call them at 1-800-895-4585

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