Focke-Wulf Fw 187 Falke

The Focke-Wulf Fw 187 Falke, the Falcon, was a German aircraft designed in 1935 and conceived by Kurt Tank as a twin-engine, high-performance fighter. Tank proposed it as a long-range single-seat fighter built as a private venture within Focke-Wulf, but the Air Ministry saw no role for it, judging it an intermediate type between the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Bf 110. Later prototypes were adapted to two seats to compete with the Bf 110 in the heavy fighter role. The first prototype flew in late spring 1937 with Hans Sander at the controls, and in October 1939 the V6 reached 634 km/h in level flight, the fastest fighter in Germany at the time. Only nine aircraft were built in total.