Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito

The Focke-wulf Aircraft Design Firm conceptualized The Ta 154 Moskito (“Mosquito”) and delivered its prototypes to the German Air Ministry around August 1942. Because of some production issues, the Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito got derailed. Only 10 aircrafts were produced and proved to have less impressive performance than the prototypes. Its design was amongst the first aircrafts which were classified as the night fighters. The reason Ta154 was developed was the invulnerability of the Night Bombers and their terror which had reigned for a long time.

The airframe was made of plywood bonded with special glue called Tego-Film, a quite unusual feature for a German frontline aircraft. This kind of glue usually caused some damage to nearby wood. Metal was used mainly in the pressurized cockpit only. The twin-engine fielded with Junkers Jumo 211F 12-cylinder inverted-Vee liquid-cooled engines were mounted in nacelles on the wing leading edges. They drove three-blade constant-speed propellers. The fuselage consists of a single rudder element in the tail section. The landing gear assembly used retractable tricycle landing gear. A pilot and a radio-operator to his rear were the only crew; the aircraft was capable of carrying. With twin 30mm MK108 cannons and twin 20mm MG151 cannons mounted on either side of the fuselage, made the armament not only impressive but the addition of a single 30mm cannon in the upper part of the fuselage of the MK108 variety made it tough to beat.

There was just one production plant for suitable glue, which was destroyed by a bombing raid. This was the main reason which hindered further production. The production was cancelled after 8 prototypes and 7 pre-serial planes. The bow-wheel landing gear, which caused crashes which was another reason.

At least two German air groups operated this aircraft albeit in a severely limited capacity. Mosquito could have been historic had Germany been victorious which didn’t prove to be.

SPECIFICATIONS