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39-641: Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG ( German pronunciation: [ˌfɔkəˈvʊlf] ) was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II . Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 . It is one of the predecessor companies of today's Airbus . The company was founded in Bremen on 24 October 1923 as Bremer Flugzeugbau AG by Prof. Henrich Focke , Georg Wulf and Dr. rer. pol. Werner Naumann . Almost immediately, they renamed

78-566: A conventional biplane with fabric covering. The Blohm Brothers had wanted a more radically advanced approach and, unhappy with Mewes, sought the advice of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM). On their recommendation the company offered the job of Chief Designer to Richard Vogt , who was then occupying that same position at Kawasaki in Japan and was experienced in all-metal construction. Vogt accepted and arrived during late autumn, while

117-547: A few miles away at Wenzendorf Aircraft Factory , opened in 1935. During this period the ruling Nazi party was massively increasing the interwar German re-armament program which included the complete overhaul of the aircraft industry. In particular, the Nazis wanted the technical capacities to quickly build large numbers of warplanes for the new Luftwaffe . As a result, the company took on subcontract manufacture of Junkers Ju 52 subassemblies, thus gaining valuable experience in

156-523: A financial crisis from lack of work. Its owners, brothers Rudolf and Walther Blohm , decided to diversify into aircraft manufacture, believing that there would soon be a market for all-metal, long-range flying boats , especially with the German state airline Deutsche Luft Hansa . They also felt that their experience with all-metal marine construction would prove an advantage. It was at that time commonly believed that transatlantic air transport would soon take over

195-488: A major stakeholder from Focke-Wulf A.G. and reconstitution followed resulting in the privatized company Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH. Focke-Wulf formally merged with Weserflug in 1964, becoming Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), which after several further mergers became the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS) . EADS was later renamed as Airbus SE . In early 2021 Focke Wulf Aircraft

234-505: A number of air-launched munitions such as glide bombs and torpedoes. Although the company built thousands of examples during development, none entered operational service. These were: Vogt proved a highly innovative designer and many of his projects gained interest within the German aero community. B&V explored several main themes of interest, each through a series of design projects and proposals. These included; large maritime aircraft " stuka " dive bomber / ground attack replacements for

273-408: A significant presence around the original HFB team and operates the airfield privately as Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport . Some of these types were still under construction when the company name was changed to B&V and flew only under the new name. But only those whose design and development continued under B&V were redesignated. Of these aircraft, few entered operational service and only one,

312-531: Is a German word for a corporation limited by share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders ) whose shares may be traded on a stock market . The term is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (where it is equivalent to a société anonyme or a società per azioni ) and South Tyrol for companies incorporated there. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent term is public limited company , and in

351-618: The Luftwaffe during World War II . Repeated bombing of Bremen in World War II resulted in the mass-production plants being moved to eastern Germany and General Government , with AGO Flugzeugwerke of Oschersleben as a major subcontractor for the Fw 190. Those plants used many foreign and forced labourers , and from 1944 also prisoners of war . Focke-Wulf's 100-acre (0.40 km) plant at Marienburg produced approximately half of all Fw 190s and

390-580: The BV 138 Seedrache (initiated as the Ha 138), a twin-boom trimotor , while the BV 222 Wiking was much larger. Largest of all was the BV 238 prototype, the largest aircraft built by any of the Axis powers . Other notable types include the asymmetric BV 141 tactical reconnaissance aircraft; 20 were built, but the type did not enter full production as the Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu was preferred. The intention at Finkenwerder

429-539: The BV 138 " Fliegende Holzschuh " (flying clog), attained serial production. All other aircraft either remained prototypes or were limited to a small number of pre-series/purpose build machines. Nevertheless, work was sufficient to require a second manufacturing plant at Finkenwerder. The largest aircraft ever designed and built by any of the Axis powers of World War II, the BV 238 , resembled an enlarged BV 222, with only one prototype aircraft built and flown. Besides aircraft, during World War II B&V also developed

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468-470: The Code of Obligations , Article 620. Article 950 specifies that the business name must indicate the legal form. German AGs have a "two-tiered board" structure, consisting of a supervisory board ( Aufsichtsrat ) and a management board ( Vorstand ). The supervisory board is generally controlled by shareholders, although employees may have seats, depending on the size of the company. The management board directly runs

507-528: The Entwicklungsring Nord (ERNO) to develop rockets. ITT Corporation , which had acquired a 25% stake in the company prior to the war, won $ 27 million in compensation in the 1960s for the damage that was inflicted on its share of the Focke-Wulf plant by WWII Allied bombing. Colonel Sosthenes Behn , Ludwig Roselius and Barbara Goette outfoxed Hitler in 1936 when he tried to have Roselius removed as

546-459: The Junkers Ju 87 , was recruited to be his deputy. Other notable projects of the later part of the war included a variety of highly original bomber and fighter designs, including a series of tailless swept-wing fighters which culminated in an order for three prototypes of the jet-powered P 215 night fighter, just weeks before the war ended. At the end of the war, all aircraft production in Germany

585-435: The Ha 135 was still under construction. For a while the company maintained two design teams in separate offices. The Ha 135 took off on its first flight on 28 April 1934. However it failed to attract any orders and Mewes and his team soon left the company. Vogt proved highly innovative and many of his designs would have unusual features, from the very first incorporating a tubular steel wing main spar which also doubled as

624-450: The US, but without success and Pohlmann returned to the company to become the new chief designer. Another significant recruit was Hans Wocke , who headed up the engineering team. As ever, the company's main work would turn out to be as subcontractor for various German – and increasingly European – aircraft projects, and to this end it would participate in a number of consortia. Its first contract

663-508: The United States, while the terms " incorporated " or "corporation" are typically used, technically the more precise equivalent term is " joint-stock company ." The German word Aktiengesellschaft is a compound noun made up of two elements: Aktien meaning an acting part or share , and Gesellschaft , meaning company or society. English translations include share company , or company limited by shares , or joint-stock company . In German,

702-643: The anticipated funding from the German government was not made available and the projects were cancelled in the early 1960s. In 1961, HFB and Focke-Wulf / Weserflug ( VFW-Fokker ) jointly formed the Entwicklungsring Nord (ERNO) to develop air and space products. Work would be carried out for the Dornier Do 31 V/STOL transport and, later, in direct collaboration on the Fokker F28 Fellowship . The only aircraft type to be both designed and built by

741-600: The board. Schröck recruited designer Reinhold Mewes away from Heinkel , and with four other designers, on 1 July they began work. The Hamburger Flugzeugbau GmBH officially came into being on 4 July. The company offices at first occupied the top floor of the B&;V administrative headquarters in the Steinwerder quarter of Hamburg, with manufacturing carried out in the under-utilised shipbuilding works. Meanwhile an inland airfield and final assembly building for landplanes were begun

780-592: The company Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG (later Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH). Focke-Wulf merged, under government pressure, with Albatros Flugzeugwerke of Berlin in 1931. The Albatros Flugzeugwerke engineer and test pilot Kurt Tank became head of the technical department and started work on the Fw 44 Stieglitz (Goldfinch). Dr Ludwig Roselius became Chairman in 1925 and handed over to his brother Friedrich in early 1933. In 1938 Roselius' HAG combine increased its shareholding to 46% and C. Lorenz AG secured 28%. The company

819-460: The company, but its members may be removed by the supervisory board, which also determines the management board's compensation. Some German AGs have management boards which determine their own remuneration, but that situation is now relatively uncommon. The general meeting is the supreme governing body of a Swiss company limited by shares. It elects the board of directors ( Verwaltungsrat in German ) and

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858-672: The driving force of Focke-Wulf. He and his closest collaborator, Barbara Goette , often met with technical director Professor Kurt Tank. When Roselius died in May 1943, Heinrich Puvogel (later chair of Focke-Wulf) raised 4 million RM and continued handling the financial affairs of Focke-Wulf as chief of Seehandel A.G. Hanna Reitsch demonstrated the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 , the first fully controllable helicopter (as opposed to autogyro ), in Berlin in 1938. The four-engined Fw 200 airliner flew nonstop between Berlin and New York City on 10 August 1938, making

897-496: The external auditors. The board of directors may appoint and dismiss persons entrusted with managing and representing the company. The equivalent terms in other countries include the following, which mostly mean literally either "share company/society" or "anonymous company/society". Hamburger Flugzeugbau In 1933 the Blohm & Voss shipbuilding company in Hamburg was suffering

936-477: The fuel tank. He oversaw all the remaining types, until the company's closure in 1945. In May 1934 Vogt's team was joined by Hans Amtmann , coming like Mewes from Heinkel and bringing to the team his experience of large flying boats. Amtmann made a good impression and was soon appointed Head of Preliminary Design. Other members included Richard Schubert as Head of Aerodynamics and George Haag as head of wing design. The only type to enter service during this period

975-467: The journey in 24 hours and 56 minutes. It was the first aircraft to fly that route without stopping. The return trip on 13 August 1938, took 19 hours and 47 minutes. These flights are commemorated with a plaque in the Böttcherstraße street of Bremen . The Fw 190 Würger (Shrike/butcher-bird), designed from 1938 on, and produced in quantity from early 1941–1945, was a mainstay single-seat fighter for

1014-516: The manufacture of all-metal aircraft. The bulk of the company's output would eventually turn out to be contract manufacturing of this kind, including many thousands of aircraft each for Dornier , Focke-Wulf , Heinkel , Junkers , and Messerschmitt . The company's own designs were designated with the official RLM company code "Ha". The first to be built was the Ha 135 . Mewes was unfamiliar with advanced techniques such as all-metal construction and designed

1053-515: The new HFB was the HFB 320 Hansa Jet , a business jet with forward-swept wings, which first flew in 1964 and was made in moderate numbers. In May 1969, HFB merged with Messerschmitt - Bölkow to form Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB), which in turn was taken over by Deutsche Aerospace (DASA) in September 1989. DASA has since been absorbed into the pan-European Airbus corporation. Airbus has since built

1092-682: The public of the limits on their liability , all German (required by § 4 Aktiengesetz ) and Austrian stock corporations include Aktiengesellschaft or AG as part of their name, frequently as a suffix. In Switzerland, the Company Limited by Shares ( Aktiengesellschaft in German , société anonyme in French , società anonima in Italian , societad anonima in Romansh ) is defined in Title Twenty-Six of

1131-493: The role filled by the luxury liners of that time. It was also thought that those planes would be seaplanes and flying boats as they could use the infrastructure and capacity of the seaports already in place, while land facilities at that time were unsuited to such large aeroplanes. In June 1933 the Blohm brothers appointed their brother-in-law and fellow B&V director Dipl-Ing Max Andreae and experienced aviator Robert Schröck to

1170-451: The shipbuilding work revived and production capacity fully utilised again, B&V moved its aircraft subsidiary, including both offices and seaplane manufacturing, to a purpose-built site on the shores of the river Elbe , at Finkenwerder . The most significant types to be produced were flying boats, mainly used by the Luftwaffe for maritime patrol and reconnaissance. Most numerous was

1209-683: The use of the term Aktien for shares is restricted to Aktiengesellschaften . Shares in other types of German companies (e.g., GmbH or a cooperative ) are called Anteile (parts-of) rather than Aktien . In Germany and Austria, the legal basis of the AG is the German Aktiengesetz (abbr. AktG; "shares law") or the Austrian Aktiengesetz (abbr. AktG). Since the German commercial law (§ 19 Handelsgesetzbuch ) requires all corporations to specify their legal form in their name, in order to inform

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1248-655: Was bombed by the Eighth Air Force on 9 October 1943. Many Focke-Wulf workers, including Kurt Tank , worked at the Instituto Aerotécnico in Córdoba, Argentina between 1947 and 1955. Others, like Henrich Focke , went to Brazil's Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, helping Brazil's effort to build Embraer . Focke-Wulf began to make gliders in 1951, and in 1955, motorised planes. Focke-Wulf, Weserflug and Hamburger Flugzeugbau joined forces in 1961 to form

1287-463: Was causing confusion, so in September 1937 Hamburger Flugzeugbau was renamed Abteilung Flugzeugbau der Schiffswerft Blohm & Voss ("Aircraft manufacturing division of Blohm & Voss shipbuilder"). The RLM changed the official aircraft type designation code to "BV". Some designs already under development as Ha types were reassigned a BV designation, for example the Ha 138 became the BV 138. In 1939, with

1326-563: Was for fuselage manufacture and final assembly of the Nord Noratlas . Other significant work would be undertaken for the Luftwaffe's Lockheed F-104G Starfighter and as a partner in the Transall C-160 military transport. In 1958 HFB proposed two civil transport projects. The HFB 209 was a twin-turpoprop capable of carrying 48 passengers, while the HFB 314 was a short-haul twin-jet. But

1365-568: Was re-registered as a trademark across the EU, the UK and Australia as a retailer of aviation watches and associated official Focke Wulf merchandise. In alphabetical order: Note: Official RLM designations had the prefix "8-", but this was usually dropped and replaced with the manufacturer's prefix. Aktiengesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft ( German pronunciation: [ˈaktsi̯ənɡəˌzɛlʃaft] ; abbreviated AG , pronounced [aːˈgeː] )

1404-565: Was reconstituted as Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH and no longer had to publish its accounts. A substantial capital injection occurred at this time. In August 1933 Hans Holle and Rudolf Schubert were given power of attorney over the Berlin branch of Focke-Wulf. Then in October 1933, Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau A.G. Albatros Berlin was officially registered with the Department of Trade. Dr Roselius always remained

1443-500: Was shut down. Vogt and Amtmann were swept up by the American Operation Paperclip and made new careers over there. Pohlmann remained in Germany. In 1955 Germany was allowed to build civil aircraft once again. The main works at Finkenwerder was still there and Hamburger Flugzeugbau GmbH (HFB) re-emerged in 1956, still under the ownership of Walther Blohm but no longer connected to B+V. Blohm tried to tempt Vogt back from

1482-423: Was the Ha 139 long-range seaplane mail carrier. Despite its size, with four engines, it was designed to be launched from a shipborne catapult to help extend its range, and was successfully operated in small numbers by Deutsche Luft Hansa . A landplane variant, the Ha 142 , was also built for the airline. The aircraft produced by Hamburger Flugzeugbau were still commonly associated with Blohm & Voss and this

1521-547: Was to manufacture B&V's own products there, but subcontract manufacture quickly ate up most of the space and much of the company's own production, such as the BV 138, was in turn subcontracted out to Weser Flugzeugbau . Remarkably, the Finkenwerder site would survive the Allied bombing of Hamburg during the war and would remain with the company. During the war, Vogt's workload increased so much that Hermann Pohlmann , designer of

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