Focke-Wulf Fw189 Project Spotted For Sale: “Well Advanced, Sole Surviving Example”

Please Note: This is an archived post. The information presented here may not be current and the associated listing may no longer be active.

A Focke-Wulf Fw189, believed to be “the sole surviving example of this distinctive type” has been spotted for sale.

The project aircraft (W/N 2100) is “thought to be the fourth of ten Fw189s produced by Aero in Prague in 1941.” It was reportedly test flown that July and went on to serve as an army cooperation aircraft for two years.

“Just after 3am on the morning of the 4th May 1943 the crew – pilot Lothar Mothes; navigator/bombardier/gunner Kurt Lebrecht; and rear gunner Gunther Albrecht – took off on what would be their last mission. The aircraft was to photograph Loukhi III Airbase from an altitude of 20,000ft and then continue north up the Murmansk-Leningrad Railway. Half an hour into the sortie a radio message was received to warn they were under heavy attack by Russian Hurricanes and that was the last communication received. Lebrecht and Albrecht died as a result of their wounds, whereas Mothes survived the ordeal, and the war. Mothes made his way behind Russina lines, living of bark from trees and grubs in order to survive, and finally reunited with German soldiers having evaded Russian soldiers for two weeks. He spent nine months in hospital and convalescing as a result of the crash, but returned to his duties as a pilot, flying a further 100 missions in Fw189s. Mothes was able to be reunited with the remains of this aircraft, in 1996 at the Biggin Hill airshow.

Russian reports state that the wreckage was found some hours later having come down in forest near Loukhi, south of Murmansk, Russia. It was there, in Arctic conditions, that the aircraft remained for 52 years. It was recovered from the forest by helicopter, such was the inaccessibility of the site and transported back to the UK by air, road and sea in 1992 where it went into storage.”

Regarding the current status of the project, the listing states:

Despite being a well-kept secret for many years, work on the Fw189 is well advanced. In the fuselage area of the aircraft, the forward frame is 40% complete, the central fuselage 65%, and the aft section is 75%, with the rear turret (capola) also being approximately 75% complete. The structure/skins of the centre wing and the engine nacelles are 80% complete and the fuel tank panels are 60%. The wing tips are at 40% and the starboard outer wing is 65%. Both port and starboard tail booms are 80% and the fin units are 60% complete on the port side and 80% on the starboard. Of the control surfaces, the ailerons are at 50%, the flaps at 40% and the rudders at 20%.

Fw189 A1/2, Werke Nr 2100, is presented for sale as a unique and ongoing project to be seen through to completion to airworthy or static condition.

The project is being offered for US $1,500,000. An estimated additional cost of US $2,000,000 will reportedly be needed to complete the project. Click here to check out the listing.

(Photo: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)