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