Top 10: The Best German Aircraft

Germany has created some of the most iconic and innovative aircraft in history.

The ten we have selected are a good mix of some of the highlights of German aviation, though the selection involved the ruthless pruning of some very worthy types (we have focused mainly on aeroplanes, so no airships).

Among other omissions, there are several Fokker designs (Fokker was a German company for a period) we could have happily included but spurned to make room for a couple of rather more obscure types that are certainly worthy of our attention. We may need to do a part 2… In the meantime, here are ten excellent German aircraft.

10: Focke-Wulf Fw 187

The American P-38 Lightning was a single-seat twin-engined fighter and it proved a great success, but the idea was novel for its time. By keeping the frontal cross-section to the absolute minimum, this class of aircraft could be as fast as a single-engined fighter but with far greater range and, if required, firepower.

The German company Focke-Wulf also tried this idea, and the result was the superb Fw 187. The Fw 187 was an extremely clean design aerodynamically, everything being done to keep the frontal cross-section to the absolute minimum; the cockpit was tiny (even by German standards), the dashboard of which was so small that some of the instruments had to be mounted externally on the engine nacelles.

The result of this strict adherence to aerodynamic slickness was an extremely fast and manoeuvrable fighter with an impressive range. With the original Jumo 210Da engines, a compromise unwanted by the designer, the prototype clocked 326 mph, which was 50mph faster than the much-hyped Messerschmitt 210.

When DB 600As engines were added in 1939, the Fw 187 hit a level flight speed of 394mph, an astonishing figure for the time. Armed with two cannon and four machine-guns, the type would have proved a huge thorn in the side for the RAF’s Fighter Command if employed as an escort fighter in the Battle of Britain. Despite a small operational evaluation, the type never entered series production. The Me 210 lobby had greater political clout than the exponents of the Fw 187, and Focke-Wulf instead devoted its resources to the development of the Fw 190.

9: Dornier Do X

Despite its ultimate failure, the Dornier Do X was a spectacular aeroplane of remarkable ambition and scale. First flying in 1929, it was then the largest and heaviest flying boat in the world. This leviathan had a wingspan of 47.8 metres (156 ft 10 in), a length of 40.05 metres (131 ft 5 in) and a height of 10.25 metres (33 ft 8 in).

Remarkably for such a conspicuous achievement, the Do X was created using a legal loophole; as its performance contravened the Versailles agreement’s ruling on what types of aircraft could be made in Germany, it was built in Switzerland but was very much a German effort.

For its time, it was the most powerful flying boat in the world. No fewer than Twelve Curtiss_V-1570 12-cylinder liquid-cooled aircraft piston engines, sat atop the wing in the push-pull configuration each generating 450 kW (600 hp) for a staggering total of 7200 horsepower. The V-1570s replaced early Bristol Jupiter engines that proved too weedy.

It smashed capacity records when it flew 169 passengers (including ten aircrew and nine stowaways) and created a slew of world records. The interior was lavish, and it promised a new era of luxurious long-distance air travel, but the Do X remained unlucky throughout its life, suffering accidents and a changing world that did not give it a chance. Only three were built and sadly none survive today.

8: Junkers Ju 88

The use of the name Junkers in this aircraft’s name was rather sad, as designer Hugo Junkers had refused to help the Nazi government of Germany, and endured house arrest while his company was taken from him (he died a year after the arrest, in 1935). If he had lived, he would have been mortified to learn that the Junkers Ju 88 became the most versatile aircraft of the Luftwaffe in World War 2.

The Ju 88 was a twin-engined design that first flew at the end of 1936. Initially a fast bomber, it was realised that the performance was good enough to make a fighter variant. Creating a fighter from a bomber is an unusual transformation with few successful examples, though this was also true of the similarly versatile British Mosquito.

The Junkers Ju 88 fought in many roles including as a bomber, a reconnaissance aircraft, a torpedo bomber, a heavy fighter, and as a night fighter – there was even an anti-tank version packing a massive 75mm (2.9in) PaK 40 anti-tank gun. The weirdest use of the aircraft was as a huge flying bomb steered by a fighter aircraft attached piggyback to the top of the Ju 88.

Key to the Ju 88’s success was how easy it was to modify, readily accepting a plethora of weapons and pieces of equipment (notably radar for the night-fighter role) while retaining a reasonable performance. Over 15,000 of this ‘Jack-of-all-trades’ were manufactured.

7: Focke-Wulf Fw 190

Britain’s best fighter aircraft of the early part of World War 2, the Supermarine Spitfire, was closely matched to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. The two developed in brutal competition, but with each incremental improvement matched, there was never a truly decisive advantage to one or the other.

The arrival of a new German fighter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, in 1941, changed all this. Here was a machine of terrifying superiority to the best Spitfire then flying. The Fw 190A was superior to the Spitfire Mk V in terms of dive performance, climb rate, and, perhaps most markedly, roll rate. The Fw 190 was faster at all heights by between 25-35mph.

The Fw 190 was designed with a far greater understanding of the importance of Human Machine Interface than earlier fighters, offering the pilot a reduced workload. The view out from the cockpit was superior to other aircraft, and almost every aspect of the design was extremely impressive.

In the Fw 190s ultimate variants, the aircraft was radically modified and up-gunned to become ever more potent. The type saw much action in the failed defence of the Reich. Over 20,000 Fw 190 were built.

6: Messerschmitt Me 262

The first pure jet-powered fighter to see service, the Messerschmitt Me 262 was not perfect, but it was phenomenally impressive. In terms of top speed in mph, the best Allied fighters the 262 faced were reaching into the low 400s, the Me 262 was topping out at an otherworldly 560mph.

The Me 262 had terrific firepower, with two or four 30-mm automatic cannon (the heaviest standard fighter weapon had long been the 20-mm) and Orkan unguided rockets. Despite its late entry to the war, it destroyed around 550 Allied aircraft.

However, the Me 262 was built in a challenging situation, with materials in short supply and quality control and production affected by the battering Germany was receiving. Superior Allied tactics, especially the targeting of Me 262s at their most vulnerable - while static or taking-off or landing - effectively countered this alarmingly brilliant fighter.

The Me 262 was the fastest practical fighter to see service in the war, with only severely limited rocket-powered interceptors flying faster. The Messerschmitt Me 262 was a harbinger of the age of jet fighters, and likely the most formidable fighter aircraft of World War 2.

5: Albatros D.III

The Albatros D.III and D.V development formed the bulk of the German fighter arm during 1917 and early 1918. The D.III proved formidable, being fast, well armed and generally sturdy, but it possessed a fundamental flaw: the lower wing was prone to failure in high-G-force manoeuvres.

Strengthening improved the problem but it was never totally cured in German service. However, when Oesterreichische Flugzeugfabrik AG (Oeffag) in Austria started building the type under licence, their engineers altered the lower wing and eliminated the problem. Oeffag also dispensed with the large spinner of the German aircraft, which increased propeller efficiency and added 9 mph (14 km/h) to the maximum speed.

Austrian D.IIIs proved to be robust and effective aircraft that were popular with pilots and they remained in production until the end of the war. The model was probably the finest fighter available to the Central Powers until the introduction of the Fokker D.VII, and it remains a mystery why the successful modifications made by Oeffag were not applied to the German-built aircraft.

4: Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105

The much-loved Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105 is a revolutionary helicopter with a massive influence on helicopter development. It was the first operational chopper with a hingeless rotor system, contributing to its insane agility, it is capable of astonishing manoeuvres, including inverted loops.

In 1948, a year before the formation of West Germany, the Bölkow company in Stuttgart began seriously considering the subject of the new technology that was the helicopter. As well as light aircraft and sailplanes, the company created a series of light helicopters, and the futuristic Bölkow Bo 46  experimental helicopter.

From 1979, the West German army procured a force of dedicated anti-tank Bo 105 PAH-1 (Panzerabwehrhubschrauber: anti-armour helicopter) that became famous for their menacing camo scheme and low-level antics. Over 200 were procured, and armed with the HOT anti-tank missile were a formidable force: the little chopper packed an extremely heavy punch.

The cheeky ‘105 was the first light turbine twin helicopter and became the basis for Eurocopter’s subsequent success in the light twin market with the BK117 and EC135/145. Over an almost 30-year production run, more than 1500 were built, serving with twenty seven armed forces and ten government agencies.

3: Siemens-Schuckert D.IV

Seemingly something of a throwback, with its rotund, abbreviated fuselage and huge rotary engine, the Siemens-Schuckert D.IV was the finest interceptor to see service with Germany. Rotaries had reached the end of their development potential and the eleven-cylinder Siemens-Halske Sh.III fitted to the D.IV represented the zenith of this engine type, selected no doubt because it was a product of the same parent company as the airframe.

By dint of an ingenious crank and gearing system, the torque that proved so deadly on other rotary-powered aircraft, such as the Camel, was virtually eliminated, and a high compression ratio allowed the Sh.III to maintain an impressively high-power output at altitude.

3:Siemens-Schuckert D.IV

Boasting a colossal rate of climb, at height the D.IV could outrun and outmanoeuvre the Fokker D.VII, itself noted for its good high-altitude performance, yet the D.IV could fly to 26,600 feet (8,100 m), about 3,900 feet (1,200 m) higher than the Fokker.

As it appeared so late in the war, the excellent D.IV had little effect on the course of the conflict, and only 123 were built. Surprisingly, development continued after the cessation of hostilities, with Siemens-Schuckert producing a monoplane derivative in 1919, but the Treaty of Versailles rendered the development of further German military aircraft illegal.

2: Messerschmitt Bf 109

Arguably the most important fighter aircraft of World War 2, and the fighter aircraft made in the greatest number – over 34,000 – the Bf 109 was undoubtedly one of the most significant aircraft ever made. It is thus surprising to learn how unlikely success seemed when the aircraft was first proposed to the German Ministry of Aviation (RLM).

Designer Willy Messerschmitt was an outsider to an early 1930s competition for a new fighter aircraft for Germany. His entry, a small angular design, was up against Arado, Heinkel and Focke-Wulf. With the odds stacked against him, Messerschmitt combined all the latest technologies in the smallest possible airframe capable of taking the most powerful engine available, the Jumo 210A.

The Bf 109 was of all-metal construction, with a totally enclosed cockpit. Advanced high-lift features on the wing compensated for its relatively small size. The Bf 109 first flew in 1935, and first saw action in the Spanish Civil War. The Bf 109 was fast, manoeuvrable and well-armed, and relatively easy to build.

It saw much combat in the Second World War, becoming the fighter with the largest number of aerial victories. However, it is impossible to get a hard figure; it is undoubtedly over 20,000 (and possibly far higher). On this metric alone, it was a more successful fighter than any single Allied aircraft, of which the top-scoring aircraft type was in the 5000 range.

1: Fokker D.VII

Often named the best fighter of the First World War, the Fokker D.VII wasn’t the fastest, most manoeuvrable or best-climbing aircraft to see service but it offered the finest combination of these attributes in one highly robust airframe. Possessing a fine altitude performance, it was also easy to fly, with a particularly gentle stall, and could be flown effectively by inexperienced pilots.

A massive production programme meant that, despite not entering service until May 1918, some 3300 had been built by the end of hostilities in November. Curiously, both wings of the Fokker were cantilever units, virtually unheard of at the time, and as such the D.VII was a harbinger of a future where all fighters would have self-supporting wings.