The Focke-Wulf Ta 152 is a German fighter and interceptor aircraft designed for high-altitude operations by Kurt Tank and manufactured by Focke-Wulf.
Unfortunately, it began production too late and in inadequate quantities to play a meaningful role in the Second World War.
The Ta 152 was an evolution of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter.
It was planned to be available in at least three variants:
The Ta 152H Höhenjäger (high-altitude fighter);
The Ta 152C, which was tailored for medium-altitude missions and ground-attack, featuring a Daimler-Benz DB 603 engine and smaller wings;
The Ta 152E, a fighter-reconnaissance model that combined the engine of the H variant with the wings of the C variant.
The initial Ta 152H was introduced into service with the Luftwaffe in January 1945; however, production of the Ta 152 was halted just one month later due to Germany’s deteriorating situation in the war.
Japan sought to obtain materials from Germany to initiate domestic production of the Ta 152, but it is believed that no aircraft were ever completed.
By October 1944, in light of the disastrous trajectory of the conflict, the RLM recognised the critical nature of Germany’s predicament and urged Focke-Wulf to expedite the production of the Ta 152.
Consequently, several prototypes of the Ta 152 experienced crashes early in the testing phase.
It became evident that essential systems were not subjected to adequate quality control Issues emerged with superchargers, pressurised cockpits exhibited leaks, and the engine cooling system proved to be unreliable, partly due to inconsistent oil temperature monitoring.
Additionally, there were multiple instances where the landing gear failed to retract properly.
From November 1944, a total of up to 20 pre-production Ta 152 H-0s were supplied to Erprobungskommando Ta 152 for service testing of the aircraft.
Reports indicated that test pilots managed to accumulate only 31 hours of flight testing prior to the commencement of full production.
By the end of January 1945, approximately 50 hours of flight time had been logged.
The Ta 152’s tally at the conclusion of the war was likely seven victories and four losses in aerial engagements, although there remains some uncertainty regarding these figures.
Josef Keil secured four victories between 1 March 1945 and 21 April 1945, while at least three victories were credited to Willi Reschke.
The Ta 152 was assigned to JG 301 on 27 January 1945, with its inaugural mission against American bombers occurring on 2 March 1945.
However, there was no engagement with American forces, as the 12 Ta 152s had to defend against continuous assaults from the Bf 109s of a different German unit, given that the design of the Ta 152 was largely unfamiliar to other Jagdgeschwader.
Fortunately, there were no losses, as the climbing performance and agility of the Ta 152s allowed them to avoid these confrontations.
The four losses in aerial combat included Hptm. Hermann Stahl, who was killed on 11 April 1945;
Obfw. Sepp Sattler, who died on 14 April 1945;
and two unidentified JG11 pilots who were shot down by Spitfires in the final days of April 1945 while being transferred from Neustadt-Glewe to Leck airfield.
