Forcing An Unfinished Superplane Into Combat: Focke Wulf Ta 152

Video Description

In this video, we take a look at the Focke Wulf Ta 152, a late World War II German "superplane" fighter that, largely, was to serve as a high-altitude interceptor, destroying attacking Allied bombers. We first talk about Germany's propensity for designing and making superweapons, from tanks and artillery that were actually made to ridiculous aircraft designs scribbled out towards the end of the war. We then talk about the Focke Wulf Fw 190 line of fighter aircraft, perhaps Germany's best aircraft in the war, and how they lacked performance at high altitude. We then talk about the Fw 190D, an attempt to boost high altitude performance, and how that evolved into the Ta 153 and eventually the Ta 152. We talk about how the Ta 152 was initially to be a complete successor to the Fw 190, with fighter, heavy fighter, fighter-bomber, and high-altitude interceptor variants. We go over how each of these variants would differ and how only the high-altitude variant, the Ta 152H, received any significant attention or resources. We end by talking about the very limited run and use of the Ta 152, and how Germany made the wrong move by forcing it into production.