Re: 1938 German CONDOR trans-Atlantic Berlin-New York flight: Carried no pax, just a huge fuel tank and a crew of four.
Seventy-five years later, a Boeing 747-400 will complete the westbound sector in around eight hours and thirty minutes.
On August 10-11, 1938, a Lufthansa Focke-Wulf 200 Condor airliner made a record-breaking nonstop flight across the Atlantic from Berlin to Floyd Bennett field in Brooklyn, New York.
The aircraft was a Fw 200 VI, registered as D-ACON and named “Brandenburg.”
The 4,075 miles flight (6,437 km) took 24 hours and 57 minutes against strong headwinds, at an average speed of 164 MPH (263 km/h). The return flight to Germany took 19 hours and 47 minutes at an average speed of 205 MPH (330 km/h) on August 13, 1938.
In November, 1938 the same aircraft flew from Berlin to Basra, Karachi, Hanoi, and Tokyo in only 46 hours 18 minutes, but on the return flight an in-flight fuel transfer malfunction forced D-ACON to ditch in the ocean near Manila.
Interestingly, it proves the Germans had the potential to bomb New York in WW2 as a one-off propaganda mission, but because the Condor wouldn't have had enough fuel to get back to Europe it'd have had to ditch at a pre-arranged spot partway back across the Atlantic for the crew to be picked up by a U-Boat.
The sad end of D-ACON:
On 6 December 1938, the four-engined German built Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor, registration D-ACON, ditched in shallow waters off of Cavite, just a few miles SSW of Manilla, Philippines, due to a double engine failure, apparently caused by faulty switching of fuel tanks.
It was on a promotional tour, on it's first return leg back to Germany from Tokyo. It was not originally planned to fly to Manila but was invited by the German Consul in Manila to show off to the Filipinos and other foreigners.
All the crew safely escaped. The constabulary and policemen guarded the aircraft. The aircraft was also inspected by 10th US Navy district, the commander of the Cavite Naval yard and the PC provincial commander.
The Germans complained and (could read "concerned about the") lost three briefcases "with very important documents on board.".
Two small girls drowned when they went on a raft to visit the wreckage. Ultimately, their bodies were found by local fishermen. Despite the security measures, people flocked to see the German plane, paying 1 peso each to fishermen to row them to and from the airplane.
The aircraft was a total loss due to salt water and the many souvenir hunters removing whatever they could. The Atlantic Gulf and Pacific Company salvaged the aircraft and carried it to safe harbour. It was eventually dismantled and put aboard a ship back to Germany.
The accident may have helped influence Goering's critical decision to discard plans for a four engine long-range bomber, and thus sorely restrict the range of the Luftwaffe's bomber forces.
