Aero Fw.200 Condor

... by the mid 1930's it became obvious that Aero would soon require larger and more modern aircraft for its growing international services. Plans were in hand for a service to start between London and Helsinki, an important step because of the growing trade between England and Finland at that time. A more immediate prospect was a large increase in travel to Finland in connection with the Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in Helsinki in 1940.

Early in 1938, serious discussions began with Focke Wulf at Bremen for the purchase of one or two Condors for the Aero airline. The Finns were not the only Nordic nation impressed with the type as the Danish airline, DDL. had placed an early order, and put its first aircraft into service in July 1938, just a few days after Deutsche Lufthansa had done so.
The second prototype Condor, D-AETA 'Westfalen', visited Helsinki on 30 June during a demonstration tour of Baltic countries and was inspected by Aero's technical director Bertel Aluin, and pilot Bo von Willebrand who expressed the suitability of the type (altho it was noted a suitable aircraft may also be avaliable from Britain too?).

In August 1938 Focke Wulf offered Aero a pre-production Fw.200A-0 for delivery the following year, but by 31 October, the offer had been changed to a Fw.220B model for delivery in September or October 1939. This variant featured BMW132H engines with 3 bladed propellors (instead of the 2 blade type fitted to earlier aircraft) On 1 November, Aero decided to specify Pratt & Whitney Hornet engines for its examples. The companies order for 2 aircraft of the type was signed on 27 January 1939.
Focke Wulf, whose technical director and chief designer Kurt Tank posessed a keen eye for publicity, imediately began preparing promotional material linking the Condor with the Helsinki Olympic Games. Aero alloted the names 'Karjala' (OH-CLA) and 'Petsamo' (OH-CLB) to the two aircraft.
During May 1939 Aero amended its original order by stipulating the more powerful S1E2G variant of the P&W. Hornet engine, a move thought neccessary for take offs from icy runways. An option for a third Condor (OH-CLC) was also placed at this time. This change of engine resulted in a new type certificate for the Aero Condors and they were designated Fw.200KB-1, Fw.200 V5 being used for certification work. Because of the technical revisions the first aircraft was delayed from November 1939 to early 1940.

Just a week after the Finnish-Soviet 'Winter War' hostilities, in March 1940, Aero was again in contact with Focke-Wulf to advise the names selected for the Condors should no longer be used, this was hardly surprising as both Karjala (Karelia) in the East and Petsamo in the North had taken on a political sensitivity with the Soviet demands on these areas of Finland.
Because of Germany's wartime need for the military version of the Condor for the Luftwaffe, work had stopped on the two Finnish aircraft by late Febuary. On 11 April 1940 the technical department of the German Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) declared the two aircraft confiscated for the German State (Reich). Aero's monetary deposits for the Condors were eventually returned.
Altho the original justification for the order had ben eroded by the advent of the Second World War, the aircraft would still have been of great use to Aero as a long distance passenger aircraft, this value being subsequently confirmed by their new owner, Deutsche Lufthansa and the Luftwaffe as VIP. transports when the airframes were completed and entered service as the Fw.200D-1.

One aspect, little publicised by Aero and behind the selection of the Focke Wulf Fw.200 Condor for the airline, was the establishing of a trans-atlantic route. For some years the thought of a trans-Atlantic service had intregued many airlines. In January 1939, the heads of the four Nordic airlines met in Oslo and decided a case should be made to the USA. for traffic rights on the North Atlantic route. Events in Europe dashed any hope of such a service, altho the idea of a joint Scandinavian consortium to fly the Atlantic did come to fruition after the Second World War.

Focke Wulf Fw.200KB-1 Condor, msn. 0009, OH-CLA, 'Karjala' (to Fw.200C-1)
Focke Wulf Fw.200KB-1 Condor, msn. 0010, OH-CLB, 'Petsamo' (to Fw.200C-1)
Focke Wulf Fw.200KB-1 Condor, msn. 0046, OH-CLC, (to Fw.200C-3)

Ref. 'Finnair, the art of flying, 1923-1983', John Wegg, Finnair, ISBN. 951-99450-3-2, 1983
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