{"product_id":"heller-80238-focke-wulf-fw-56a-1-stosser-1-72-scale-plastic-model-kit","title":"Heller 80238 Focke-Wulf Fw 56A-1 Stößer — 1\/72 Scale Plastic model kit","description":"\u003cp\u003eManufacturer: Heller\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKit number: 80238\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEAN: 3279510802382\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAircraft: Focke-Wulf Fw 56A-1 Stößer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eScale: 1\/72\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eType: Injection-moulded plastic aircraft kit\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eParts: 34\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKit dimensions: approximately 106 × 146 mm\n\u003cbr\u003eThe manufacturer — Heller\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHeller is one of France's best-known historic plastic-model manufacturers. The company developed an extensive catalogue covering aircraft, ships, vehicles and other subjects, with a particularly strong representation of European aircraft that were sometimes overlooked by Japanese and American manufacturers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fw 56 is a good example of Heller's interest in less glamorous but historically significant aircraft. Rather than modelling only the famous Bf 109 and Fw 190, Heller also produced the trainer and pre-war aircraft that formed the foundation of German military aviation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe current 80238 kit is a relatively inexpensive small-scale model. Contemporary retailer listings put the new kit around €9–€10, with one UK eBay listing at £21.07, illustrating the difference between normal shop pricing and individual marketplace asking prices.\n\u003cbr\u003eKit contents\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe current Heller 80238 contains 34 parts. Gaugemaster describes it as a detailed 1\/72 plastic kit with a decal sheet and instructions, while the listed assembled dimensions are approximately 106 mm × 146 mm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a relatively simple kit, appropriate to the compact size and straightforward construction of the real aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe model requires:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    assembly with plastic cement;\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    painting;\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    application of the supplied decals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHeller does not include glue or paint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe subject is especially attractive to collectors of 1930s German aviation, because the Fw 56 occupies the transitional period between the traditional biplane trainer and the modern all-metal monoplanes that would soon dominate the Luftwaffe.\n\u003cbr\u003eThe real aircraft — Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Stößer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Stößer was a German single-seat advanced trainer developed during the early 1930s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIts name Stößer is generally translated as \"Goshawk\" or associated with a hawk-type bird.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft was designed at Focke-Wulf under the direction of Kurt Tank, with Rudolf Blaser playing an important role in the actual design work. The project originated from a German Air Ministry requirement for an advanced fighter trainer, while the aircraft was also considered for possible use as a lightweight home-defence fighter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt was Tank's early work at Focke-Wulf, long before the famous Fw 190 fighter.\n\u003cbr\u003eDevelopment\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe first prototype, Fw 56 V1, flew on 7 November 1933. Two additional prototypes followed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe second prototype incorporated significant changes, including revised landing gear and an experimental metal wing. The third prototype returned to a wooden wing after the designers concluded that this arrangement was satisfactory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft was a distinctive parasol-wing monoplane. Its wing was mounted above the fuselage on a central arrangement of struts, giving the aircraft a configuration that was already becoming unusual as fully cantilevered low-wing monoplanes began to take over.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe fuselage used a steel-tube framework, with metal covering toward the front and fabric covering elsewhere. The wing was predominantly wooden, with plywood covering over much of its surface and fabric around the trailing-edge sections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis mixture of materials was typical of the transition period in which aircraft designers were moving from traditional wood-and-fabric construction toward all-metal stressed-skin aircraft.\n\u003cbr\u003eThe 1935 competition\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fw 56 competed against several rival designs for the German Air Ministry requirement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIts principal competitors included:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Arado Ar 76\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Heinkel He 74\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fw 56 performed successfully in the comparative trials held in 1935, and the German Air Ministry selected it for production.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe production aircraft was designated Fw 56A-1, and it became an important advanced trainer for the developing Luftwaffe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis was an important role: pilots who had completed basic flying training needed to learn the handling characteristics and techniques required for faster, more demanding fighter aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fw 56 provided a bridge between basic trainers and operational fighters.\n\u003cbr\u003eEngine and performance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe production aircraft was powered by the Argus As 10C, an air-cooled inverted V-8 engine producing approximately 240 hp according to several historical references.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRepresentative performance figures include:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Maximum speed: approximately 278 km\/h \/ 173 mph\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Range: approximately 385–400 km\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Service ceiling: approximately 6,200 m\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Crew: 1\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Engine: Argus As 10C\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Configuration: fixed undercarriage, parasol wing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft was not fast by the standards of later wartime fighters, but speed was not its principal purpose. Its relatively simple handling and robust construction made it well suited to advanced training.\n\u003cbr\u003eArmament and the Stuka connection\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the more interesting episodes in the Fw 56's development concerned its potential as a dive-bomber.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe early aircraft could be equipped with machine guns and small practice bombs. Ernst Udet, a prominent German military aviator and strong advocate of dive bombing, personally experimented with the Fw 56 V2 in a dive-bombing role.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft's ability to perform steep dives contributed to the wider German interest in dedicated dive-bomber development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis makes the Stößer historically interesting beyond its role as a trainer: its testing formed part of the experimentation that helped establish the German emphasis on Sturzkampf dive-bombing during the pre-war period.\n\u003cbr\u003eProduction and service\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is some disagreement among historical references about the total production figure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne detailed German historical source gives 514 aircraft, consisting of 445 aircraft produced for the Luftwaffe between May 1935 and December 1936, plus 45 export aircraft, with additional aircraft accounting for the overall total.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOther references give figures closer to 900–1,000 aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor cataloguing purposes, I would record the production figure as approximately 500–1,000 aircraft, with 514 being the figure supported by the more detailed production breakdown, rather than presenting the higher figure as definitive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft was primarily used as an advanced trainer, but examples also served in other roles, including communications, experimental work and towing.\n\u003cbr\u003eInternational users\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fw 56 was not exclusively a German aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDocumented exports included:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Austria — 9\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Hungary — 28\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Bulgaria — 6\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Bolivia — 2\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft was also flown by private owners; one notable example was purchased by Gerd Achgelis, who later worked with Henrich Focke on helicopter development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Austrian examples are particularly interesting to modellers because the Fw 56 served with Austrian military aviation before the country's incorporation into Nazi Germany.\n\u003cbr\u003eWartime service\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the Fw 56 was already becoming obsolete as a combat aircraft when the Second World War began, it continued to serve as a trainer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIts rugged construction and simple configuration gave it a surprisingly long career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical records indicate that significant numbers were still present in Luftwaffe inventories well into the war. By February 1944, approximately 129 Stössers were still recorded, although that number fell substantially during 1944.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy the final stages of the war, some surviving aircraft were pressed into improvised combat roles, including night harassment and light bombing missions. These were very different circumstances from the aircraft's original role as an advanced trainer.\n\u003cbr\u003eSurviving aircraft\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fw 56 is now a very rare aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA German aviation-history source records one surviving example, which has been undergoing restoration toward airworthiness.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Heller","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57512972779900,"sku":"Heller-80238","price":12.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0432\/8584\/0033\/files\/BD1D3D71-020F-4313-8DED-B3EA1F6BC655.jpg?v=1790660866","url":"https:\/\/sussex-model-centre.co.uk\/products\/heller-80238-focke-wulf-fw-56a-1-stosser-1-72-scale-plastic-model-kit","provider":"Sussex Model Centre","version":"1.0","type":"link"}