Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz
The Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz (Goldfinch) is a 1930s German two-seat biplane. Designed by Kurt Tank in 1931, it was the Focke-Wulf company's first major international success. Produced as a pilot training and sports flying aircraft. It was also built under license in several other countries.
Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz
Fw 44J G-STIG at Old Warden 2008
A Focke-Wulf Fw 44J in 2005
Focke-Wulf Fw 44s from Argentina, c. 1937.
Kurt Waldemar Tank was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot who led the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931 to 1945. He was responsible for the creation of several important Luftwaffe aircraft of World War II, including the Fw 190 fighter aircraft, the Ta 152 fighter-interceptor and the Fw 200 Condor airliner. After the war, Tank spent two decades designing aircraft abroad, working first in Argentina and then in India, before returning to West Germany in the late 1960s to work as a consultant for Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB).
Prof. Dr. Dipl.-Ing. Kurt Tank, March 1941
Major Günther Specht (left) and Kurt Tank (right)
Tank (left, barely visible) exhibiting the IAe 33 to President Perón (center, in white uniform) c. 1951