View source for Engineering:Fieseler Fi 167

{{short description|1938 torpedo bomber aircraft by Fieseler}}
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{|{{Infobox aircraft begin
|name           = Fi 167
|image          = Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1977-110-06, Flugzeug Fieseler Fi 167.jpg
|caption        = Fi 167 A-05
}}{{Infobox aircraft type
|type           = Torpedo bomber
|national origin = Nazi Germany
|manufacturer   = Fieseler
|designer       = <!--Only appropriate for single designers, not project leaders-->
|first flight   = 12 November 1937
|introduced     = <!--Date the aircraft entered or will enter military or revenue service-->
|retired        = <!--Date the aircraft left service. If vague or more than a few dates, skip this -->
|status         = <!--In most cases, redundant; use sparingly-->
|primary user   = Luftwaffe
|more users     = {{wipe|Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia}}
|produced       = 1938-1940
|number built   = 14
|program cost   = <!--Total program cost-->
|unit cost      = <!--Incremental or flyaway cost for military or retail price for commercial aircraft-->
|developed from = <!--The aircraft which formed the basis for this aircraft-->
|variants with their own articles = <!--Variants OF this aircraft-->
}}
|}
The '''Fieseler Fi 167''' was a 1930s German [[Engineering:Biplane|biplane]] torpedo and reconnaissance bomber designed for use from the Graf Zeppelin class aircraft carriers under construction from 1936 to 1942.

==Development==
In early 1937, the ''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' (German Ministry of Aviation) issued a specification for a carrier-based torpedo bomber to operate from Germany's first [[Engineering:Aircraft carrier|aircraft carrier]], the ''Graf Zeppelin'' construction of which had started at the end of 1936. The specification was issued to two aircraft producers, Fieseler and Arado, and demanded an all-metal [[Engineering:Biplane|biplane]] with a maximum speed of at least 300&nbsp;km/h (186&nbsp;mph), a range of at least 1,000&nbsp;km (631 mi) and capable both of torpedo and dive-bombing.<ref name="Green p37">Green 1970, p. 37.</ref> By mid-1938 the Fiesler design proved to be superior to the Arado design, the [[Engineering:Arado Ar 195|Ar 195]].<ref name="S&Kp147">Smith and Kay 1972, p. 147.</ref>

The aircraft exceeded by far all requirements, had excellent handling capabilities and could carry about twice the required weapons payload. Like the company's better known [[Engineering:Fieseler Fi 156|Fieseler Fi 156]] Storch, the Fi 167 had surprising slow-speed capabilities; under the right conditions, the plane would be able to land almost vertically on a moving aircraft carrier.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} During a test flight, Gerhard Fieseler himself let the plane drop from {{convert|10,000|to|100|ft|m|round=10|order=flip}} while staying above the same ground point.{{cn|date=July 2019}}

For emergency landings at sea the Fi 167 could jettison its landing gear, and airtight compartments in the lower wing would help the aircraft stay afloat at least long enough for the two-man crew to evacuate.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

Two prototypes (Fi&nbsp;167 V1 and V2) were built, followed by twelve pre-production models (Fi 167 A-0) which had only slight modifications from the prototypes.

==Operations==

=== Germany ===
Since the ''Graf Zeppelin'' was not expected to be completed before the end of 1940, construction of the Fi 167 had a low priority.  When construction of the ''Graf Zeppelin'' was stopped in 1940, the completion of further aircraft was stopped and the completed examples were taken into Luftwaffe service in the ''Erprobungsgruppe 167'' evaluation/test unit, with nine Fi 167s taken to the Netherlands for coastal trials.<ref name="S&Kp148"/>

When construction of the ''Graf Zeppelin'' was resumed in 1942 the [[Engineering:Junkers Ju 87#Ju 87C|Ju 87C]] took over the role as a reconnaissance bomber, and torpedo bombers were no longer seen to be needed.<ref name="S&Kp148"/> The Fi 167s returned to Germany in mid-1943. After that they were sold to Croatia.<ref>Lisko, T. and Canak, D., ''Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo u Drugome Svejetskom Ratu'' (The Croatian Airforce in the Second World War) Zagreb, 1998</ref>

The remaining planes were used in the ''Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt'' (German Aircraft Experimental Institute) in Budweis, Czechoslovakia, for testing different landing gear configurations. The two test aircraft had their lower wings removed just outboard of the landing gear to increase the sink rate for some of the tests.<ref name="S&Kp148">Smith and Kay 1972, p. 148.</ref>

=== Croatia ===
The Fi 167's short-field landing and load-carrying abilities made it ideal for transporting ammunition and other supplies to besieged Croatian Army garrisons, between their arrival in September 1944 and the end of the war.

During one such mission, near Sisak on 10 October 1944, an Fi 167 of the {{wipe|Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia}}, flown by eight-kill ace ''nar'' Bozidar Bartulovic,<ref name=" Savic and Ciglic p. 67">Savic and Ciglic, 2002, p. 67.</ref> was attacked by five North American Mustang Mk IIIs of No. 213 Squadron RAF. Three Mustangs' pilots, Sqn Ldr Clifford Vos and Sgts D.E. Firman and W.E. Mould, claimed a "single engined biplane, possibly a Fi 167" over Martinska Ves. Bartulovic was wounded in the head and the aircraft set alight, but Bartulovic's gunner, Mate Jurkovic, before bailing out, claimed one of the Mustangs. British records stated that Mould's aircraft was hit in the combat and wrecked in a subsequent crash-landing, possibly one of the last biplane "kills" of the war.<ref name=" Savic and Ciglic p. 68">Savic and Ciglic, 2002, p. 68.</ref> 

== Survivors ==
No examples of this aircraft are known to have survived.

==Operators==
;{{flagcountry|Independent State of Croatia}}
* ''{{wipe|Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia}}'' received between 8 and 12 aircraft in September 1944
;{{flag|Germany|Nazi}}
* ''Luftwaffe''
* ''Kriegsmarine''

==Specifications (Fi 167A-0)==
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=''Warplanes of the Third Reich''.<ref name="Green warp170">Green 1970, p.170.</ref><ref name="AofTRVol1">{{cite book|last1=Green|first1=William|title=Aircraft of the third reich. Volume one|date=2010|publisher=Crecy|location=[S.l.]|isbn=9781900732062|pages=324–327}}</ref>
|prime units?=met
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|crew=2 (pilot and gunner)
|length m=11.4
|span m=13.5
|height m=4.8
|wing area sqm=45.5
|aspect ratio=<!-- sailplanes -->
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=2806
|gross weight kg=4509
|max takeoff weight kg=4859
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Daimler-Benz DB 601B
|eng1 type=V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engine
|eng1 kw=820

|prop blade number=3
|prop name=variable-pitch propeller
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia ft=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia in=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia note=
<!--
        Performance
-->
|max speed kmh=325
|cruise speed kmh=250
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=1300
|range note= or {{convert|1500|km|mi nmi|abbr=on}} in reconnaissance role, with {{convert|300|L|USgal impgal|abbr=on}} drop tank
|combat range km=
|combat range miles=
|combat range nmi=
|combat range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range miles=
|ferry range nmi=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling m=8200
|g limits=<!-- aerobatic -->
|roll rate=<!-- aerobatic -->
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=

|more performance=
<!--
        Armament
-->
|guns=
** 1 × fixed forward firing {{convert|7.92|mm|abbr=on|3}} [[Engineering:MG 17 machine gun|MG 17 machine gun]] with 500 rounds.
** 1 × {{convert|7.92|mm|abbr=on|3}} MG-15 machine gun in rear cockpit on a flexible mount with 600 rounds.
|bombs=
** 1 × {{convert|1000|kg|abbr=on}} SC1000 bomb
** ''or'' 1 × {{convert|765|kg|abbr=on}} LT F5b torpedo
** ''or'' 1 × {{convert|500|kg|abbr=on}} SC500 bomb
** ''plus'' / ''or'' 4 × {{convert|50|kg|abbr=on}} SC50 bombs
}}

==See also==
* {{wipe|Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia}}
{{aircontent
|related=
* [[Engineering:Fieseler Fi 156|Fieseler Fi 156]]
|similar aircraft=
* [[Engineering:Fairey Swordfish|Fairey Swordfish]]
* [[Engineering:Fairey Albacore|Fairey Albacore]]
* [[Engineering:Arado Ar 195|Arado Ar 195]]
|sequence=
|lists=
* List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
* [[Engineering:List of military aircraft of Germany|List of military aircraft of Germany]]
* List of RLM aircraft designations
|see also=
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Green, William. ''Warplanes of the Third Reich''. New York: Doubleday, 1972. {{ISBN|0-385-05782-2}}.
* Lisko, T. and Canak, D., Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo u Drugome Svejetskom Ratu (The Croatian Airforce in the Second World War) Zagreb, 1998. {{ISBN|953-97698-0-9}}
* Savic, D. and Ciglic, B. Croatian Aces of World War II Osprey Aircraft of the Aces - 49, Oxford, 2002 {{ISBN|1-84176-435-3}}.
* {{cite book| last = Smith | first = J.R |author2=Kay, Antony L | title = German Aircraft of the Second World War| year = 1972 | publisher = Putnam | location = London | isbn = 0-85177-836-4}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Willigenburg|first1=Henk van|title=Graft Zeppelin Afloat |journal=Air Enthusiast |date=March–April 2001|issue=92|pages=59–65 |issn=0143-5450}}

==External links==
* http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/fi167.html

{{RLM aircraft designations}}

[[Category:Carrier-based aircraft]]
[[Category:Biplanes]]
[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]

{{Sourceattribution|Fieseler Fi 167}}