Focke - Wulf Fw 191 The Focke - Wulf Fw 191 was a prototype German bomber of World War II . Two versions were intended to be produced , a twin - engine version using the Junkers Jumo 222 engine and a four - engine variant which was to have used the smaller Daimler - Benz DB 605 engine . The project was eventually abandoned due to technical difficulties with the engines . Design and development . In July 1939 , the RLM issued a specification for a high - performance medium bomber ( the " Bomber B " program ) . It was to have a maximum speed of 600 km / h ( 370 mph ) and be able to carry a bomb load of 4 , 000 kg ( 8 , 820 lb ) to any part of Britain from bases in France or Norway . Furthermore , the new bomber was to have a pressurized crew compartment , of the then - generalized " stepless cockpit " design ( with no separate windscreen for the pilot ) pioneered by the He 111P shortly before the war and used on most German bombers during the war , remotely - controlled armament , and was to utilize two of the new 2 , 500 PS ( 2 , 466 hp , 1 , 839 kW ) class of engines then being developed ( Jumo 222 or Daimler Benz DB 604 ) , with the Jumo 222 being specified for the great majority of such twin - engined designs , that Arado , Dornier , Focke - Wulf and Junkers had created airframe designs to use . The Arado Ar E340 was eliminated . The Dornier Do 317 was put on a low - priority development contract ; and the Junkers Ju 288 and Focke Wulf Fw 191 were chosen for full development . Dipl . Ing E . Kösel , who also worked on the Fw 189 reconnaissance plane , was supposed to have led the design team for the Fw 191 . Overall , the Fw 191 was a clean , all - metal aircraft that featured a shoulder - mounted wing . Two 24 - cylinder Jumo 222 engines ( which showed more promise than the DB 604 engines ) were mounted in nacelles on the wings . An interesting feature was the inclusion of the Multhopp - Klappe , an ingenious form of combined landing flap and dive brake , which was developed by Hans Multhopp . The entire fuel supply was carried in five tanks located above the internal bomb bay , and in two tanks in the wing between the engine nacelles and fuselage . The tail section was of a twin fins and rudders design , with the tailplane having a small amount of dihedral . The main landing gear legs retracted to the rear and rotated 90° to lie flat in each engine nacelle , much like the main gear on the production versions of the Ju 88 already did . Also , the tailwheel retracted forwards into the fuselage . A crew of four sat in the pressurized cockpit , and a large Plexiglas dome was provided for the navigator ; the radio operator could also use this dome to aim the remotely - controlled rear guns . The Fw 191 followed established Luftwaffe practice in concentrating the crew in the nose compartment , also including the nearly - ubiquitous " Bola " , inverted - casemate undernose gondola for defensive weapons mounts first used on the Ju 88A before the war , and in the use of a " stepless cockpit " , having no separate windscreen for the pilot , as the later - P and - H versions of the Heinkel He 111 already did . This was pressurised for high - altitude operations . The proposed operational armament consisted of one 20 mm MG 151 cannon in a chin turret , twin 20 mm MG 151 in a remotely controlled dorsal turret , twin 20 mm MG 151 in a remotely - controlled ventral turret , a tail turret with one or two machine gun s and remotely - controlled weapons in the rear of the engine nacelles . However , different combinations were mounted in the prototype aircraft . Sighting stations were provided above the crew compartment , as well as at the ends of the aforementioned " Bola " beneath the nose . The aircraft had an internal bomb bay . In addition , bombs or torpedo es could be carried on external racks between the fuselage and the engine nacelles . The design was to have had a maximum speed of 600 km / h ( 370 mph ) , a bomb load of 4 , 000 kg ( 8 , 820 lb ) , and a range allowing it to bomb any target in Britain from bases in France and Norway . Failure and End of Program . It is said that the intention to use electric power for almost all of the aircraft ' s auxiliary systems ( also a fact for the successful Fw 190 fighter ) , requiring the installation of a large number of electric motors and wiring led to the nickname for the Fw 191 of " " Das fliegende Kraftwerk " " ( the flying powerstation ) . This also had the detrimental effect of adding even more weight to the overburdened airframe , plus there was also the danger of a single enemy bullet putting every system out of action if the generator was hit . Dipl . Ing Melhorn took the Fw 191 " V1 " on its maiden flight early in 1942 , with immediate problems arising from the lower rated engines not providing enough power , as was anticipated . One surprising problem that was encountered were the Multhopp - Klappe , which presented severe flutter problems when extended , and pointed to the need for a redesign . At this point , only dummy gun installations were fitted and no bomb load was carried . After completing ten test flights , the Fw 191 " V1 " was joined by the similar " V2 " , but only a total of ten hours of test flight time was logged . The 2 , 500 PS ( 2 , 466 hp , 1 , 839 kW ) Junkers Jumo 222 engines which would have powered the Fw 191 proved troublesome . In total only three prototype aircraft , " V1 " , " V2 " & " V6 " , were built . The project was crippled by engine problems and an extensive use of electrical motor - driven systems . Problems arose almost immediately when the Jumo 222 engines were not ready in time for the first flight tests , so a pair of 1 , 560 PS ( 1 , 539 hp , 1 , 147 kW ) BMW 801A radial engines were fitted . This made the Fw 191 " V1 " seriously underpowered . Another problem arose with the RLM ' s insistence that all systems that would normally be hydraulic or mechanically activated should be operated by electric motors . At this point , the RLM allowed the redesign and removal of the electric motors ( to be replaced by the standard hydraulics ) , so the Fw 191 " V3 " , " V4 " and " V5 " were abandoned . The Fw 191 " V6 " was then modified to the new design , and also a pair of specially prepared Jumo 222 engines were fitted that developed 2 , 200 PS ( 2 , 170 hp , 1 , 618 kW ) for takeoff . The first flight of the new Fw 191 took place in December 1942 with " Flugkapitän " Hans Sander at the controls . Although the " V6 " flew better , the Jumo 222 were still not producing their design power , and the whole Jumo 222 development prospect was looking bad due to the shortage of special metals for it . The Fw 191 " V6 " was to have been the prototype for the Fw 191A series . Since the Jumo 222 engines were having a lot of teething problems , and the Daimler Benz DB 604 had already been abandoned , a new proposal was put forth for the Fw 191B series . The " V7 " through " V12 " machines were abandoned in favor of using the Fw 191 V13 to install a pair of Daimler Benz DB 606 or 610 engines , which were basically coupled pairs of either DB 601 or 605 12 - cylinder engines . Their lower power - to - weight ratio , however , meant that the armament and payload would have to be reduced . It had already been decided to delete the engine nacelle gun turrets , and to make the rest manually operated . Five more prototypes were planned with the new engine arrangement , " V14 " through " V18 " , but none were ever built , possibly from the August 1942 condemnation by " Reichsmarschall " Hermann Göring of the coupled " power system " DB 606 and 610 powerplants as " welded - together engines " , in regards to their being the primary cause of the unending series of powerplant problems in their primary use , as the engines on Heinkel ' s He 177 , Germany ' s only production heavy bomber of World War II . One final attempt was made to save the Fw 191 program , this time the Fw 191C was proposed as a four engined aircraft , using either the 1 , 340 PS ( 1 , 322 hp , 986 kW ) Jumo 211F , the 1 , 350 PS ( 1 , 332 hp , 993 kW ) DB 601E , the 1 , 475 PS ( 1 , 455 hp , 1 , 085 kW ) DB 605A or similar rated DB 628 engines . Also , the cabin would be unpressurized and the guns manually operated , with a rear step in the bottom of the deepened fuselage — in the manner of the near - ubiquitous " Bola " gondola used by the majority of German bombers for ventral defense under the nose — being provided for the gunner . However , at this time , the whole " Bomber B " program had been canceled , due mainly to no engines of the 2 , 500 PS class being available , which was one of the primary requirements in the " Bomber B " program . Although the Fw 191 will be remembered as a failure , the air frame and overall design eventually proved themselves to be sound , only the underpowered engines and insistence on electric motors to operate all the systems eventually dooming the aircraft . All in all , there were only three Fw 191s ever built ( " V1 " , " V2 " and " V6 " ) , and no examples of the Fw 191B or C ever advanced past the design stage . The project was eventually scrapped . See also . Comparable aircraft :