Defeated By...A Lack Of Glue?: Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito

In this video, we take a look at the Focke-Wulf Ta 154 "Moskito, a mid-World War II fighter and/or night fighter from Germany. We first talk about Germany's increasing need for a dedicated night fighter as WW2 progressed, as their advances slowed and Britain and America increasingly would attack German cities. We look at the request put out by the German Air Ministry and the Ta 154's competition in the Heinkel He 219 and the Junkers Ju 388. We then talk about the comparative superior performance of the Ta 154 over the other two designs.

Then, we talk about how the Ta 154 generally copied a British aircraft known as the de Havilland Mosquito, being an all wood design that would be held together with a strong adhesive rather than nails, screws, or rivets. We look at the troubled prototypes of the Ta 154, frequently crashing and seeing ever decreasing performance . We talk about the "straw that broke the Moskito's back" in the destruction of the factory making the glue for the plane, and how their replacement adhesive utterly failed, thus dooming the Ta 154.