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Message: <blockquote data-quote="xylstra" data-source="post: 377610" data-attributes="member: 12745"><blockquote data-quote="newsdeskdan" data-source="post: 374280" data-attributes="member: 10758">As a brief aside, it's worth noting that Kurt Tank was Focke-Wulf's Betriebsfuehrer (sort of a chief executive) as well as its Technische Leiter. This meant he had very little to do with the design of Focke-Wulf's aircraft during the war years. He certainly received copies of most technical papers, broadly set the direction in which development was to take place and advocated individual types during RLM development committee meetings when he was asked to attend (usually with technical assistance from someone like Willy Kaether, director of Focke-Wulf's technical development staff) - but he didn't really 'design' anything. He spent most of his time in the board room dealing with factory and management issues or on business trips to make arrangements for outsourced production etc.Camm, on the over hand (and whatever your view on his personal qualities), did directly oversee Hawker's design staff.</blockquote>Your description of Tank would apply equally to Heinkel and Messerscmitt and all had far more influence on the final outcome than you infer after-all, the financial success of their company's depended upon it, not to mention a great deal of invested personal ego in various aircrfat types. Obviously, they didn't do the drudge-work minutiae. As far as Tank is concerned I highly recommend his biography "DESIGN FOR FLIGHT - The Kurt Tank Story" by Heinz Conradis. This was a contemporary written with tank's co-operation.  Cheers.</blockquote>

Verification: What company designed the famous Spitfire?