A crew of four could assemble and disassemble the Fa 330 in three minutes. When not in use, the aircraft remained stowed in two watertight tubes in the U-Boat's conning tower. Only U-Boats operating in the Indian Ocean deployed them, because Allied naval superiority in the Atlantic Ocean made surfacing in the daylight extremely hazardous.
Focke-Achgelis
Fa 330A-1
Focke-Achgelis GmbH built the Fa 330 to aid U-boats in the search for targets. It was quick to assemble, and two men could easily hoist the entire machine. Type IX D2 U-Boats towed the gyro kite through the air, to a maximum altitude of 220 meters. This rotary-wing kite flew by autorotation.