Foche-Wulf FW-190 German Fighter

The Fw 190, designed by DipI-Ing Kurt Tank, was one of the technically most advanced, and operationally most eminent, fighter/fighter-bombers of 1939-45. One of two designs submitted by Focke-WuIf in response to a 1937 RUE! specification, the prototype Fw 190V1 (D-OPzE) flew on I June 1939, powered by a l,550hp BMW 139 radial, as was the second prototype. Subsequently, the larger I ,600hp BMW 801 was substituted. In 1940 IS pre-production Fw 190A-Os were ordered, most with a 3ft 3Ydn (l.OOm) increased in span that became standard. Delivery began in June 1941 with 100 A-Is. Armament was increased to six guns in the A-3, powered by a l,700hp BMW BOlDg. The N 190 was used in low-altittide hit-and-run raids over southern England in 1941-42. By the end of 1942 nearly 3,000 had been built and the N 190 was serving in North Africa and on the Russian Front in even greater numbers than in Europe. Variants Included the A-4: the A-4/UB with fewer guns but carrying drop-tanks and a 500kg (1,10mb) bomb load, and the rocketcarrying A-4/R6; the A-5, for night fighting and close-support duties; the A-Sand A-? had increased firepower the A-B, A-9 and A-b were mostly fighter-bombers, with different BMW 801 versions. A few Fw 190B and C prototypes were completed, with supercharged inverted-V DB6O3s. They were discarded in favour of the Fw 190D powered by the liquid-cooled l.776hp Junkers Jurno 2 ISA-I whose annular radiator duct presented a radial-engined appearance and characterised by its longer nose and rear fuselage and (on the D-1) increased fin area. The initial D-0 and D-I aircraft were evaluated in spring and summer 1943, The first major production D was the D-9, an interceptor, entering service in 194S; subsequent versions. equipped for ground attack, included the D-I I, D-12 and D-13, Following the Dwaa the Fw 1900 fighter-bomber which could carry up to 1,800kg (3,9681b) of bombs. The F followed. Both were powered by the BMW SOlD, Total Fw ISO production, excluding prototypes, was 20,081, over 6,500 of which were fighterboniber vanants. The DB603-engined Ta 152, developed from the N 190D, succeeded it in production, but served only in small numbers before the war ended.

Kurt Tank, one of the niost progressive aircraft designers of the past three decades, belongs the distinction of producing what is generally acknowledged as Germany's most successful single-seat fighter of World War 2, the Focke Wulf Fw 190. By the tune the RLM specification for the Fw 190 was issued, in 1937, the Messerschmitt Ef 109 was well established in production, but the thirty-nine-year old Tank's design was superior to it in many respects. It was a wellproportioned and aerodynamically clean-looking aircraft, the most noticeable characteristics being a very wide-track main landing gear and a large but neatly cowled BMW 139 engine. The Fw 190 VI (D-OPZE), designed by DipI-Ing Kurt Tank and Oberingenieur R Blaser to a 1938 RLM requirement, first flew on 1 June 1939, this aircraft and the V2 each being powered by a I ,SSOhp BMW 139 two-row radial engine. Subsequent aircraft, with the larger and more powerful BMW 8010, included 40 pre-series Fw 190A-Os ordered in 1940. most of them witl, a I OOm (3ft 3 4in) greater wing span which later became standard. Full-scale production started with 100 fourgun Fw 190A-1s, which entered service with I1./JG26 in summer 1941, and continued with the better-aimed A-2 and A-3, the latter having six guris(two MG 151/20 and four MG 17) and a BMW 801D-2 engine. Early operational use was made of the Fw 190 in the Jagdbomber role, in low-level hit-and-mn raids over southern England during 1942. The A-4 series (2, lOOhp boosted BMW 801D-2) included the A-4/U8 fighterbomber (can-ying a drop-tank and 500kg; 1,1021b of bombs, with armament reduced) and the A-4/RS bomber interceptor with underwing rocket projectiles. By the end of 1942 more than 2,000 Fw 190s had been delivered and were in widespread service in Europe, the Mediten-anean and on the Eastern Front. The A-S was produced chiefly for close support; the A-6 and A-7 featured further improvements in firepower; the A-8s were mostly bomber interceptors or Zerstbrern, although some were employed as all-weather fighters and others as two-seat trainers. As a fighter, at altitudes up to about 20,OOOft (6,lOOzn), the Fw 190 could match or improve upon the performance of the Spitfire V. then the best of its Allied adversaries. Above suchheights, however, performance of the Fw 19O began to fall off rapidly, and improvement became an absolute necessity in the face of high-level daytime raids by USAAF bomber formations in the middle war years. The Fw 190B and C series were discarded. after a few prototypes with boosted BMW SOlD or DB 603A engines, in favour of the long-nosed Fw 190D or Dora'. The D series, of which some 650-700 were built, evolved from prototypes with the l,776hp Jumo 213A-l engine, fitted with an annular cooling duct that maintained the 'radial' appearance. Early Fw 190D-Os and D-ls were characterised. apart from their longer cowlings, by lengthened rear fuselages and (on the D-l) increased fin area. The major production version (numbered to follow on from the A-8) was the Fw 190D-9 interceptor, which entered service with 111./IG 84 in 1944 and was aimed with two MG 151/20 wing cannon and two MG 131s over the engine. Regarded by many as the Luftwaffe's finest piston-engined fighter of the war, the Fw 190D-9 was to have been followed by the D-ll, 12, 13, 14 an

15; but no substantial production of these models was undertaken. The Fw ISOF and G (the E reconnaissance fighter and high altitude H series not being built) were short-nosed models, based on the Fw 190A. The Fw 190F series' principal model, the F-8, had provision for underwing rocket projectiles, Both the F and G were BMW 801-powered, the latter being mostly fighter-bombers in which gun annament was reduced to permit (on the G-l) a single 1,800kg (3,9681b) bomb, or(on other G models)up to l,OOOkg(2,2061b)of smaller bombs, to be carried. Total Fw 190 production, which ended in 1945, was approximately 19,500. It was the first fighter to give the Luftwaffe a combat advantage over the early Spitfires. Its overall versatility, too complex to list here, was characterised by several dozen kits to adapt production aircraft to different roles, and the allocation of some 80 Versuchs numbers to individual development aircraft.