Ben Beekman, e-mail, 21.10.2012 02:48 I recently watched a TV program on World War 2 aircraft that claimed Kurt Tank was influenced in his design of the FW-190 by the design and performance of the Hughes 1B Racer. True? The two airplanes do have a similar appearance outwardly. Hughes' Racer could reach a top speed of 352 MPH in 1935!

Mark, e-mail, 20.09.2012 17:14 Focke Wulf Fw 190 Το Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (Αετομάχος), υπήρξε ένα μονοθέσιο, μονοκινητήριο καταδιωκτικό αεροσκάφος της Γερμανικής πολεμικής αεροπορίας (Luftwaffe). Χρησιμοποιήθηκε εκτενέστατα κατά το Β΄ΠΠ, όπου πάνω από 20.000 μονάδες κατασκευάστηκαν, εκ των οποίων κάπου 6.000 αεροσκάφη ήταν μαχητικά-βομβαρδιστικά. Η παραγωγή του ξεκίνησε στα 1941 και κράτησε μέχρι το τέλος των εχθροπραξιών, ενώ κατά τη διάρκειά της, ο τύπος διαρκώς αναβαθμίζονταν. Οι τελευταίες εκδόσεις παρέμειναν εφάμιλλες των συμμαχικών ομολόγων τους, αλλά η Γερμανία δεν ήταν πλέον σε θέση να τις παράγει σε επαρκείς αριθμούς ώστε να επηρεάσει την έκβαση του πολέμου. Το Fw 190 ήταν ιδιαίτερα αγαπητό στους πιλότους του και γρήγορα αποδείχθηκε ανώτερο του καλύτερου καταδιωκτικού της Βρετανικής RAF, του Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V, όταν έλαβε το βάπτισμα του πυρός στα 1941. Συγκρινόμενο με το Bf 109, το Fw 190 ήταν ένας «εργάτης», που του ανατέθηκαν και ανταπεξήλθε σε ένα ευρύ φάσμα εξειδικεύσεων, που περιελάμβαναν καθήκοντα μαχητικού αεροπορικής κυριαρχίας, προσβολής επίγειων στόχων, μαχητικού-βομβαρδιστικού, συνοδευτικού βαρέων βομβαρδιστικών και νυκτερινού μαχητικού.

Naga, 14.07.2012 01:31 If you visit the countrysides of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, or Hungary, you can still dig up pieces of these aircraft and Me 109s that crashed during the bombing campaign. A few years back someone found a whole plane (albeit in extremely poor condition, go figure,) abandoned in a forest clearing. Not sure how it got there. My parents have a little collection of Fw 190 parts that they brought with them to the States in the '90s, including a tailwheel, components from landing gear, cockpit systems, a few types of cannons (components including those from a 15mm weapon)), and the remains of a 30mm assault weapon carried beneath the wings.

Ron, e-mail, 22.04.2012 06:12 Most Fw 190As turned a 360 in the 27 sec. range with 6 guns or more. So the Dora model was a big improvement at 22 sec!

Ron, e-mail, 24.12.2011 05:46 The last post I made about the 'D-9' tested by Capt. Brown may have been a later model Dora, not the production D-9 as his book said. I came across that tidbit somewhere online.

shel, e-mail, 29.10.2011 17:55 The FW 190 was clearly a better plane than the ME 109. The ME109's landing gear was narrow and unforgiving of errors. About 1/3 of all 109 losses were due to take off and landing accidents. Visibility in the 109 was poor compared to the 190. I've been in both. I could hardly fit or turn my heard in the 109. (I'm 5'10", 180 lbs.) The 190 is much more pilot friendly. The 190 was much easier to build and maintain. Both planes were fine fighters, but the FW 190 was the better bird.

shel, e-mail, 29.10.2011 17:53 The FW 190 was clearly a better plane than the ME 109. The ME109's landing gear was narrow and unforgiving of errors. About 1/3 of all 109 losses were due to take off and landing accidents. Visibility in the 109 was poor compared to the 190. I've been in both. I could hardly fit or turn my heard in the 109. (I'm 5'10", 180 lbs.) The 190 is much more pilot friendly. The 190 was much easier to build and maintain. Both planes were fine fighters, but the FW 190 was the better bird.

Bob Tufo, e-mail, 16.08.2011 14:46 Does anyone have information on FW-190 variants being equipped with either the BMW aircooled or Junker Jumo liquid cooled engine ?

David Earl, 14.02.2011 23:18 This is seriously one of the best planes of World War 2. It outperformed everything before the P-51 came along. As much as the allies won, you got to give the German Luftwaffe credit. If Hitler wasn't such an idiot, the Luftwaffe would have pounded us with their first jet craft and rocket interceptors.

MAVERICKTOPGUN, 29.01.2011 05:41 ALL OF YOU, SSSHHHUUUTTT UUUPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE FW-190 KICKS FUCKIN ASSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ron, e-mail, 04.01.2011 08:26 In his book,"Duel's In The Sky", Capt. Eric M. Brown has a table on P. 196 that has 6,250 ft/min rate of climb with MW injection giving 2,240 hp for the 1,776 hp Jumo 213A-1 powered Fw 190D-9. Flight Journal Special, WW II Fighters - Winter 2000 issue, P. 20: " rate of climb of just under 5,000fpm " for the MW-50 boosted Fw 190D-9. I was thinking of these when I wrote the top climb numbers I've heard of for the 1945 version of the Dora. That's when it had the boost for sure. Granted, all the usual published data is lower.

mike, e-mail, 12.12.2010 05:59 What people should realize is Germany had been at war and preparing for war many years before the British or united states got serious about designing fighter aircraft. World War I left many with no desire for war, so they looked the other way until they had no choice. Yes, at the beginning of the war the FW-190 was a better fighter than what the British or Americans had, but in short order that changed. I read what Chuck Yeager and other aces said who fought against the 190 in mustangs, and they all said the mustang had better performance. The ta152 was never ready for prime time, had so many mechanical problems I read only 3 were out of about 100 were operational at the end of the war, guess it was Germanys wonder weapon that fizzled.

wlkriessmann, e-mail, 26.09.2010 21:01 I likerd the 190 better than the 109 .Checked out on July 17th 1944 Hildeheim(SO+HY) ,a fewon August8th(PO+UU).But never brand new factrory delivered. Early April 1944 after I left KG 53 in Kowno ihave bee ordered to Hannover Langenhagen to join the group joining Prof Tank and the dcevelopdment of the TA 152,I flew a lot Ju88 and 1888 but had only a look at some TA 152 I think early May Langenhagen was bombed out ;I moved to Fassberg I never flew the TA ,

wlkriessmann, e-mail, 26.09.2010 21:01 I likerd the 190 better than the 109 .Checked out on July 17th 1944 Hildeheim(SO+HY) ,a fewon August8th(PO+UU).But never brand new factrory delivered. Early April 1944 after I left KG 53 in Kowno ihave bee ordered to Hannover Langenhagen to join the group joining Prof Tank and the dcevelopdment of the TA 152,I flew a lot Ju88 and 1888 but had only a look at some TA 152 I think early May Langenhagen was bombed out ;I moved to Fassberg I never flew the TA ,

Aaron, e-mail, 06.09.2010 03:08 Ron, I admit that I have not read any of Brown's books, so I can't make any judgement calls on them. I do know however, that you have to read test reports very carefully if you wish to compare apples to apples. A test of a F8F-1 unmodified aircraft climbed to 10,000ft. in 94 seconds (6383fpm. avg.). And a lightened P-51B-5 on 44-1 fuel was recorded as climbing at 4670fpm at 3,500ft. But these were isolated instances and not representitive of a fully loaded clean aircraft in the field of battle. I would really like to know the test weight and the amount of boost used on the FW-190D to get it to climb at 5000fpm. As I stated before I have seen the optimal climb rate of the FW-190D-9 in all up interceptor mode was about 4400fpm. This was an excellent climb rate and definitely better than the Merlin powered Mustangs it met in combat.

Ron, e-mail, 15.08.2010 07:41 Aaron, Don't look at me. That was the Dora 9 boosted performance in RAF test pilot Brown's book. I've seen 5,000+ fpm elsewhere. Certainly, most were unboosted in 1944. Perhaps it was the fuel as well.

Aaron, e-mail, 13.08.2010 23:50 Francis, You seriously have to get an interpreter. The wealth of information you are sending is getting lost in the translation (or lack of) in my mind. Eliko is right. In an interview with a Russian pilot (I'll have to look up the name), he stated that the FW-190 could not accelerate as fast as their Las, Migs or P-39s. He states that it was not as dynamic or responsive as their fighters. (That's right, I said P-39). In an official German listing of Fock-Wulfe fighter performance the Fw 190's performance was: Jumo 213A. 358-380mph/SL. 426-436mph/36,080ft. Climb is listed at 3641fpm. and 32,800ft. was reached in 12.5 sec. Just a personal opinion: In another post, on another sight someone listed 4400fpm as the initial climb. Considering the engine, weight and German development, I don't find that figure hard to believe. But 6225fpm. is a bit of a reach Ron. That is in Bearcat territory.

Jackie, 08.08.2010 05:29 The Focke Wulf-190 is probably the most successful German fighter of World War II along side the older Messerschmitt-109. It caused severe losses to the RAF when it entered service in 1941 when it partially replaced the 109. Many variants of the Focke Wulf 190 were built throughout the war. It was usually armed with 2 machine guns and 2 Mk 108 or 103 cannons.

Ta-183 Huckebein, 16.05.2010 16:39 Sometime during WWII germany did this Mistel Program with the 190 when an 190 with a old airplane (bomb laden) under its belly flies towards a target. when they are near the target they jettison the bomber. The 'Mistel' (which is the bomber) hits the target and there's a BIG explosion. But the Mistel project came too late to have any effect on the war.

Johan Runfeldt, 26.03.2010 15:27 The difference between the Fw190 and the Me109 was accurately highlighted by Kurt Tank when he first presented the Fw190, as the difference between a thoroughbred and an army horse. By the time most of the developed versions (D,F,G) of the 190 went into service, fuel shortages had long since hampered training and was starting to affect operations.

Ron, e-mail, 28.01.2010 09:32 360 deg turn for the A-5 with only 2 cn and 2 mg took around 21.5 sec. Interestingly that is right between the 3 gun and the 5 gun Bf 109G-2 (20.8 and 22.6 sec respectively). Of course the La-5FN turned in around 18.5 sec. and the Yak-9D only took 16.5 roughly in a Soviet mock dogfight including the 6 gun Fw 190A-4 which did about 22.5 sec. Those 2 Russian models were the most produced by the Soviets in the war. The most numerous models in the Luftwaffe were the Bf 109G-6 and the Fw 190A-8 with even slower turn performance! Therefore, most German pilots avoided horizontal turns in a duel. Was the extra firepower worth it? The average pilot was no longer the marksman required by a 3 gun Bf 109F.

Francis Maignι, e-mail, 22.12.2009 12:30 Fw 190 Fred Avec le Bf 109, le Focke Wulf 190 sera le chasseur standard de la Luftwaffe pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. L'idιe d'utiliser un moteur en ιtoile sur un chasseur ιtait hardie en Allemagne ΰ l'ιpoque. Le poids du moteur et la question de son refroidissement retardθrent le dιveloppement de l'avion. Apparu prθs de 5 ans aprθs le Messerchmitt, il lui est supιrieur dans presque tous les compartiments de combat. Ce fut non seulement un chasseur exceptionnel, mais il pouvait ιgalement transporter des charges de bombes et fournir appui tactique fort apprιciι. Sa seule vrai faiblesse ιtait le combat ΰ haute altitude, lΰ oω croisaient les vagues de quadrimoteurs alliιs qui attaquaient le coeur de l'Allemagne. Le Long Nez, apparu en 1944 et ιquipι de moteur en ligne remιdiaient ΰ cette faiblesse, mais la qualitι dιcroissante des pilotes allemands et l'absolue supιrioritι numιrique alliιe annulθrent ses atouts techniques. Description : Monomoteur de chasse et de chasse-bombardement, monoplace sous verriθre monobloc s’ouvrant en coulissant vers l’arriθre, monoplan voilure basse cantilever, mono dιrive, empennage horizontal classique cantilever, train d'atterrissage classique escamotable vers l’intιrieur dans l’ιpaisseur de l’intrados de la voilure, roulette de queue rιtractable vers l’arriθre. Construction entiιre ment mιtallique, sauf les gouvernes de direction et de profondeur entoilιes sur armature mιtal. 1 moteur tractif de 14 cylindres en dou ble ιtoile, hιlice VDM tripale mιtallique ΰ pas variable. Fuselage : Formι de cadres et de lisses revκtus de mιtal, comportant ΰ l'avant le moteur en ιtoile et son bβti fixι en partie sur la face avant du longeron principal de l'aile et sur la cloison pare-feu. Celle-ci suivie des instruments de la planche de bord et des comman des vol et moteur, dans un poste de pilotage recouvert d'une verriθre aplatie ΰ vision totale, moulιe d'une seule piθce, coulissant sur le dos du fuselage, vers l'arriθre. Les rιservoirs de fuselage se trouvant ΰ la partie infιrieure sous l'habitacle, juste en arriθre du longeron principal de voilure. La partie arriθre du fuselage contenant les commandes rigides de vol ,bouteilles d'oxy gθne, compas et coffret de secours, se terminant par la dιrive. L'extrιmitι arriθre du fuselage contenant les dispositifs d’escamota ge et d'amortissement de la roulette de queue portιe par une fourche. Voilure : De forme trapιzoοdale, prιsentant un diθdre positif et des bords marginaux arrondis. Bi-longeron , construite d' une seule piθce, constituιe d'un longeron principal traversant la partie basse du fuselage, et d'un longeron arriθre par aile, fixι au cadre fort du fuselage se trouvant ΰ l'aplomb de la partie avant de la verriθre, de nervures pleines et de lisses perpendiculaires, le tout recouvert de panneaux de mιtal. La partie arriθre occupιe de volets coiffιs par la partie supιrieure du revκtement, et d'aile rons d'un seul tenant. Le train d'atterrissage ιtant fixι sur un tourillon sur la face avant du longeron principal. De grande lon gueur et ΰ large voie, ce dernier procurant une excellente stabilitι. Sa rιtraction s'effectuant vers l'intιrieur par variation de pres sion dans un circuit d'huile. Empennages : Le plan stabilisateur, ΰ incidence variable par commande mιcanique rigide, composι de deux longerons: l'un prin cipal en corniθre en I et un longeron avant de mκme forme, mais de plus faible section. Les gouvernes de profondeur et de direction, d'os sature mιtallique entoilιes et munies d'un compensateur fixe. La gouverne de direction articulιe sur la partie verticale arriθre de la dιri ve. Train d’atterrissage : Voie: 3,50 m, Empattement : 7,00 m Sa seule vrai faiblesse ιtait le combat ΰ haute altitude, lΰ oω croisaient les vagues de quadrimoteurs alliιs qui attaquaient le coeur de l'Allemagne. Le Long Nez, apparu en 1944 et ιquipι de moteur en ligne remιdiaient ΰ cette faiblesse, mais la qualitι dιcroissante des pilotes allemands et l'absolue supιrioritι numιrique alliιe annulθrent ses atouts techniques. VERSIONS : F 190 V-1 : Monomoteur de chasse et de chasse-bombardement, monoplace sous verriθre, s'ouvrant en coulissant vers l'arriθre, monoplan voilure basse cantilever droite, mono dιrive, empennage horizontal classique cantilever, train d'atterrissage escamotable vers l'intιrieur, roulette de queue semi-rιtractable. Construction entiιrement mιtallique, sauf les gouvernes de direction et de profondeur en toilιes sur armature mιtallique. 1 moteur de 18cylindres en double ιtoile Bmw 139 de 1550 cv, hιlice tripale mιtallique ΰ pas variable VDM de 3,30 m de diamθtre, grosse casserole d'hιlice, E: 9,515 m, L: 8,80 m, H: 3,96 m, Voie du train: 3,50 m. 1er vol: 01/06/1939, par Hans Sander, 1er prototype, Werk Nr 0001, D-OPZE. FO+LY. F 190 V-2 : .Semblable au V1 ΰ q ...

eliko, e-mail, 04.11.2009 13:06 FW-190 wasnt good turn fighter . Soviet fighters could easily overturn him . Also had bad climb rate , thats why german pilots usually dive to avoid 6 o'clock attack . Most soviet pilots said it easier to fight with FW than BF . Adil Quliev ( 20 kills ) had just 1 killed BF , other 19 was FW .

paul scott, e-mail, 19.10.2009 02:32 Grateful for the 'tooled up' Spit to counter the butcher bird, but that's credit to the Spit's designers, for being able to upgade it in the first place - Bob Norton's right though, it took allied endeavour to counter it really, as we all know, the Mustnag's success was Anglo-American - right down to the Brits naming nearly every American warbird by an 'American' name (Mustang in point) other than just its designation number.

Ronald, e-mail, 30.08.2009 08:56 Roll-rate for the Anton was 162 degrees/second (250 mph); 126 for the Dora (300 mph). 360 turn took 23 seconds for the A-4, down to 19 (sans wing guns?); 26 for later Antons; 22 for Dora-9.

Ronald, e-mail, 24.08.2009 05:09 Dive red-line was 466 mph for the Anton-4. Later Fw 190s dive tested to 594 mph terminal velocity.

BOB NORTON, 12.07.2009 10:58 The FW190 was one of the finest fighterplanes of the war, only a hand full of allied planes could match it, P-51B+ tepestV Yak3 but the spitfireIX was the first of these to start plucking feathers of the butcherbird. The RAF did not or the USAAF defeated the luffwaffe on thier owns, it was an ALLIED effort.

d.jay, 11.07.2009 08:11 So the luftwaffe had got out of range of spitfires because it could not fight them so it left is army in France out numbered. Looks like they had already give up any vctory.

Art Deco, 11.07.2009 03:49 It is odd that a Luftwaffe ace like Pips Priller is best remembered for his flight down the Normandy beach in his FW-190. There was only a handful of fighters left in France because the 8th AF was conducting a strategic bombing offensive on Germany, escorted by long range fighters, that required a response, unlike the short-ranged sorties with inconsequential targets, which was all the Spitfires were capable of reaching. Bombers were destroying Germany and Mustangs, not Spitfires, were enabling them. That's where the Luftwaffe was.

d.jay, 11.07.2009 00:10 So what happend to the luftwaffe in northen France by D-Day the Merlin Mustang had only just enterd service by then and was too busy escorting bombers.

Art Deco, 10.07.2009 21:35 Spit IX's didn't contain the threat, they only met it. the low level raids over England were met by the lash-up Spit XII with single stage Griffon and Typhoon. However, Spit V's continued to operate over France and in the Med theater long after.

d.jay, 10.07.2009 20:47 It only had airsuperiority for 10 months when the Spit mk IX came out which was a mk V with a two stage Merlin. The mk VIIs and VIIIs where only bluilt in small numbers because the FW190 threat had been contained by "Jonny" Johnson and co in mk IXs in 1943, Even when the FW190 was up engined whith a Jumo 213 the spit already had the griffon.

Ronald, e-mail, 22.06.2009 08:16 The Russians clocked the Dora-9 at 22 seconds for a banked full turn of 360 degrees (unboosted). They were not very impressed since their fighters were 3 or 4 seconds quicker. Still, it was an improvement over the Anton radial (Fw 190A) at 26 seconds.

leo rudnicki, e-mail, 01.05.2009 01:50 After playing with another engine with ducted spinner, the FW-190a appeared out of nowhere two years later over France, completely blowing the Bond 007 myth. Many veteran Battle of Britain pilots died or spent the war at the Stalag Luft Hilton, ie; Dogsbody & Lucky Tuck. RAF reacted awkwardly with Spit IX superceding Spit VIII in development while Spit V production, while just made obsolete, outpaced all other models. Typhoon production was pushed to counter FW raids over Jolly Old. Development of FW-190 F&G models prioritized due to a lack of Stuka replacement. Big bombs with trimmed fins to fit on the belly rack, torpedoes mounted with raised tailwheel, too many factory and field mod kits to shake a stick at. Forward armored bomber destroyers with MK108's. Mistel combination with JU 88. Wide-track gear was easier on the inexperienced than the Me 109's Whoopie wheels. Engineering details abounded in cowling/ cooling system, throttle and mixture controls etc. Perfomance trailed off higher up, Turbo engine failed. FW 190-D9 with Junkers Jumo 213 solved the altitude problem eventually although Tank wanted DB 603's, even later fitted to some Ta-152H's. Can't find much on decals but if you write "Dieses machinen ist nicht fur fingerpoken und mittengrabben" real small om tracing paper soaked in glue, it works for me.

Joel Philippe, e-mail, 23.03.2009 23:32 The whole FW-190 "A" series line is missing here!It is the most produced ans active FW fighters during WWII.

bao, e-mail, 30.11.2008 16:34 In the picture is type V

Geir J. Valla, e-mail, 31.10.2008 21:01 Hello ! I\\ am retoring a BMW 801 D2 14 cyl. radial engine for FW 190. Do anyone have a manual for this motor ? I like to by a copy.

Charles, e-mail, 13.10.2008 20:53 Do you know of a source for nomenclature stenceling used on the FW-190 aircraft written in German. I am trying to reproduce decals for a 60 size FW-190 but can not fine any conerical decals with the nomenclature included.

Ronald, e-mail, 24.09.2008 07:46 Climb rate: Anton-8 = 3,445 ft/min. 19,685 ft/9 min. 6 sec. Dora-9 = 6,225 ft/min. 19,685 ft/7 min. 6 sec. Once the pilots got over the fact that the new Dora-9 borrowed the engine from a bomber, they liked how it could out-run, out-turn and out fly the A series Fw 190 in the vertical plane, though it lost a bit of it's roll rate. Later it did even better boosted. Still it was best at low altitudes and meant as a stop gap until the new Ta 152 arrived. The Antons had more guns (6-10) for attacking bombers and the Doras (sans outboard wing guns) took on the escort fighters or covered jets that were landing.

Mahon MacRi, e-mail, 03.08.2008 05:13 Indeed, the three-view is of the radial-engined FW 190-A, also known as "the Butcher bird," which served the Luftwaffe in several fighter/fighter-bomber versions (mostly various A-1 through A-8 models) while the photograph and artwork show the famous FW 190-D, or "long nose 190," which was powered by an in-line Junkers Jumo inverted V-12 engine normally found in various bombers. Allied fighter pilots quickly came to fear and respect the Dora for its outstanding speed, performance and agility, and German pilots loved their Doras for much the same reasons, as well as its proven ruggedness and ability to absorb battle-damage. From its earliest service with the Luftwaffe, the FW 190 displayed phenomenal roll and climb rates, and featured an ability to pull very hard turns at speeds which would have literally ripped the wings right off some of its contemporaries! Unfortunately, the Dora also shared the same stall characteristics as other FW 190 versions, which some pilots have described as "absolutely vicious," and accellerated stalls usually came with little or no warning. Still, the Fw 190 Dora was definitely among the finest piston-engined fighters ever produced, and belongs right up there with the North American P-51D Mustang as one of the two top piston-engined fighters of WWII.

Ben, e-mail, 16.05.2008 23:34 Nice one champ - 'Dora' is German phonetic for D (Delta), 'Dora' isn't a new kite, it's an Fw190 with the BMW801 binned in favour of an inverted V12 Junkers Jumo inline. It's the forth major variation of the 190 airframe. Does your school-teacher know you're surfing the net all night and not doing your homework?

thawkins, 23.09.2007 01:58 the drawing is not a dora. It is one of the radial engined models of the 190 series. The photograph and art work picture are doras.

costy, 16.07.2007 22:34 the plane show above is not fw 190 a, but the version developt latter , in 1944, named "DORA"

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