In 1937 the Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) asked for new fighter designs to potentially replace the existing Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was a precautionary measure to ensure German fighters would remain "state of the art". Focke-Wulf designer Kurt Tank responded to this request with this radial engine design based around the 14-cylinder BMW 139 radial engine, the use of radial engines in European fighters had fallen out of favour as the large frontal area impeded modern streamlined design requirements, however
Kurt Tank overcame this problem to a large degree by using a tight fitting engine cowl combined with a larger than conventional streamlined propeller spinner. The RLM (Reich Air Ministry) was particularly attracted by the idea of using a different engine for it's new fighter design than it's existing Messerschmitt Bf 109 as there would be no no conflict with engine allocation allowing grater production rates than could be achieved if both fighters utilised the same engine.
The prototype Focke-Wulf Fw 190 first flew in June 1937 and proved to be an excellent overall design, with only serious problems with heat dissipation from the engine (the cockpit was almost oven like initially) from the start of production of the Fw 190 in 1941 to the end of WWII in excess of 20,000 aircraft were produced. The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was officially called the Würger (shrike), but it's outstanding offensive performance soon led to it being referred to as the "Butcher-bird", it virtually rendered the RAF's Spitfire MkV obsolete with it's high rate of roll and outstanding high altitude performance. In June 1942, following a dogfight over the Bristol Channel, a lost Luftwaffe pilot landed his Focke-Wulf Fw-190 at RAF Pembrey, he was promptly "captured" by the air traffic controller with the only weapon at hand - a very pistol. A captured Fw-190 gave the RAF an opportunity to test fly the aircraft against the Spitfire MkV, as feared the Fw 190 was found to be superior in all but turn radius, as an interim measure to reduce the performance gap clipped wings were utilised on some of the existing Spitfire MkV's, true parity however only occurred with the introduction of the Spitfire MkIX. Unfortunately for the Luftwaffe, in the later part of the war, when the aircraft was most needed, allied bombing reduced production to a relative trickle. The superb design was in part copied by other nations, some of the fastest and best propeller driven fighters produced, such as the Kawasaki Ki 100, Grumman F8F-2P Bearcat and the Hawker Sea Fury FB-11 were in part designed by reference to captured or donated late model Fw 190's like the Fw 190D-9 pictured above. Fw 190D-9 Focke-Wulf Specifications: Crew: Pilot only Length: 10.20 m (33 ft 5 1/2 in) Wingspan: 10.50 m (34 ft 5 in) Height: 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in) Empty weight: 3,490 kg (7,694 lb) Maximum takeoff weight: 4,840 kg (10,670 lb) Engine: Single 1,544 kW (2,100 hp) Junkers Jumo 213A-1 12-cylinder inverted-V piston engine Maximum speed: 710 km/h at 11,300 m (440 mph at 37,000 ft) Range: 835 km (519 mi) Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 ft) Rate of climb: 17 m/s (3,300 feet/min)
Armament: Twin 13 mm MG 131 machine guns Twin 20 mm MG 151 cannons Single 500 kg (1,102 lb) SC 500 bomb
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