Focke-Wulf Fw 190


The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Fw 190 became the backbone of the Luftwaffe's Jagdwaffe. The twin-row BMW 801 radial engine that powered most operational versions enabled the Fw 190 to lift larger loads than the Bf 109, allowing its use as a day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and, to a lesser degree, night fighter.
The Fw 190A started flying operationally over France in August 1941, and quickly proved superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air Force's main front-line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V, particularly at low and medium altitudes. The 190 maintained superiority over Allied fighters until the introduction of the improved Spitfire Mk. IX. In November/December 1942, the Fw 190 made its air combat debut on the Eastern Front, finding much success in fighter wings and specialised ground attack units called Schlachtgeschwader from October 1943 onwards.
The Fw 190A series' performance decreased at high altitudes, which reduced its effectiveness as a high-altitude interceptor. From the Fw 190's inception, there had been ongoing efforts to address this with a turbosupercharged BMW 801 in the B model, the much longer-nosed C model with efforts to also turbocharge its chosen Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V12 powerplant, and the similarly long-nosed D model with the Junkers Jumo 213. Problems with the turbocharger installations on the -B and -C subtypes meant only the D model entered service in September 1944. These high-altitude developments eventually led to the Focke-Wulf Ta 152, which was capable of extreme speeds at medium to high altitudes. While these "long nose" 190 variants and the Ta 152 derivative especially gave the Germans parity with Allied opponents, they arrived too late to affect the outcome of the war.
The Fw 190 was well-liked by its pilots. Some of the Luftwaffe's most successful fighter aces claimed many of their kills while flying it, including Otto Kittel, Walter Nowotny and Erich Rudorffer. The Fw 190 provided greater firepower than the Bf 109 and, at low to medium altitude, superior manoeuvrability, in the opinion of German pilots who flew both fighters. It was regarded as one of the best fighter planes of World War II.

Early development

Genesis

Between 1934 and 1935 the German Ministry of Aviation ran a contest to produce a modern fighter for the rearming Luftwaffe. Kurt Tank entered the parasol-winged Fw 159 into the contest, against the Arado Ar 80, Heinkel He 112 and Messerschmitt Bf 109. The Fw 159 was hopelessly outclassed, and was soon eliminated from the competition along with the Ar 80. The He 112 and Bf 109 were generally similar in design but the 109's lightweight construction gave it a performance edge the 112 was never able to match. On 12 March 1936 the 109 was declared the winner.
Even before the 109 had entered squadron service, in autumn 1937 the RLM sent out a new tender asking various designers for a new fighter to fight alongside the Bf 109, as Walter Günther had done with his firm's follow-on to the unsuccessful He 100 and He 112. Although the Bf 109 was an extremely competitive fighter, the Ministry was worried that future foreign designs might outclass it, and wanted to have new aircraft under development to meet these possible challenges. Kurt Tank responded with a number of designs, most based around a liquid-cooled inline engine.
However, it was not until a design was presented using the air-cooled, 14-cylinder BMW 139 radial engine that the Ministry of Aviation's interest was aroused. As this design used a radial engine, it would not compete with the inline-powered Bf 109 for engines, when there were already too few Daimler-Benz DB 601s to go around. This was not the case for competing designs like the Heinkel He 100 or twin-engined Focke-Wulf Fw 187, where production would compete with the 109 and Messerschmitt Bf 110 for engine supplies. After the war, Tank denied a rumour that he had to "fight a battle" with the Ministry to convince them of the radial engine's merits.

Design concepts

At the time, the use of radial engines in land-based fighters was relatively rare in Europe, as it was believed that their large frontal area would cause too much drag on something as small as a fighter. Tank was not convinced of this, having witnessed the successful use of radial engines by the U.S. Navy, and felt a properly streamlined installation would eliminate this problem.
The hottest points on any air-cooled engine are the cylinder heads, located around the circumference of a radial engine. In order to provide sufficient air to cool the engine, airflow had to be maximized at this outer edge. This was normally accomplished by leaving the majority of the front face of the engine open to the air, causing considerable drag. During the late 1920s, NACA led development of a dramatic improvement by placing an airfoil-shaped ring around the outside of the cylinder heads. The shaping accelerated the air as it entered the front of the cowl, increasing the total airflow, and allowing the opening in front of the engine to be made smaller.
Tank introduced a further refinement to this basic concept. He suggested placing most of the airflow components on the propeller, in the form of an oversized propeller spinner whose outside diameter was the same as the engine. The cowl around the engine proper was greatly simplified, essentially a basic cylinder. Air entered through a small hole at the centre of the spinner, and was directed through ductwork in the spinner so it was blowing rearward along the cylinder heads. To provide enough airflow, an internal cone was placed in the centre of the hole, over the propeller hub, which was intended to compress the airflow and allow a smaller opening to be used. In theory, the tight-fitting cowling also provided some thrust due to the compression and heating of air as it flowed through the cowling.
As to the rest of the design philosophy, Tank wanted something more than an aircraft built only for speed. Tank outlined the reasoning:
In contrast to the complex, failure-prone fuselage-mounted main gear legs of the earlier Fw 159, one of the main features of the Fw 190 was its wide-tracked, inwards-retracting landing gear. They were designed to withstand a sink rate of 4.5 metres per second, double the strength factor usually required. Hydraulic wheel brakes were used. The wide-track undercarriage produced better ground handling characteristics, and the Fw 190 suffered fewer ground accidents than the Bf 109. The Fw 190's retractable tail gear used a cable, anchored to the "elbow" at the midpoint of the starboard maingear's transverse retraction arms, which ran aftwards within the fuselage to the vertical fin to operate the tailwheel retraction function. The tailwheel's retraction mechanical design possessed a set of pulleys to guide the aforementioned cable to the top of the tailwheel's oleo strut, pulling it upwards along a diagonal track within the fin, into the lower fuselage — this mechanism was accessible through a prominently visible triangular-shaped hinged panel, on the left side in the fin's side sheetmetal covering. On some versions of the Fw 190 an extended tailwheel oleo strut could be fitted for larger-sized loads beneath the fuselage.
Most aircraft of the era used cables and pulleys to operate their controls. The cables tended to stretch, resulting in the sensations of "give" and "play" that made the controls less crisp and responsive, and required constant maintenance to correct. For the new design, the team replaced the cables with rigid pushrods and bearings to eliminate this problem. Another innovation was making the controls as light as possible. The maximum resistance of the ailerons was limited to, as the average man's wrist could not exert a greater force. The empennage featured relatively small and well-balanced horizontal and vertical surfaces.
The design team also attempted to minimize changes in the aircraft's trim at varying speeds, thus reducing the pilot's workload. They were so successful in this regard that they found in-flight-adjustable aileron and rudder trim tabs were not necessary. Small, fixed tabs were fitted to control surfaces and adjusted for proper balance during initial test flights. Only the elevator trim needed to be adjusted in flight. This was accomplished by tilting the entire horizontal tailplane with an electric motor, with an angle of incidence ranging from −3° to +5°.
Another aspect of the new design was the extensive use of electrically powered equipment instead of the hydraulic systems used by most aircraft manufacturers of the time. On the first two prototypes, the main landing gear was hydraulic. Starting with the third prototype, the undercarriage was operated by push buttons controlling electric motors in the wings, and was kept in position by electric up and down-locks. The armament was also loaded and fired electrically. Tank believed that service use would prove that electrically powered systems were more reliable and more rugged than hydraulics, electric lines being much less prone to damage from enemy fire.
Like the Bf 109, the Fw 190 featured a fairly small wing planform with relatively high wing loading. This presents a trade-off in performance. An aircraft with a smaller wing suffers less drag under most flight conditions and therefore flies faster and may have better range. However, it also means the aircraft has a higher stalling speed making it less maneuverable, and also reduces performance in the thinner air at higher altitudes. The wings spanned 9.5 m and had an area of 15 m2. The wing was designed using the NACA 23015.3 airfoil at the root and the NACA 23009 airfoil at the tip.
Earlier aircraft designs generally featured canopies consisting of small plates of perspex in a metal "greenhouse" framework, with the top of the canopy even with the rear fuselage - this was true of the IJNAS Mitsubishi A6M Zero, whose otherwise "all-around view" canopy was still heavily framed. This design considerably limited visibility, especially to the rear. The introduction of vacuum forming led to the creation of the "bubble canopy" which was largely self-supporting, and could be mounted over the cockpit, offering greatly improved all-round visibility. Tank's design for the Fw 190 used a canopy with a frame that ran around the perimeter, with only a short, centerline seam along the top, running rearward from the radio antenna fitting where the three-panel windscreen and forward edge of the canopy met, just in front of the pilot.
The eventual choice of the BMW 801 14-cylinder radial over the more troublesome BMW 139 also brought with it a BMW-designed cowling "system" which integrated the radiator used to cool the motor oil. An annular, ring-shaped oil cooler core was built into the BMW-provided forward cowl, just behind the fan. The outer portion of the oil cooler's core was in contact with the main cowling's sheet metal. Comprising the BMW-designed forward cowl, in front of the oil cooler was a ring of metal with a C-shaped cross-section, with the outer lip lying just outside the rim of the cowl, and the inner side on the inside of the oil cooler core. Together, the metal ring and cowling formed an S-shaped duct with the oil cooler's core contained between them. Airflow past the gap between the cowl and outer lip of the metal ring produced a vacuum effect that pulled air from the front of the engine forward across the oil cooler core to provide cooling for the 801's motor oil. The rate of cooling airflow over the core could be controlled by moving the metal ring in order to open or close the gap. The reasons for this complex system were threefold. One was to reduce any extra aerodynamic drag of the oil radiator, in this case largely eliminating it by placing it within the same cowling as the engine. The second was to warm the air before it flowed to the radiator to aid warming the oil during starting. Finally, by placing the radiator behind the fan, cooling was provided even while the aircraft was parked. The disadvantage to this design was that the radiator was in an extremely vulnerable location, and the metal ring was increasingly armoured as the war progressed.

Variants

First prototypes (BMW 139)

;Fw 190 V1:, powered by a 1,550 PS BMW 139 14-cylinder two-row radial engine. D-OPZE first flew on 1 June 1939.
;Fw 190 V2: Designated with the Stammkennzeichen alphabetic ID code of FL+OZ the V2 first flew on 31 October 1939 and was equipped from the outset with the new spinner and cooling fan. It was armed with one Rheinmetall-Borsig 7.92 mm MG 17 machine gun and one 13 mm synchronized MG 131 machine gun in each wing root.
;Fw 190 V3:Abandoned
;Fw 190 V4:Abandoned

Later prototypes (BMW 801)

;Fw 190 V5:Fitted with the larger, more powerful 14-cylinder two-row BMW 801 radial engine. This engine introduced a pioneering example of an engine management system called the Kommandogerät designed by BMW, who also designed the 801's forward cowling with its integral oil cooling system: the Kommandogerät functioned in effect as an electro-mechanical computer which set mixture, propeller pitch, boost, and magneto timing.
;Fw 190 V5k: The smaller span initial variant re-designated after the longer span wing was fitted. The V5 first flew in the early spring of 1940. The weight increase with all of the modifications was substantial, about 635 kg, leading to higher wing loading and a deterioration in handling. Plans were made to create a new wing with more area to address these issues.
;Fw 190 V5g: In August 1940 a collision with a ground vehicle damaged the V5 and it was sent back to the factory for major repairs. This was an opportune time to rebuild it with a new wing which was less tapered in plan than the original design, extending the leading and trailing edges outward to increase the area. The new wing had an area of 18.30 m2, and now spanned 10.506 m. After conversion, the aircraft was called the V5g for große Fläche. Although it was 10 km/h slower than when fitted with the small wing, V5g was much more manoeuvrable and had a faster climb rate. This new wing platform was to be used for all major production versions of the Fw 190.

Fw 190 A

;Fw 190 A-0: The pre-production Fw 190 A-0 series was ordered in November 1940, a total of 28 being completed. Because they were built before the new wing design was fully tested and approved, the first nine A-0s retained the original small wings. All were armed with six 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns — four synchronised weapons, two in the forward fuselage and one in each wing root, supplemented by a free-firing MG 17 in each wing, outboard of the propeller disc.
;Fw 190 A-1: The Fw 190 A-1 was in production from June 1941. It was powered by the BMW 801 C-1 engine, rated at 1,560 PS for take-off. Armament included two fuselage-mounted 7.92 mm MG 17s and two wing root-mounted 7.92 mm MG 17s and two outboard wing-mounted 20 mm MG FF/Ms.
;Fw 190 A-2:The introduction of the BMW 801 C-2 resulted in the Fw 190 A-2 model, first introduced in October 1941. The A-2 wing weaponry was updated, with the two wing root-mounted 7.92 mm MG 17s being replaced by 20 mm MG 151/20E cannon.
;Fw 190 A-3: The Fw 190 A-3 was equipped with the BMW 801 D-2 engine, which increased power to 1,700 PS at takeoff. The A-3 retained the same weaponry as the A-2.
;Fw 190 A-3a: In autumn 1942, 72 new aircraft were delivered to Turkey in an effort to keep that country friendly to the Axis powers. These were designated Fw 190 A-3a, designation for export models and delivered between October 1942 and March 1943.
and swastika markings are of nonstandard size and proportions.
;Fw 190 A-4: Introduced in July 1942, the A-4 was equipped with the same engine and basic armament as the A-3.
;Fw 190 A-5: The A-5 was developed after it was determined that the Fw 190 could easily carry more ordnance. The D-2 engine was moved forward another 15 cm as had been tried out earlier on the service test A-3/U1 aircraft, moving the centre of gravity forward to allow more weight to be carried aft.
;Fw 190 A-6: The A-6 was developed to address shortcomings found in previous "A" models when attacking U.S. heavy bombers. A structurally redesigned and lighter wing was introduced and the normal armament was increased to two MG 17 fuselage machine guns and four 20 mm MG 151/20E wing root and outer wing cannon with larger ammunition boxes.
;Fw 190 A-7: The A-7 entered production in November 1943, equipped with the BMW 801 D-2 engine, again producing 1,700 PS and two fuselage-mounted 13 mm MG 131s, replacing the MG 17s.
after its engine had been damaged by American light flak.
;Fw 190 A-8: The A-8 entered production in February 1944, powered either by the standard BMW 801 D-2 or the 801Q. The 801Q/TU, with the "T" signifying a Triebwerksanlage unitized powerplant installation, was a standard 801D with improved, thicker armour on the BMW-designed front annular cowling, which still incorporated the BMW-designed oil cooler, upgraded from 6 mm on earlier models to 10 mm. Changes introduced in the Fw 190 A-8 also included the C3-injection Erhöhte Notleistung emergency boost system to the fighter variant of the Fw 190 A, raising power to 1,980 PS for 10 minutes. The 10 minute emergency power may be used up to three times per mission with a 10 minute cooldown in "combat power" between each 10 minute use of emergency power.
infantry weapon.
;Fw 190 A-9: First built in September 1944, the Fw 190 A-9 was fitted with the new BMW 801S rated at 2,000 PS ; the more powerful 2,400 PS 801F-1 was still under development, and not yet available.
;Fw 190 A-10: Late in the war, the A-10 was fitted with larger wings for better maneuverability at higher altitudes, which could have allowed additional 30 mm calibre, long-barreled MK 103 cannon to be fitted.
A total of 13,291 Fw 190 A-model aircraft were produced.

High-altitude developments

Tank started looking at ways to address the altitude performance problem early in the program. In 1941, he proposed a number of versions featuring new powerplants, and he suggested using turbochargers in place of superchargers. Three such installations were outlined
;Fw 190 V12: would be outfitted with many of the elements which eventually led to the B series.
;Fw 190 V13: first C-series prototype
;Fw 190 V15: second C-series prototype
;Fw 190 V16: third C-series prototype
;Fw 190 V18: fourth C-series prototype
;Fw 190 B-0: With a turbocharged BMW 801
;Fw 190 B-1: This aircraft was similar to the B-0, but had slightly different armament. In its initial layout, the B-1 was to be fitted with four 7.92 mm MG 17s and two 20 mm MG-FFs. One was fitted with two MG 17s, two 20 mm MG 151s and two 20 mm MG-FFs. After the completion of W.Nr. 811, no further Fw 190 B models were ordered.
plant. Note the early canopy and redesigned, simplified centreline rack carrying a 300 L drop tank.
;Fw 190 C: With a turbocharged Daimler-Benz DB 603, the tail of the aircraft had to be lengthened in order to maintain the desired centre of gravity. Four additional prototypes based on the V18/U1 followed: V29, V30, V32 and V33.
;Fw 190 D: The Fw 190 D was intended as the high-altitude performance version of the A-series.
;Fw 190 D-0: The first D-0 prototype was completed in October 1942 with a supercharged Junkers Jumo 213 including a pressurized cockpit and other features making them more suitable for high-altitude work.
at Kassel. It has a late style canopy; the horizontal black stripe with white outline shows that this was a II. Gruppe aircraft.
;Fw 190 D-1: Initial production
;Fw 190 D-2: Initial production
;Fw 190 D-9: The D-9 series was rarely used against heavy-bomber raids, as the circumstances of the war in late 1944 meant that fighter-versus-fighter combat and ground attack missions took priority. This model was the basis for the follow-on Focke-Wulf Ta 152 aircraft.
;Fw 190 D-11: Fitted with the up-rated Jumo 213F series engine similar to the Jumo 213E used in the Ta-152 H series but minus the intercooler. Two 30 mm MK 108 cannons were installed in the outer wings to complement the 20 mm MG 151s in the inboard positions.
, Phoenix, Arizona
;Fw 190 D-12: Similar to the D-11, but featured the 30 mm MK 108 cannon in a Motorkanone installation firing through the propeller hub.
;Fw 190 D-13: The D-13 would be fitted with a 20 mm MG 151/20 motor cannon.

Ground attack versions (BMW 801)

;Fw 190 F: The Fw 190F configuration was originally tested in a Fw 190 A-0/U4, starting in May 1942, fitted with centre-line and wing-mounted bomb racks.
;Fw 190 F-1: Renamed A-4/U3s of which 18 were built
;Fw 190 F-2: Renamed A-5/U3s, of which 270 were built according to Focke-Wulf production logs and Ministry of Aviation acceptance reports.
;Fw 190 F-3: Developed under the designation Fw 190 A-5/U17, which was outfitted with a centreline mounted ETC 501 bomb rack. The Fw 190 F-3/R1 had two additional ETC 50 bomb racks under each wing. The F-3 could carry a 66-Imp gal drop tank. A total of 432 Fw 190 F-3s were built.
;Fw 190 F-4 to F-7: designations used for projects.
;Fw 190 F-8: Based on the A-8 Fighter, having a slightly modified injector on the compressor which allowed for increased performance at lower altitudes for several minutes. Armament of the Fw 190 F-8 was two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots and two 13 mm MG 131 machine guns above the engine. It was outfited with an ETC 501 Bomb rack as centerline mount and four ETC 50 bomb racks as underwing mounts.
;Fw 190 F-9: based on the Fw 190 A-9, equipped with a new bulged canopy as fitted to late-build F-8s and A-8s, and four ETC 50 or ETC 70 bomb racks under the wings. According to Ministry of Aviation acceptance reports, 147 F-9s were built in January 1945, and perhaps several hundred more from February to May 1945.
;Fw 190 G: The Fw 190 G was built as a long-range attack aircraft. Following the success of the Fw 190 F as a Schlachtflugzeug, both the Luftwaffe and Focke-Wulf began investigating ways of extending the range of the Fw 190 F. Approximately 1,300 Fw 190 Gs of all variants were new built.
;Fw 190 G-1: The G-1 was renamed from A-4/U8 JaBo Rei's. Initial testing found that if all but two wing root mounted 20 mm MG 151 cannons were removed, the Fw 190 G-1 could carry a 250 kg or 500 kg bomb on the centreline and up to a 250 kg bomb under each wing.
;Fw 190 G-2: The G-2 was renamed from Fw 190 A-5/U8 aircraft, similar to the G-1; the underwing drop tank racks were replaced with the much simpler V.Mtt-Schloß fittings, to allow for a number of underwing configurations.
;Fw 190 G-3: The G-3 was based on A-6 with all but the two wing root mounted MG 151 cannons removed. The new V.Fw. Trg bombracks, however, allowed the G-3 to simultaneously carry fuel tanks and bomb loads
;Fw 190 G-8: The G-8 was based on the Fw 190 A-8, using the same "bubble" canopy as the F-8 and fitted with underwing ETC 503 racks that could carry either bombs or drop tanks.

Trainer versions

;Fw 190 A-5/U1: Several old Fw 190 A-5s were converted by replacing the MW 50 tank with a second cockpit. The canopy was modified, replaced with a new three-section unit that opened to the side. The rear portion of the fuselage was closed off with sheet metal.
;Fw 190 A-8/U1: A similar conversion to the A-5/U1.
;Fw 190 S-5: A-5/U1 trainers re-designated.
;Fw 190 S-8: A-8/U1 trainers re-designated. An estimated 58 Fw 190 S-5 and S-8 models were converted or built.

Combat history

The Fw 190 participated on every major combat front where the Luftwaffe operated after 1941, and did so with success in a variety of roles.

Production

A 0.40 km2 Focke-Wulf plant east of Marienburg was bombed by the Eighth Air Force on 9 October 1944. In addition, one of the most important sub-contractors for the radial-engined Fw 190s was AGO Flugzeugwerke, which from 1941 through to the end of the war produced enough Fw 190s to earn it major attention from the USAAF, with the AGO plant in Oschersleben being attacked at least five times during the war from 1943 onwards.

Surviving aircraft and modern replicas

Some 28 original Fw 190s are in museums or in the hands of private collectors around the world.
In 1997 a German company, Flug Werk GmbH, began manufacturing new Fw 190 models as reproductions. By 2012 almost 20 had been produced, most flyable, a few as static display models, with airworthy examples usually powered by Chinese-manufactured Shvetsov ASh-82 twin-row, 14-cylinder radial powerplants, which have a displacement of 41.2 litres, close to the BMW 801's 41.8 litres, with the same engine cylinder arrangement and number of cylinders.
's airworthy Fw 190A-5, WkNr. 151 227, on indoor display between flights.
The nearly intact wreck of an Fw 190 A-5/U3 that had crashed in a marsh in a forest near Leningrad, Soviet Union, 1943 was located in 1989. After restoration in the US, the Fw 190 flew again on 1 December 2010. Following the successful test flight, the aircraft was then trucked up to the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum, where it was reassembled in April 2011 and returned to airworthy condition.
At least five surviving Fw 190A radial-engined aircraft are known to have been assigned to the Luftwaffe's JG 5 wing in Herdla, Norway. More German fighter aircraft on display in museums in the 21st century have originated from this unit than from any other Axis Powers' military aviation unit of World War II.
The Turkish Air Force retired all of its Fw 190A-3 fleet at the end of 1947 mostly because of lack of spare parts. It is rumored that American-Turkish bilateral agreements required retiring and scrapping of all German origin aircraft, although this requirement did not exist for any other country. According to Hürriyet Daily News, all of the retired Fw 190s were saved from scrapping by wrapping them with protective cloths and burying them in the soil near the Aviation Supply and Maintenance Center at Kayseri. Attempts to recover the aircraft have all been unsuccessful, which suggests the story is probably a hoax or myth.

Operators

Citations