Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger ("shrike"), also called Butcher-bird, was a single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft of Germany's Luftwaffe. Used extensively during the Second World War, over 20,000 were manufactured, including around 6,000 fighter-bomber models. Production ran from 1941 to the end of hostilities, during which time the aircraft was continually updated. Its later versions retained qualitative parity with Allied fighter planes, but Germany was not able to produce the aircraft in enough numbers to affect the outcome of the war.
The Fw 190 was well liked by its pilots, and was quickly proven to be superior to the RAF's main front line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V, on its combat debut in 1941. Compared to the Bf 109, the Fw 190 was a "workhorse", employed in and proved suitable for a wide variety of roles, including ground attack, night fighter-bomber, long-range bomber escort, and night-fighter.
Contents
History
In June 1942, a Luftwaffe pilot mistakenly landed at an RAF base, presenting the Allies with his Fw 190 A-3 fighter intact. The detailed examination of this remarkable product of the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau profoundly influenced fighter thinking in Britain. It directly result in the issue of specification F.2/43 to which was designed the Hawker Fury, embodying numerous features directly copied from the Fw 190A, and F.19/43 which produced the Folland Fo.118 fighter project, also owing much to the design of the Fw 190A. What higher tribute could have been paid to what was undoubtedly the finest warplane to which Germany gave birth.
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Ranks with the Supermarine Spitfire, Vought F4U Corsair and North American P-51 Mustang as one of the best fighters of World War II. The Focke-Wulf 190 was the work of a team of German designers headed by the famous Kurt Tank. It was evolved basically as a successor to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, although the official view was that it would never be capable of matching the operational prowess of the Bf 109. How wrong this proved!
Chief company designer Kurt Tank's aircraft was Germanys most potent piston-powered World War II fighter when the Fw 190A entered combat in the summer of 1941. It immediately outclassed the Spitfire V, which appeared sluggish and outdated by comparison. From that time on, in spite of some severe problems with the BMW 801 engine, the 190 kept even or ahead of Allied fighters through successive versions.
The BMW 801 engine tended to overheat, but this fault was rectified by improvements to the cooling fan and, in general, the Fw 190A was highly praised by the test pilots. They particularly favored the wide-track undercarriage which tremendously improved ground stability as compared with the Bf 109. One of the unusual features of the fighter commented on by test pilots was the fact that, at high altitude and high speed, the BMW 801 engine produced a pair of contrails which started immediately behind the exhaust exits and completely hid the wings.
The Fw 190 prototype first flew on June 1,1939 and production deliveries began in late 1940. Within a year, Fw l90s were making low-level sweeps over southern England in daylight, against which the Spitfire Vs, then in service, achieved little success. The situation did not improve until the Royal Air Force received more powerful Spitfire IXs, in partnership with four-cannon Typhoons.
In the autumn of 1937 the Reichluftministerium placed an order with the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau for the design development of a new single-seat fighter to supplement the Messerschmitt Bf 109. A second "iron in the fire" as RLM officials referred to the order at the time. The contract was placed with Focke-Wulf primarily because this company was not extensively committed to the development of other combat aircraft and possessed a highly qualified design team headed by Dipl.Ing.Kurt Tank. Tank's design team prepared two proposals; one based upon the use of the Daimler-Benz DB601 liquid-cooled engine and the other upon the use of the BMW 801 air-cooled radial engine. At that time the radial engine was not favored as a fighter power plant owing to its drag and the restrictions that its bulk placed upon forward view during taking-off and landing, and, in consequence, General Ernst Udet's decision to proceed with the development of the radial-engined fighter came as a profound surprise to Tank and his colleagues.
The Focke-Wulf was not only faster but its superior handling and faster roll rate gave it an edge in the hands of even less experienced pilots. Such sparkling performance combined with the 190's superior armament presented Allied pilots with a real challenge until German pilot training began to drop in quality. The standard Fw 190A was quickly modified to perform a number of roles, particularly that of fighter-bomber in the F and G versions. These deleted the outer 20 mm cannon in favor of various combinations of bomb racks or cannon pods. Later versions of the Fw 190A featured up to six 20 mm cannon (Fw 190 A-6/R1); the A-6 with Rüstsatz BR 21 had two 210 mm (8.27 in) unguided rockets with which to attack US heavy bombers. The wide track landing gear assured ease of handling on takeoff and landing, unlike the twitchy Messerschmitt Bf 109. The 190 was also one of the first fighters to feature a clear rear canopy, allowing pilots to keep an excellent lookout for enemy fighters.
Meanwhile, the Fw 190 was also proving a good fighter-bomber, carrying a reasonable bomb load or, in some cases, rocket projectiles. The new war started by Hitler on the Eastern Front resulted in most of the new production Fw 190s being thrown into the fighting against the Russians. Others were needed equally urgently by Rommel in North Africa, to combat the Western Desert Air Force and Allied ground forces who, by the latter part of 1942, were pressing hard at Alamein.
As RAF and USAAF bombing raids got heavier and heavier in Europe, new tactics were employed by some German fighter units flying Fw 190s. Against US heavy bombers on daylight raids, several Fw 190s would form a queue and approach from the rear of the bomber formation. At very close range, the fighters would then 'open up,' so giving the rear gunners in the bombers very little chance of firing methodically at all the attackers.
During 1943, the Fw 190 was encountered frequently in Europe while performing night fighter missions. In Autumn 1944 the first Fw 190s came off the production line fitted with inline, rather than radial, engines. General appearance stayed the same, because of the use of an annular radiator at the nose.
The new Junkers Jumo 213 powerplant made the aircraft, once again, the fastest Luftwaffe operational fighter and those pilots with the skill to use such advantages did very well. Unfortunately excellent fighter designs could not compensate for poor production standards, lack of fuel, poor pilot training and overwhelming Allied numerical superiority.
In honor of designer Kurt Tank, further development of the Fw 190 led to aircraft designated after their designer, the well known Focke-Wulf Ta 152. This beautiful inline-engined fighter was to be the ultimate version of the famous fighter but delays resulted in the stopgap Fw 190D, in itself an outstanding aircraft. In the chaotic final year of the Third Reich the D ended up being the major inline engine version with only a few Ta 152Hs, and possibly a few Ta 152Cs, getting into combat.
The extended wing (14.5m), high altitude Ta 152H was indeed a sterling performer with a top speed of 755 km/h (472 mph) and a service ceiling of 15,000 m (49,215 ft). It was armed with a 30 mm cannon in the nose and two 20 mm cannon in the wing roots. Had it been built in enough numbers and been flown by expert pilots it could have taken its place alongside the Me 262 as a near unbeatable air superiority fighter and bomber killer. The lower altitude version, the Ta 152C, barely made it out of the test phase before the war ended. Between October 1944 and February 1945 when production ended, Focke-Wulf managed to roll 67 completed Ta 152 aircraft (H-0 and H-1) off the line. By the end of the war, more than 20,000 Fw 190s had been built; about one-third as fighter bombers.
Variants
indicates that an aircraft is available in Aces High II.
"Aufhänger des Metzgers Bird" ( Butcher Bird Hanger )
The Luftwaffe in Aces High 2 comes well equipped with 5 "Metzger Bird" (Butcher Birds) which includes Two "A's", One "D", One "F" and a very Late War "H" Model.
Fw 190A-5
The A-5 is the early war 190 Variant in Aces High. It is also the most deadliest 190 due to it being the most lightest and the most nimble of them all. She is slower than the A-8,D-9, & 152-H but makes up for the lack of engine power with outstanding maneuverability. She also has the best roll rate of the 190s so combining maneuverability with the A-5's roll rate will catch any unprepared pilot off guard. She has the ability to carry 2x Wgr 210mm Air-to-Air Rockets for bomber hunting, up to a 1000kg bomb on her center line bomb rack, A 300 Liter drop tank to extend it's flight range to 40 minutes, and her firepower is nothing short of stellar packing a heavy armament of 4x20mm Inner and Outer board cannons with 2x 7.92mm MG 17 Cowling guns. She's a deadly adversary to any unprepared pilot and in the hands of a experience Jagdflieger, will make short work of any aircraft.
Fw 190A-8
The A-8 is under construction.
Fw 190D-9
The D-9 is under construction.
Fw 190F-8
The F-8 is under construction.
Ta 152H
The Ta 152H is the latest model of the series, historically seeing barely six months of action. It’s the Fw190 that designer Kurt Tank had in mind when he first penned the model, but to the novice player the Ta152H may not seem like an improvement over the other Fw190s: It’s heavy, its level flight acceleration and its responsiveness are sluggish - especially its roll which is distinctly un-190, its nose is vague and the guns' bullet stream is inconsistent, and its tail has the habit of derailing unpredictably (and inexplicably, to the inexperienced) and then refusing to cooperate with the pilot... often enough guaranteeing a tailspin all the way to the ground. The Ta152 redeems itself from these awful flaws by its excellent firepower (a pair of 20mm in the wing roots and a 30mm in the nose) when it connects with the target, and great rudder authority and aileron authority past the rest of the wings’ stall. This, along with some of the best maneuvering E retention in the plane set, allows it flexibility before, at, and past departure that no other Fw190 can match. With enough practice, you can literally fly sideways for just long enough to aim and shoot a burst against your usually much more agile opponent. This is in addition to the Ta152’s more ordinary qualities as an interceptor, which are top-tier. On the whole, the Ta152 is a different animal from the other models and requires an experienced pilot to extract its full potential.
