Wing span:71 in / 1800mm Wing area: 829sq in /53.5 sq dm
About the Focke-Wulf FW-190
The original full size Focke-Wulf
FW-190 was developed in Germany 1937. German politics and chain of command,
being what it was at the time, left no in-line engine available to the
Focke-Wulf Company with which to produce a fighter. The Messerschmitt 109 had
a monopoly on the production of all the high performance Daimler-Benz in-line
engines. The designer, Kurt Tank, originally designed two versions of the
FW-190. The first version incorporated an inline, water-cooled Daimler-Benz
DB 601 engine. The second design, which was developed into three FW-190
prototype aircraft, utilized the more readily available BMW 139 fourteen
cylinder, air cooled 1600 hp radial engine. This engine was idealy suited for
an airplane that was designed to perform the mission of a true
fighter/bomber. The new BMW engine offered great promise over a liquid cooled
inline engine. The air cooled radial would not be as susceptable to damage
caused by ground fire given the lack of an easily damaged radiator and
necessary piping.
Construction of three prototypes was
authorized by the German Air Ministry. On June 1, 1939 the first prototype
took to the air. The aircraft utilized an oversized spinner with inadequate
cooling ducts. The first test pilot reported the cockpit area near the rudder
pedals was extremely "hot". Despite engine overheating, the aircraft proved to
have tremendous flight attributes. It was incredibly fast for its time.
By the time the fifth prototype
emerged, the streamline oversized spinner had been replaced by a more
conventional spinner, the fuselage had been lengthened to increase the nose
moment and the wing cord had been increased to enhance the FW-190's turning
radius.
Now the FW-190 had taken on the
appearance of an extremely aerodynamic aircraft which successfully
incorporated a large radial engine with a slender fuselage. In sum, the FW-190
was an all metal monoplane with wide-based retractable landing gear which
made it a pleasure, (compared to the ME-109), to land and take-off. The large
transparent, bubble cockpit provide the pilot with a superior field of
vision. But the smaller front windscreen often required the pilot to
occassionally lower the aircraft's nose for better forward visability!
The original production FW-190's
armament consisted four 7.29mm MG17 machine guns, (two of which were mounted
in a fixed firing synchronized configuration on the upper fuselage), and two
20mm MG FF synchronized cannon.
Many consider the Focke-Wulf FW 190 to
be the best German fighter of World War II. More than 20,000 FW 190's were
produced. But enough history! Other peoples Web sites have been designed to
cover the FW 190's history.
If you have built a few kits or assembled a few ARFs you should have little trouble getting this plane in the air. All hardware are included. The fuselage is fiberglass with plywood formers and re-enforcement at critical areas. Panel lines are moulded into the fuselage and cowl. The wings, horizontal stab, elevators and rudder are covered in fuel resistant composite covering. Accessories | |||||||||||||