Focke Wulf Fw190

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger, was a German, single-seat, single-engine fighter and fighter bomber aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late ’30s. It was used by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. It partially replaced the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in 1941. 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 aircraft. The Fw 190 was well-liked by its pilots, and was quickly proven to be superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air Force’s main front line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V variant, on its combat debut in 1941.  The early Fw 190As performance decreased at high altitudes which complicated its use as a high altitude interceptor. These complications were mostly rectified in later models and the introduction of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190D variant.

Like the Bf 109, the Fw 190 was employed as a “workhorse”, and proved suitable for a wide variety of roles, including Air superiority fighter, Strike fighter, Ground-attack aircraft, Escort fighter, and Night fighter. Some of the Luftwaffe’s most successful fighter aces flew the Fw 190.

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Nico Braas

Image caption- Jean Claude Mermet Color profile- Srecko Bradic Text source- Wikipedia