Price: £100.00

Focke-Wulf 190A

Generally regarded as the finest German fighter of the second world war the Focke-Wulf 190 was the only successful aircraft introduced by the Luftwaffe after the start of hostilities in 1939. The FW190 was to be developed into several major versions serving as a fighter, fighter-bomber and close support aircraft.

The Focke-Wulf 190 was designed by Kurt Tank and first flew in June 1939. The new German fighter bucked the trend for liquid cooled inline engines, being powered by a superbly close cowled BMW 801 radial engine. Initial flight tests showed the FW190 to be extremely fast with a superb roll rate. After initial teething troubles the Focke-Wulf 190 entered service with the Luftwaffe during 1941. The introduction of the FW190 came as a nasty shock to the RAF, and was superior in almost every respect to the Spitfire V, then the RAF's premier front line fighter. The panic resulted in the hasty introduction of the Spitfire IX, which with the Hawker Typhoon more or less restored the RAF's advantage.

Production of the FW190 was steadily built up during 1942 accounting for half the German fighter production for that year and the FW190 remained in production until the end of the European war although the radial engined FW190 was becoming steadily outclassed by the latest allied fighters.

Performance

A top speed of 408 mph at 20,000 ft.
Weight: 10,802 lb's max load.
Powerplant: One BMW 801 14 cylinder radial engine of 1700 HP
Armament: Two 13mm machine guns in the nose and four 20mm cannon in the wings.