Though the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was considered one of the world’s finest fighters in 1937, Germany’s Reich Air Ministry (RLM) called for a complementary design, which would overlap the Bf 109 and preserve Germany’s qualitative edge. While most German companies submitted fighters with inline engines, Focke-Wulf, led by their chief designer, Kurt Tank, submitted a radial-engined design. The RLM initially rejected Tank’s design, as radial engines were thought to cause too much drag; Tank countered that both the US and Japanese Navies routinely operated radial-engined fighters, and that a “tight” cowling design would prevent drag in any case. The RLM relented, and the first Fw 190V-1 prototype flew in June 1939.
Tank had intended his design to be a heavy “warhorse” compared to the thin “pony” of the Bf 109, though it was roughly the same size. While the Fw 190 was indeed heavier than the 109, it actually had better performance below 20,000 feet, with better horizontal speed, higher roll rate, and better visibility, as it used a frameless canopy rather than the heavily-latticed canopy of the Bf 109. Pilots also liked the roomier cockpit and especially the wide-tracked landing gear; unlike the 109, which was highly prone to ground loops and landing gear collapses, the Fw 190’s ground handling was excellent. Tank’s tight cowl idea was somewhat flawed, however: on its first flight, waste heat from the BMW 801 engine raised cockpit temperatures to 131 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat was mitigated by installing a cooling fan behind the propeller and later air scoops behind the cowling, but it was not until field modifications were made on production Fw 190As that it was finally cured; until then, engine temperatures remained a chronic problem and at least one 190 was lost when its machine gun ammunition detonated. Controls were made as light as possible, and used rods rather than pulleys, and along with electrically-boosted controls, this gave the Fw 190 superb responsiveness, though it had a high stall speed and would become unresponsive below 127 mph.
Problems with the engine led to the Fw 190 not entering significant strength until mid-1941, but when it did enter service, it came as a rude shock to Allied fighter pilots: the Fw 190 could outmanuever the Spitfire, it was faster, and it had a much heavier armament of 20mm cannon and 13mm machine guns. Moreover, due to its radial engine, it was more durable. As 190s began to rack up kills, Supermarine launched a crash program to produce the Spitfire IX, which at least was equal to the 190, but it was not until the introduction of later marks of the Spitfire, the Tempest, and the P-47 and P-51 that the Western Allies had a fighter that could match the 190. Soviet pilots also had difficulty fighting the 190 in much lighter Yak-1s, and even radial-engined Lavochkin La-5s and 7s only offered parity. Though Focke-Wulf hoped it would replace the 109—an opinion shared by many Luftwaffe pilots—the 190’s performance fell off dramatically above 20,000 feet, where the 109 was still effective. Still, the duo seemed well-matched, with 190s attacking targets below that altitude, and 109s above it.
The Fw 190’s heavy armament also made it ideally suited to attacking the bomber boxes of American B-17s and B-24s, which were heavily defended. Head-on attacks were effective, but could not always be done. As a result, the Luftwaffe formed specialized Sturmbocke (Battering Ram) units flying Fw 190s, which were uparmored to be able to survive multiple hits from American .50 caliber machine guns. Performance was adversely affected, but the Luftwaffe felt that Bf 109s could hold off American fighters while the 190s hit the bombers. Results were mixed—a B-17 could take incredible amounts of punishment from the rear, and as more and more P-47s and P-51s reached the 8th Air Force, Sturmbocke units had to fight their way through them—but the 190 was clearly a more effective bomber-killer. Fw 190s operating in Defense of the Reich were often equipped with Werfergranate 21 rocket-boosted mortars or R4M rockets to attack heavy bombers. Some Sturmbocke units were switched to Wilde Sau (Wild Boar) visual nightfighters against British bombers, while the uparmored Fw 190A served as the basis for the successful Fw 190F/G fighter bombers, which could defend themselves—unlike the Junkers Ju 87 Stukas and Henschel Hs 129s they supplemented.
The Focke-Wulf 190 was doomed, however: despite its performance, it could not be produced quickly enough in a nation being continously bombed. Luftwaffe pilot quality declined throughout 1944 as well. When Germany was overrun in May 1945 and World War II in Europe ended, the Fw 190 had turned in an admirable performance, but most of the over 18,000 produced either were shot down, burned by their pilots to avoid capture, or scrapped by the Allies. Only 26 survive in museums today, though in 1997, Flugwerk of Germany began limited production of new-build Fw 190As; ironically, these are powered by the same Russian engines that powered the La-7.
This Fw 190A-8 is not per se a "real" 190; it is a nonflying replica built by the Legend Flyers company--though aside from the lack of an actual engine, it was built to the same standards as an actual Fw 190. It is painted as Red 13, one of several 190As flown by Heinz Bar, who scored 220 kills during World War II; most of Bar's kills were scored in the 190, though he was also the ranking top jet ace of World War II, scoring 17 kills in the Messerschmitt 262. Bar considered 13 to be his lucky number. He survived the war but was killed in a flying accident in 1957. This 190 wears immaculate standard RLM late-war mottled camouflage of dark green over blue-gray, with yellow recognition panels for Eastern Front duty. The insignia on the cowl is that of JG 1.
