Miloch wrote in
:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_190

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https://nationalinterest.org/blog/bu...g-or-zero-was-
best-fighter-plane-during-world-war-ii-41382



Story I heard was the success of the
109 left a lot of radial engines piled up
in warehouses, with no fugure. Tank was
ordered take all these radials and build
an airplane around them. A backup to the
109 that everyone thought invincable. The
rest of the Luftwaffe inventory were all
liquid cooled machines, so he started from
an assumption of failure.

When the winter of 1941 hit the Russian
front and the Fw 190 was the only plane (beside
the other radial engine plane, the Ju52) they
could get into the air he was vindicated.






The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (English: Shrike) is a German
single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in
the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its
well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Fw 190 became
the backbone of the Luftwaffe's Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force). The
twin-row BMW 801 radial engine that powered most operational versions
enabled the Fw 190 to lift larger loads than the Bf 109, allowing its
use as a day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack aircraft and, to a
lesser degree, night fighter.

The Fw 190A started flying operationally over France in August 1941,
and quickly proved superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air
Force's main front-line fighter, the Spitfire Mk. V, particularly at
low and medium altitudes. The 190 maintained superiority over Allied
fighters until the introduction of the improved Spitfire Mk. IX. In
November/December 1942, the Fw 190 made its air combat debut on the
Eastern Front, finding much success in fighter wings and specialised
ground attack units called Schlachtgeschwader (Battle Wings or Strike
Wings) from October 1943 onwards. The Fw 190 provided greater
firepower than the Bf 109 and, at low to medium altitude, superior
manoeuvrability, in the opinion of German pilots who flew both
fighters.

The Fw 190A series' performance decreased at high altitudes (usually
6,000 m (20,000 ft) and above), which reduced its effectiveness as a
high-altitude interceptor. From the Fw 190's inception, there had been
ongoing efforts to address this with a turbosupercharged BMW 801 in
the B model, the much longer-nosed C model with efforts to also
turbocharge its chosen Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V12 powerplant,
and the similarly long-nosed D model with the Junkers Jumo 213.
Problems with the turbocharger installations on the -B and -C subtypes
meant only the D model would enter service, doing so in September
1944. While these "long nose" versions gave the Germans parity with
Allied opponents, they arrived far too late in the war to have any
real effect.

The Fw 190 was well-liked by its pilots. Some of the Luftwaffe's most
successful fighter aces claimed a great many of their kills while
flying it, including Otto Kittel, Walter Nowotny and Erich Rudorffer.

Design concepts

At the time, the use of radial engines in land-based fighters was
relatively rare in Europe, as it was believed that their large frontal
area would cause too much drag on something as small as a fighter.
Tank was not convinced of this, having witnessed the successful use of
radial engines by the U.S. Navy, and felt a properly streamlined
installation would eliminate this problem.

The hottest points on any air-cooled engine are the cylinder heads,
located around the circumference of a radial engine. In order to
provide sufficient air to cool the engine, airflow had to be maximized
at this outer edge. This was normally accomplished by leaving the
majority of the front face of the engine open to the air, causing
considerable drag. During the late 1920s, NACA led development of a
dramatic improvement by placing an airfoil-shaped ring around the
outside of the cylinder heads (the NACA cowling). The shaping
accelerated the air as it entered the front of the cowl, increasing
the total airflow, and allowing the opening in front of the engine to
be made smaller.

Tank introduced a further refinement to this basic concept. He
suggested placing most of the airflow components on the propeller, in
the form of an oversized propeller spinner whose outside diameter was
the same as the engine. The cowl around the engine proper was greatly
simplified, essentially a basic cylinder. Air entered through a small
hole at the centre of the spinner, and was directed through ductwork
in the spinner so it was blowing rearward along the cylinder heads. To
provide enough airflow, an internal cone was placed in the centre of
the hole, over the propeller hub, which was intended to compress the
airflow and allow a smaller opening to be used. In theory, the
tight-fitting cowling also provided some thrust due to the compression
and heating of air as it flowed through the cowling.

As to the rest of the design philosophy, Tank wanted something more
than an aircraft built only for speed. Tank outlined the reasoning:


The Messerschmitt 109 [sic] and the British Spitfire, the two fastest
fighters in world at the time we began work on the Fw 190, could both
be summed up as a very large engine on the front of the smallest
possible airframe; in each case armament had been added almost as an
afterthought. These designs, both of which admittedly proved
successful, could be likened to racehorses: given the right amount of
pampering and easy course, they could outrun anything. But the moment
the going became tough they were liable to falter. During World War I,
I served in the cavalry and in the infantry. I had seen the harsh
conditions under which military equipment had to work in wartime. I
felt sure that a quite different breed of fighter would also have a
place in any future conflict: one that could operate from ill-prepared
front-line airfields; one that could be flown and maintained by men
who had received only short training; and one that could absorb a
reasonable amount of battle damage and still get back. This was the
background thinking behind the Focke-Wulf 190; it was not to be a
racehorse but a Dienstpferd, a cavalry horse.


Role
Fighter

Manufacturer
Primarily Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG, but also AGO, Arado, Fieseler,
Mimetall, Norddeutsche Dornier and others

Designer
Kurt Tank

First flight
1 June 1939

Introduction
August 1941

Retired
9 May 1945 (Luftwaffe)
1949 (Turkey)

Primary users
Luftwaffe
Hungarian Air Force
Turkish Air Force

Produced
1941–45; 1996: 16 reproductions

Number built
Over 20,000

Variants
Ta 152

The Fw 190 participated on every major combat front where the
Luftwaffe operated after 1941, and did so with success in a variety of
roles.

Luftwaffe pilots who flew both the Fw 190 and the Bf 109 generally
felt that, with the exception of high altitude capability, the Fw 190
was superior.

Specifications (Fw 190 A-8)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 9.00 m (29 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 10.51 m (34 ft 5 in)
Height: 3.95 m (12 ft 12 in)
Wing area: 18.30 m² (196.99 ft²)
Empty weight: 3,200 kg (7,060 lb)
Loaded weight: 4,417 kg (9,735 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 4,900 kg (10,800 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × BMW 801 D-2 radial engine, 1,250 kW (1,700 PS, 1,677
hp)

Performance
Maximum speed: 656 km/h (408 mph) at 19,420 ft (5,920 m)
Range: 800 km (500 mi)
Service ceiling: 11,410 m (37,430 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 m/s (2,953 ft/min)
Wing loading: 241 kg/m² (49.4 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 0.29–0.33 kW/kg (0.18–0.21 hp/lb)

Armament

Guns: 2 × 13 mm (.51 in) synchronized MG 131 machine guns with 475
rounds per gun
4 × 20 mm MG 151/20 E cannon with 250 rpg, synchronized in the wing
roots and 140 rpg free-firing outboard in mid-wing mounts.

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Specifications (Fw 190 D-9)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 10.20 m (33 ft 5½ in)
Wingspan: 10.50 m (34 ft 5 in)
Height: 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 18.30 m² (196.99 ft²)
Empty weight: 3,490 kg (7,694 lb)
Loaded weight: 4,270 kg (9,413 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 4,840 kg (10,670 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Junkers Jumo 213A 12-cylinder inverted-Vee piston
engine, 1,287 kW (1,750 PS, 1,726 hp) or 1,508 kW (2,050 PS, 2,022 hp)
with boost (model 213E)

Performance
Maximum speed: 685 km/h (426 mph) at 6,600 m (21,655 ft), 710 km/h
(440 mph) at 11,000 m (36,000 ft)
Range: 835 km (519 mi)
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 ft)
Rate of climb: 17 m/s (3,300 ft/min)
Wing loading: 233 kg/m² (47.7 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 0.30–0.35 kW/kg (0.18–0.22 hp/lb)

Armament

Guns: (all synchronized to fire through propeller arc) 2 × 13 mm (.51
in) MG 131 machine guns with 475 rpg
2 × 20 mm MG 151 cannons with 250 rpg in the wing root

Bombs: 1 × 500 kg (1,102 lb) SC 500 bomb (optional)




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