World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
12 Sep 2010 11:44:15 AM

The Focke Wulf Fw 190F was a fighter-bomber it carry different types of weapons for ground attack.

The fighter shown here looks like its armed
with one 500lb bomb on the center-line and four 100lb bombs under the wings.
The fighter was armed w/ 2x20mm or 2x30mm
cannons and 2x13mm machine guns anyway, thats
my guess.

The fighter was originally built as a Fw 190A
and during 1944 it was rebuilt as a Fighter-
bomber, and served with SG/2.

After World War II it was shipped back to the
USA for testing at Freeman Field, Indiana.
In 1949 the Fw 190 was transfered to the
Smithsonian and was kept in storage until it
was restored in 1980-1983 and is now on
display at the National Air & Space Museum
located in Washington, D.C., USA

The Fw 190 appears in its original markings and camouflage when it served with SG/2 in
1944.

2.  Bill says:
12 Sep 2010 01:28:20 PM

Original BMW 801 Engines are rare and if
some are found and put back into operation
you have the added cost of rebuilding them
and keeping them running.

Finding and making parts would be expensive
and keeping a supply of spare parts adds to
the overall cost of the project.
I'm sure a some original BMW 801 engines will be found and rebuilt, but that takes
time and money.
the price of a Fw 190 reproduction is over
1,000,000 Euros.

THE CHINESE CONNECTION:

The Chinese-License built Russian ASh-82FN 14
engine is available and parts are in supply.
The power output of the ASh-82 is 1650hp and
the BMW 801 was 1677hp, so the power is about
the same.

Did You Know...

The Chinese-License Russian built ASh-82FN 14
is a copy of the US Wright-Cyclone Engine.

3.  Bill says:
17 Jan 2011 01:33:33 PM

THE FRENCH CONNECTION:

After World War II the French operated the
Fw 190s that were abandoned by the Germans,
as they withdrew from France.
The Luftwaffe had repair shops, and left tons of material that were needed to service and overhaul aircraft.

"VIVE La FRANCE"

Many of the technicians and mechanics were foreign workers and French-Nationals who worked for the Germans, and had experience with German aircraft.
The French found fuselages, wings and new or
overhauled BMW 801 engines and spare-parts
this was enough to build about 125 Fw 190s
that were built from 1945 through 1946 the
French called them NC.900

The fighters were used for a short time one
unit was GC III/5 Normandie Niemen, that operated fourteen of the aircraft, until replaced by surplus American and British fighters. The last flight was in June 1949 and all surviving NC.900s were retired.

The Armee de L'Air operated a collection of over eighty types of aircraft after WWII.

A Fw-190/NC.900 is on display at the
Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace du Bourget or

French National Air & Space Museum at Bourget.

FOCKE-WULF FW-190 IN FOREIGN SERVICE:

Fw 190s were operated by Turkey, Hungary
and Romania.

Captured Aircraft:

Tested & Evaluated by: USA, Britain, USSR

Poland:
Used captured a/c to train ground crews, in
the post-war Polish Air Force.

Czechoslovakia:
a/c found abandoned at wars end, later written-off in accident

Yugoslavia:
a/c captured by partisans served until 1946

Japan:
One a/c supplied for test & evaluation, was not put into production. a/c given Allied code name (fred)


NOTE*

The proper phrase is "Vive La France or
"Long Live France" not Viva La France, this has to due with my french ancestry.

4.  Bill says:
17 Jan 2011 03:38:33 PM

Continued from my #3 comment Fw-190/NC.900

History about the NC.900 on display at the
French National Aviation Museum.

The aircraft was one of 120 built by AGO it
received unknown battle damage, and sent to
the Luftwaffe repair shop. The a/c was repaired, but abandoned and later captured by the French.
Many of the Fw-190/NC.900s were built from mixed parts this led to continued maintenance
problems the parts were sabotaged during the occupation, and were not reliable. A total of
sixtyfive aircraft saw service.
The French operated a number of ex-Luftwaffe
a/c, some into the 1950s.

Apparatebau GmbH.Oscherslben (AGO) 1941-1945

5.  Bill says:
23 Feb 2011 07:45:20 PM

Continued from comment #1 dated 12/10/2010

The ordnance under the wings could be AB250
containers or similar models that carried
225 fragmention bomblets.
After being dropped from the fighter, the
container opened and released the bomblets over a large area, it was a devastating weapon against troops, artillery positions
and other targets.
After World War II The US, USSR, France and
Britain continued to develope this type of
weapon.

FW 190A-5 FLIES: W/ORIGINAL BMW 801 ENGINE

December 2010 a Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-5 that is
undergoing restoration, made its first flight
the Fw 190 is powered by an original BMW 801
air-cooled radial engine, that was restored
after many months of work.
The BMW has a unique sound unlike the other American or Chinese engines that are used to power replica Fw 190s. The Focke-Wulf Fw 190
was the Luftwaffe's supreme piston-engine fighter of World War II.
The Fw 190 forced-landed in Russia in 1943
the wreck was discovered in 1989, retrived in 1991. Shipped to England for restoration
followup work continued in the USA.

6.  Bill says:
12 Nov 2012 06:33:17 PM

Did you know, more than half of all FW 190s
were used as fighter-bombers. Later during the war, the Luftwaffe had to retrain former bomber, stuka and transport pilots to make up for the losses, units also had a few trained fighter pilots, but those few experienced pilots couldn't change the war situation.
Many aircraft were returned to the factories after being damaged, and rebuilt as fighter-bombers added about 800lbs of armor to the airframe. The FW 190Fs, were armed w2x13mm machine guns in the upper fuselage and 2x20mm cannons in the wings, add bombs, rockets and underwing cannon packs and the FW 190 was a versatile weapon.

7.  Bill says:
27 May 2014 08:56:06 AM

WULF'S IN RED:

During WWII the Russians captured, tested and evaluated different types of German aircraft, among them were the Focke-Wulf FW190. One FW190 test aircraft's original BMW 801 engine was replaced with a Russian Shvetsov M-82 air-cooled radial engine its performance was comparable to the BMW 801 engine each engine had its strengths and weakness.

Soviet forces later captured the Focke-Wulf plant
in Kotbus, Germany located in the Soviet Zone and found a treasure trove of FW190s propeller-driven
fighters and other aircraft this was old technology. At wars end, most of all the captured propeller-driven Axis aircraft were scrapped a few German transports continued to serve into the late 1940s and 50s

The Russians wanted advanced jet & rocket engine developments from the Germans, captured examples of the Me 262, Me 163 and He 162 were later tested in the USSR. After WWII Soviet engineers started to develop jet fighter and bomber aircraft much of it based on German design and technology.

8.  Bill says:
28 May 2014 03:59:39 PM

MUSEUM AIRCRAFT:

The FW190 file photo was restored by the National
Air & Space Museum. During restoration different parts were fabricated to replace items lost every
aircraft in the NASM has been detailed down to the last item, as when the aircraft was in service.
Did you know that items one will never even see were found and installed in the FW190 for example the support bearings for the elevators research found that the German company that manufactured the bearings, for the Luftwaffe were still in production and still used the original part number! they were installed in the FW190.

The museum's FW190's pristine condition, would never have been seen on service aircraft. To make the FW190 look factory fresh, it took over 13,000 man hours to restore. The museum's FW190 is the short nose model when captured it was identified
as an A-8 However, later examination it was an F-8
series the museum's FW190 is the F-8 Model, its operational history is still a wartime mystery but could have been assigned to a Luftwaffe ground attack unit Schlachtgeschwader SG.2 that operated in Hungry.
During WWII the Luftwaffe remanufactured wrecked and damaged aircraft others were rebuilds from different series aircraft this caused many aircraft to have their original serial numbers changed.
The Allies could replace their losses, with new fighters and bombers, the Germans in spite of increased aircraft production still had to rely on rebuilds.

9.  Bill says:
18 Jun 2014 09:27:49 PM

FIREPOWER:

During its combat career the FW190 carried a mix of armament from 7.92mm machine guns and 20mm cannons, up to 13mm machine guns and 30mm cannons
To increase its firepower the Focke-Wulf was also modified to carry one 30mm cannon mounted in gun packs under each wing. Even twin-20mm cannons in trays under the wings for a total of six (6) 20mm cannons. The engine and other vital areas were also armored.

PILOT PROTECTION:

The pilot was protected by armor on each side of the cockpit, in later models head and shoulder protection was up to 14mm thickness. The front windshield was sloped and made from 50mm armored glass even the canopy was made from 1 3/4 thick bullet resistant glass. As a fighter-bomber the 190 could carry different types of bombs and even torpedoes.
As the war progressed many dive-bomber and twin- engine bomber pilots were retrained to fly single-seat fighters. What was that white design on the propeller hub called. Spiralschnauze

10.  Bill says:
19 Jun 2014 04:07:08 PM

SPIRLSCHNAUZE: SPINNER SPIRALS

File photograph shows the Focke-Wulf Fw190 at the NASM equipped with a spirlschnauze design on its propeller hub...
During the war, different Luftwaffe aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Bf109 and Focke-Wulf Fw190 fighters had their propeller spinners, marked in different colors and designs the British like to call them propeller boss. Designs ranged from one half of the spinner one color, the other half of the spinner another color, and solid colors it could also have been used as a safety feature to warn ground crews that the propeller was in motion.

The spiralschnauze design was painted on fighters and other attack aircraft from 1943 on. This design was sometimes painted on at the factory while others were painted on at unit level. Could it have been used as an optical deception to ward off allied gunners aim, or was it a head-on type of recognition during dogfights, ground forces or of friendly aircraft...or was it used as a simple hypnotic effect.

11.  Bill says:
26 Oct 2014 06:34:48 PM

CAPTURED BUTCHER BIRD:

The Focke-Wulf FW190F-8/R1 on display at the NASM
was assigned to 1./SG2, aircraft was white seven,
Wr.N. 931884 radio-code KT+ZS. The NASM FW190s propeller is a Vereingite Deutsche Metalwerke or United German Metal Works (VDM) and was common to all FW190 models except the FW190A-9 and FW190F-9 that had a broader wooden propeller blade However During rebuilds, whatever was available was used
and geared to the engine.

MIX & MATCH: BURDEN OF COMBAT

Did you know that 40% of all fighters built were FW190s. During the last years of the war aircraft that were damaged in combat or accidents, were salvaged and rebuilt many fighters became hybrids.
Engines, wings, fuselage, landing gears even tail assemblies and other equipment were mixed into the rebuilding.
Many of these aircraft that were rebuilds had variations of camouflage and theater markings all this was done even as the factories were building new aircraft. Unlike the allies that could replace aircraft losses the Luftwaffe had to make do with every type of equipment it could use.

QUICK CHANGE: POWER EGG

Did you know that BMW produced its engines as complete units, all accessories, exhaust pipes,
cowling, engine cooling fan, oil and hydraulic
pumps, cabling hookups to bolt to the firewall.
During World War II BMW produced 28,000 of its BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, this number is based on surviving documents and doesn't count engine rebuilds by the Luftwaffe is unknown.

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