RUDNEI%SBU.UFRGS.ANRS.BR@UICVM.uic.edu (R. D. da Cunha) (10/14/89)
From: "R. D. da Cunha" <RUDNEI%SBU.UFRGS.ANRS.BR@UICVM.uic.edu> About the FW-190: The project was started in 1937. Herr Kurt Tank, at the time in charge of the development of the FW-190, managed to get an order for three prototypes, in 1938, after some of his friends convinced Herr Ernst Udet that is was worth going ahead with the FW-190. [mod.note: Not to get fussy about titles, but it's more proper to refer to Tank as Dipl.-Ing. Kurt Tank. - Bill ] The maiden flight of the first prototype, FW-190 V1, D-OPZE, was made in 1939, at the hands of Herr Hans Sander, Senior Test Pilot of Focke-Wulf. The V1 used the original motor, a BMW 139 but, after the announce of shortage of this motor, Herr Tank decided to employ the BMW 801C, which was a bit larger and heavier. The second prototype, FW-190 V2 (FO + LZ), was flown in October 1939. It was sent to Rechlin to make some experiments with the guns to be carried, but it was lost after a failure in the motor. The fifth prototype, FW-190 V5, had the nose similar to the production machines. The exceptional maneuverability and high ascensional speed finally led to an order of 40 pre-series aircrafts, FW-190 A-0 (despite having a higher wing loading than the prototypes had). Throughout the war, the FW-190s were used as fighter-bombers, night-fighters and even torpedo-bombers. The latest version, called Ta-152H (in honour of Herr Tank), had a very large wing and it was said that, in some respects, it was better than the P-51D. (I got this information from the book _Focke-Wulf 190_, by Bill Sweetman, illustrated by Ryukiu Watanabe.) Regards, Rudnei Dias da Cunha, B.Sc. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- . e-mail: . - Rudnei Dias da Cunha RUDNEI@SBU.UFRGS.ANRS.BR - . RUDNEI%SBU.UFRGS.ANRS.BR@BRFAPESP.BITNET . - - . Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - BRASIL . -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-