El Misterioso Focke-Wulf FW 190 - El Pájaro Carnicero de la Luftwaffe

Video from the channel Batallas en los Cielos about Focke-Wulf Fw 190, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 10:59. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.

A technical overview of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190: its armament, its development, its main versions and the characteristics of the A and D models.

The Fw 190 was designed around the BMW 801 radial engine, with a very aerodynamic cowling. The first of three prototypes flew in June 1939. Both short- and long-span wings were tested, and engine cooling caused problems in the early models. In 1941 RAF pilots initially mistook it for already-known radial-engine fighters, until a photograph taken from a Spitfire on 13 October confirmed it was a new type. Its advantage lasted until the arrival of the Spitfire Mk IX. Faced with the need for high-altitude fighters, Kurt Tank proposed in-line engines, giving rise to the "long-nose" Fw 190D, deliveries of which began in August 1944.

The early versions carried four 20 mm cannons and two 7.9 mm machine guns, which earned it the Allied nickname Butcher Bird. The A model had a wingspan of 10.5 m and a length of 8.84 m. The D was powered by a 1,776 HP Junkers Jumo 213 with the MW 50 system, reached 682 km/h at 21,650 feet and had a range of 832 km on internal fuel. It protected the takeoffs and landings of the Me 262 and took part in Operation Bodenplatte. The end of the war cut short the D-14 and D-15 versions.