Jetrader - July/August 2010 - 24

aviation history

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH
By Bill Bath Around May 7, 1945, with the defeat of the Third Reich, I was standing in my garden watching two RAF aircraft in trainer yellow attempting to get on each other’s tail. I recognized them immediately as F 190s, having on a number of occasions seen them swooping in at roof-top level beating up targets of opportunity. In all of its many variants, it was one of the most formidable aircraft produced during WWII. Heinrich Focke and George Wulf were partners, and although they produced a number of aircraft before WWI, they were not of the caliber of Fokker tri-plane ﬁghters that engaged Bristol Bulldogs in mortal combat over the shell-pocked mud of Flanders. In 1924, a new company was formed with the addition of Dr. Werner Naumann as the third partner and a capital of 0.2 million RM, (well before the collapse of the currency in the 1930s). Established at Bremen Airport, its ﬁrst product was a three to four passenger transport designated A16; 24 of these were manufactured over a three-year period. A twin-engine variant was developed with 10 taken by Lufthansa, though its main lines of aircraft were trainers, sports planes and light transports. In September 1927, George Wulf was killed testing the new F 19 canard design. With the ﬁrm struggling to survive severe ﬁnancial difﬁculties, it managed to continue producing its line of sports and training models, before merging in 1931 with Albatros Flugzeugwerke GmbH, the manufacturer of the WWI Albatros ﬁghter. More importantly, in November of that year, Kurt Tank, an experienced 33-year-old, old, joined the company as chief hief of design. The staff now totaled 150. By 1932 it had built a total of 140 aircraft since 1924. By 1933 there were seven different models, either in production or under development, including the Fw 44 Stieglitz biplane trainer, of which 900 would be built in-house and in ﬁve countries under license. The air ministry (RLM) increased the number of contracts to Focke-Wulf for the production of Heinkel, Gotha and Messerschmitt aircraft. By 1935 the company had almost 3,200 workers, and by 1937 it was phasing in license production of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 ﬁghter. Hitler had already rejected the Versailles Treaty, and rearmament was now in full swing. That year saw Kurt Tank offer an air-cooled radial engine powered ﬁghter to the air ministry, who wanted an additional type beside the Bf 109 with its liquid-cooled power plant. He had witnessed U.S. Navy ﬁghters perform well with large frontal area radial engines and concluded that with a close-ﬁtting cowling, performance would not be affected by higher drag than that of a slim liquid-cooled design. The prototype Fw 190 V1 ﬁrst ﬂew in June 1939, just four months before Hitler invaded Poland and signed an agreement with the Soviet Union to divide the country in two for a joint occupation. The BMW 139 14 cylinder radial engine (1,529 hp, 1,140 kW) enabled a top speed of 380 mph (610 km/h) at low altitude, but performance above 15,000 ft (4,921 m) was
Focke-Wulf Fw 190

poor. In addition, its stall speed was 127 mph (205 km/h), though the required fast landing speed was partially offset by the wide-track landing gear, which retracted inward. Kurt Tank also eliminated a hydraulic system, using instead electric motors to actuate the landing gear and ﬂ aps. The cockpit had a clean, logical layout, which enabled the pilot to concentrate on shooting down his adversary without risking hitting the wrong switch. Another problem was the engine’s rear cylinders increased the cockpit temperature to 131ºF (55ºC). As one test pilot commented, it was “like sitting with your feet in the ﬁreplace.” Initial armament was six 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns—two fuselage mounted, two in the wing roots and two in the outboard wing panels; a synchronizer prevented the inboard guns punching holes in the propeller. It was clear that heavier ammunition would be required to bring down four-engine bombers. The early models suffered from serious engine problems, besides poor aircraft performance. These shortcomings were mostly overcome with the new BMW 801 C-2, ﬁtted with a supercharger which enabled subsequent A- models to reach the USAAF bombers at 25,000 ft (8,202 m). To effectively bring down a B-17 or B-24, the two fuselage MG 17 machine guns were retained, as their tracer rounds help the pilot to correct his aim. The other four

24 The ofﬁcial publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading

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