Focke-Wulf Fw 190 operational history

When it was first introduced in August 1941, it quickly proved to be superior in all but turn radius to the Royal Air Force (RAF) front-line fighter, the Spitfire Mk.

As an interceptor, the Fw 190 underwent improvements to make it effective at high altitude, allowing the 190 to maintain relative parity with its Allied counterparts.

Some of the Luftwaffe's most successful fighter aces flew the Fw 190, including Otto Kittel with 267 victories, Walter Nowotny with 258, and Erich Rudorffer with 222 claimed.

Most pilots found the Fw 190's Kommandogerät system (which automatically controlled the RPM, fuel mixture, ignition timing, supercharger switchover, and boost pressure) to be more of a hindrance than a help.

It was thought that they had left the powerful, variable incidence tailplane trim mechanism in the "nose heavy" position, meaning that their aircraft could not recover from the dive in time.

In the largest daylight raid mounted by the Luftwaffe since the Battle of Britain, about 70 Fw 190s unloaded 30 bombs on the city, killing 32 people and injuring 116, as well as causing a lot of damage to residential properties and shops.

[10][page needed][11] The most successful RAF fighters used to intercept these attacks were the Hawker Typhoons and the Griffon-engine Spitfire Mk XIIs, which were both fast enough to catch the Fw 190, especially at low altitudes.

The B-17's eventual deployment in combat box formations provided formidable massed firepower from a hundred or more Browning AN/M2 .50 caliber machine guns.

The Fw 190, designed as a rugged interceptor capable of withstanding considerable combat damage and delivering a potent 'punch' from its stable gun platform, was considered ideal for anti-bomber operations.

The A-6/R6 was fitted with twin heavy calibre Werfer-Granate 21 (BR 21) unguided, air-to-air rockets, fired from single underwing tubular launchers (one per wing panel).

[23]Richard Franz commented: When we made our attack, we approached from slightly above, then dived, opening fire with 13mm and 20mm guns to knock out the rear gunner and then, at about 150 metres, we tried to engage with the MK 108 30mm cannon, which was a formidable weapon.

Major General Jimmy Doolittle took command of the Eighth Air Force in January 1944 and made a critical change to bomber escort policy by "freeing the fighters".

In general these were conducted by units returning from escort missions but, beginning in March, many groups also were assigned airfield attacks instead of bomber support.

The P-51, particularly with the advent of the K-14 Gyro gunsight and the development of "Clobber Colleges" for the training of fighter pilots in fall 1944, was a decisive element in Allied countermeasures against the Jagdverbände.

This strategy fatally disabled the Zerstörergeschwader heavy fighter wings, consisting of Zerstörer twin-engine Bf 110Gs, then their single-engined Sturmbock Fw 190 A replacements, clearing each force of bomber destroyers in turn from Germany's skies throughout most of 1944.

As part of the new strategy, the USAAF's fighters were free to strafe German airfields and transport, especially while returning to base after the bombers had hit their targets.

[37] In the early morning of 5 July 1943, the opening day of the offensive, the Fw 190s won air superiority over the northern sector.

Even though it is probable that between 25 and 33 percent of these claims were exaggerations, the statistics confirm the qualitative superiority of tactical air units in combat.

JG 54, operating the Fw 190 fighter versions along with SG 4 supported the German Fourth Army and enabled them to halt the Soviet attempt to crush the Courland pocket.

A number of recruits from the Önálló Zuhanóbombazó Osztály (independent dive bomber wing) based at same airfield were sent to Flugzeugführerschule B2 in Neuruppin for ground attack and air combat training in the Fw 190.

Csatarepülő Osztály together with the 102/1.Zuhanóbombázó század, 102/2 Zuhanóbombázó Osztály "Coconut" (dive-bomber units equipped with Junkers Ju 87Ds), 102.Gyorsbombázó, 102/2.Szazad "Tigris" (a dive bomber and anti tank unit operating Messerschmitt Me 210Ca-1s and Henschel Hs 129Bs), and 101/1 század "Puma" (fighter squadron flying Bf 109 Gs) defended Hungary against fleets of Soviet and American heavy bombers and fighters.

This unit operated throughout the Tunisian campaign, and attacked a variety of Allied targets including airfields, harbours, tanks, vehicles, troop concentrations, anti-aircraft positions, and on one occasion, a British submarine.

The fighter pilots of II./JG 2 downed scores of British, American and French aircraft, especially during the first three months of 1943, and Kurt Bühligen and Erich Rudorffer became two of the top scorers in the Tunisian campaign.

The difference between the Fw 190 and the Bf 109 was that there was more room in the Focke-Wulf's cockpit and the controls were simpler – for example, landing flaps and trim were electric.

[69]General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland offered another balanced evaluation, The pilots liked the Fw 190 very much as far as handling, performance and armament was concerned.

Landing stall on the Fw 190 was much more easily dealt with; the intense buffeting resulted in the wing dropping to starboard gently, at roughly 102 mph (164 km/h).

[75] Air Marshal Sholto Douglas expressed concerns that the Merlin-engine Spitfires were coming to the end of their developmental life, whereas the Fw 190 was only just beginning its career.

[80] Oberleutnant Hans Dortenmann had claimed 18 aerial victories flying the Fw 190 D-9, making him the most successful Luftwaffe fighter pilot to have flown this aircraft in combat.

Goldonikov said that German pilots appreciated the Fw 190 radial engine as a shield, and frequently made head-on attacks in air-to-air combat.

[83] A Soviet post-war assessment of a captured Fw 190 D-9 found that the Lavochkin La-5 was a superior fighter in a mock dogfight, although the German machine was praised for the high quality of its wind shield, gunsights, electrical equipment and stability as a gun platform.