User manual

Early Development
By early 1938 the Focke Wulf factory in Bremen was ordered by the German Air Ministry,
the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM), to develop a second fighter for the Luftwaffe as a
backup in case problems should arise with the Messerschmitt Bf109.
The new aircraft was to follow a different approach from the ground up than the concurring
Messerschmitt design.
Kurt Tank’s (Technical Director of the Focke Wulf factory), vision was that of an aircraft
with a high degree of reliability and ease of production in mind, easy serviceability by
crews with a low training standard at hastily built frontline airfields. Control harmonization
and flying qualities were to be well balanced so that inexperienced pilots would get
accustomed to the plane without problems. Contrary to the development mainstream in
Europe, a radial engine had been choose to power the new aircraft.
Expected shortages of liquid cooled engines played the ball into Kurt Tank’s court who was
favouring the radial engine anyway. The Hughes H-1 which he watched on return from it’s
epic flight in New York, apparently left Tank impressed. Also the Luftwaffe experiences in
fighting the robust I-16 Rata during the Spanish civil war where not forgotten.
In charge of the constructional work was Rudolf Blaser and ten month after the contracts
had been signed the first prototype of the then so-called Fw190 made it’s maiden flight by
1. June 1939 with Focke Wulf’s Chief Test Pilot Hans Sander at the controls.
The Fw 190 V-1 was powered by an 18 cylinder BMW 139 delivering 1500hp.
The aircraft was an all metal, low wing, cantilever monoplane of a semi monocoque
construction. The tail was a separate section and the radial engine was elegantly blended
into the fuselage lines. Two self-sealing fuel tanks where located under the cockpit. The
nearly frameless sliding canopy was a first of it’s kind and granted very good all-around
visibility, occupied only by the massive radial engine.
The wings were of a two-spar construction with the main spar running through the entire
length of the wing. The entire assembly was attached to the fuselage as a whole. The
hydraulically operated gear was fully inwards retractable and had a wheel track of 3.5
meters / 11.5 ft. All following Fw190A used an electrically driven gear.
Stick and pedal forces where brought to the control surfaces by rods and not by cables as
it was common use until then. The horizontal tail plane was trimmable by an electrical
motor as a whole. No other pilot-adjustable trim surfaces where provided. Static trim tabs,
so called “Bügelkanten” were adjustable on the ground.
After several changes, including an engine change to the new BMW 801 C, orders were
given for a pre-series Fw 190 A-0.
6 of those machines had been sent to the Luftwaffe test centre at Rechlin
(Erprobungsstelle Rechlin) by March 1941. Parts of II./JG 26’s ground staff and pilots
around Technical Officer Karl Borris under command of Oberleutnant Otto Behrens where
transferred to Rechlin to test the aircraft’s combat and service qualities.
The pilots were impressed!
The Fw 190 was light on the controls and responsive, agile, fast and manoeuvrable.
Particularly, roll rates were exceptionally good. Take off and landings were easy, granted
to the wide wheel track with no tendency to break out.
Balancing was superb with very low Centre of Gravity changes throughout the envelope,
thus only minimal trim changes to the horizontal tail plane where required as load
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