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Fw-189 (H)12.3 (H1+KL) Stalingrad 1943 00 Fw-189 (H)12.3 (H1+KL) Stalingrad 1943 01 Skins Compatibility: IL2 Sturmovik Forgotten Battles (FB), Ace Expansion Pack (AEP), Pacific Fighters (PF), 1946, Storm of War (SW). Asisbiz Free Virtual High Resolution Images for Screensavers and Wallpaper: Focke-Wulf Fw-189 The Focke-Wulf Fw-189 Uhu (Eagle Owl) was a German twin-engine twin-boom three-seat tactical reconnaissance and army cooperation aircraft. It first flew in 1938 (Fw-189 V1), entered service in 1940, and was produced until mid-1944. Design and development In 1937, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium issued a specification for a single-engined reconnaissance aircraft with optimum visual characteristics. The preferred contractors were to be Arado, but the request prompted the Focke-Wulf company to work up the alternative idea of the Focke-Wulf Fw-189, a twin-boom design with two small, French-made Argus As 410 engines and a central crew gondola, while Blohm + Voss proposed something far more radical: chief designer Dr. Richard Vogt's unique asymmetric Bv 141. Possibly the best reconnaissance aircraft to operate during WWII, the Fw-189 was produced in large numbers, first at the Bordeaux-Merignac aircraft factory (now the Dassault Mirage plant) in occupied France, then in the Aero Vodochody aircraft factory in Prague 337 pcs, occupied Czechoslovakia. Total production was 846 aircraft of all variants. Operational history Called the "Flying Eye" of the German army, the Fw-189 was used extensively on the Eastern Front with great success. Its Russian nickname was "Rama" (Frame), referring to its distinctive tailboom shape. Despite its slow speed and fragile looks, the Fw-189's maneuverability made it a difficult target for attacking Russian fighters. When attacked, the Fw-189 was often able to outturn attacking fighters by simply flying in a tight circle that enemy fighters could not follow. Its ruggedness was demonstrated when Fw-189s routinely returned to bases with one tail shot or torn off. Variants The main production model was the Fw-189A reconnaissance plane, built mostly in two variants, the A-1 and A-2. * Fw-189 V2: Second prototype. The Fw-189B was a five-seater training aircraft; only 13 were built. * Fw-189 B-0: Three pre-production aircraft. The Fw-189C was conceived as a heavily armored ground attack, close-support variant, but its two prototypes (V1b and V6) were not satisfactory, and it was not produced. * Fw-189D: Proposed twin-float trainer floatplane. Not built. Operators: Germany – Luftwaffe; Hungary - Hungarian Air Force; Slovakia - Slovak Air Force Survivors: One Fw-189 survives today. Its story starts on May 4, 1943 when Fw-189 V7+1H (Werk Nr. 2100) based at Pontsalenjoki took off on a mission to photograph the Loukhi-3 airbase from an altitude of 6,000 m (20,000 ft), then to continue north along the Murmansk-Leningrad railway. Approximately 31 minutes after taking off V7+1H was attacked by Soviet Hawker Hurricane fighters. The aircraft dived to escape the fighters, but owing to damage already suffered could not pull out in time, and it struck the treetops. The tail was torn off, and the crew nacelle left hanging upside down within the trees. The pilot, Lothar Mothes, survived but one crewman was killed in the crash and the third died from blood loss as a result of a severed leg. Incredibly, Mothes was able to survive two weeks in sub-zero temperatures, evading Soviet patrols while eating bark and grubs as he walked back to his base. Mothes spent the next nine months in a hospital recovering from severe frostbite before returning to the front lines to eventually fly another 100 missions. In 1991, the wreckage of V7+1H was found in the Russian forest where it had remained for 48 years. The aircraft was purchased by a group of British aircraft enthusiasts and was shipped to the UK, arriving in the town of Worthing, West Sussex in March 1992. The Focke Wulf 189 Restoration Society was formed to restore the aircraft to flying condition. Her pilot met up again with his aircraft in 1996 at Biggin Hill airshow. It has been reported that this aircraft has recently been acquired by Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage Collection. The Flying Heritage Collection’s new location at Paine Field in Everett, WA will open to the public June 6, 2008. Specifications (Focke-Wulf Fw-189 A-1) General characteristics * Crew: 3 Performance * Maximum speed: 357 km/h at 2,600 m (222 mph at 8,530 ft) Armament * 2 × 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns mounted in the wing roots, firing forward Bibliography * Brown, Capt. Eric (CBE, DSC, AFC, RN). Wings of the Luftwaffe. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1978. Web References: History The Fw 189 was of a twin-engine design, made up of a long-spanning wing element and twin booms. The Fw 189 system was crewed by three personnel (consisting of the pilot and two gunners) positioned in a cockpit sitting high above and between the engine booms featuring a nearly all-glazed greenhouse-type design. The three crew consisted of the pilot and two gunners - one gunner manning a twin barrel dorsal machine gun mounting and the other a twin-barrel machine gun mounting in a tail cone turret assembly. An additional 441lbs of external stores were afforded the system. The real dedicated role of the Fw 189 was as a reconnaissance aircraft and the systems were fielded en masse against the Soviets. Though range limited the system to just 416 miles, no fewer than 30 Fw 189's were converted to the nightfighter role to combat light Soviet fighter incursions occurring on a regular basis along the front. In all, the Fw 189 system maintained a successful service record and played an important - albeit limited role - in the Eastern Front offensives. Specifications StatsCentral Additional Web References:
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