Flying the FW 190
In the fall of 1937, the Technical Department of the German Air Ministry decided to develop a replacement for the Messerschmitt 109. At the end of the year, after discussions with Focke-Wulf’s chief designer Kurt Tank, the Air Ministry awarded a contract to the company. The Ministry specified the need for a fighter whose performance would be significantly better than that of both the 109 and the British Spitfire.
Tank realized that he would require the most powerful engine available to him, and this requirement clearly pointed him toward the 18-cylinder, two-row radial BMW 139, which offered 325 more horsepower than its nearest rival, the 12-cylinder, in-line, liquid-cooled DB 601. This decision surprised Luftwaffe officials but was accepted because of the uncertainty of the future supply of the Daimler-Benz engine (which had previously been projected as the powerplant for the 109 fighter, the twin-engine Me 110, Arado 240 fighter, and several other combat aircraft).
The Focke-Wulf design team began with certain definite ideas: They would need a strong, wide-track landing gear, both to withstand the vertical velocity required of the new fighter/bomber and also to avoid the severe directional control problems that plagued the 109 during takeoffs and landings. Tank also declared that when he was a soldier in WW I, he had learned that military equipment must be simple, robust, reliable, and easy to maintain. He was determined to apply those standards to the new aircraft—designation “FW 190.”
It is interesting that Tank, who was also a director of Focke-Wulf, was a famous test pilot of his aircraft during WW II. Throughout this article, you’ll notice where his understanding of the real-life requirements of hard-pressed combat pilots produced superior designs of cockpits, visibility from the cockpit, landing gear, control harmonies, and automatic systems—to name just a few areas in which he excelled. With all of his designs, his test-pilot experience allowed him to work toward the reduction of the combat pilot’s load as far as possible.
Powered by a fan-cooled 1,550hp BMW 139, the prototype’s first flight took place
