Air Power Series>1:48 die-cast display model>FW-190>HA7426

General Background

In 1937 the Me-109 was an excellent aircraft but the Reich Air Ministry wanted a new advanced fighter that could out perform any future foreign designs. Kurt Tank’s Focke-Wulf Fw-190 Würger (Butcher Bird) won the design competition by using an air-cooled radial engine. When the Fw-190 entered combat in the summer of 1941 it already was Germany’s premiere piston-powered WWII fighter. Over 20,000 of all variants of the Fw-190 were built with 13,291 of these being of the 9 different “A” variants.

The Aircraft

Erich Rudorffer was the 7th most successful WWII Luftwaffe fighter pilot. His first posting was to the 2nd Staffel / JG 2 ″Richthofen”, on January 7th, 1940. On May 14, 1940 Rudorffer scored his first victory and by May 1941he had run his victory tally to nineteen winning him the Knight’s Cross. He ended 1941 with forty victories. On November 11, 1942 Rudorffer was promoted to Staffelkapitän of 6./JG 2 and moved to Tunisia where on February 9, 1943 he shoots down nine British aircraft within 32 minutes. Rudorffer’s final score was 224 aircraft.

Specifications :

Dimensions:	Wingspan – 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
	Wing Area – 18.3 m (197 sq ft)
	Length – 8.96 m (29 ft 5 in)
	Height – 3.96 m (13 ft)
Weight:	Empty – 3,470 kg (7,650 lb)
	Maximum – 4,900 kg (10,800 lb)
Performance:	Engine – BMW 801D 1,700 hp 14-cylinder radial engine
	Maximum Speed – 657 kph (408 mph) (335 kts)
	Service Ceiling – 10,300 m (33,800 ft)
	Range – 800 km (500 mi) (435 nmi)
Armament:	(2) 13 mm Machine Guns plus
	(4) 20 mm cannon or
	(2) 20 mm cannons plus
	(2) 30 mm cannons