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FW-190A Focke Wulf |
| $260.00 $180.00 $135.00 (Currently Sold Out. Inquire for availability) |
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FW 190A Focke Wulf Desktop Model Aircraft
SKU: NC10179
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German single-seat, single-radial engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s. It was used by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War in a variety of roles is now available in a desktop model aircraft by Mastercraft.
Delivery 7 to 10 days
Length: 12"
Code: NC10179
In autumn 1937, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) ("Reich Air Ministry") asked various designers for a new fighter to fight alongside the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Germany's front-line fighter. Although the Bf 109 was at that point an extremely competitive fighter, the RLM was worried that future foreign designs might outclass it and wanted to have new aircraft under development to meet these possible challenges.
Kurt Tank responded with a number of designs, most incorporating liquid-cooled inline engines. However, it was not until a design was presented using the air-cooled, 14-cylinder BMW 139 radial engine that the RLM's interest was aroused. It was believed that because the Fw 190 used a radial engine it would not affect production of the Bf 109, furthering the RLM's interest in the Fw 190. At the time, the use of radial engines on land-based fighters was relatively rare in Europe, as it was believed that their large frontal area would cause too much drag on a design as small as a fighter. Tank was not convinced of this, having witnessed the success of radial engines as used by the US Navy, and felt a properly streamlined installation would eliminate this problem.
Tank's solution was to tightly cowl the engine in its entirety. Normally, radial engines would be left open at the front, in order to allow in sufficient air to cool the engine. Instead, Tank's cowl completely enclosed the engine. Cooling air was instead admitted through a hole in the front of an oversized propeller spinner. A cone in the middle of the hole was intended to compress the air, allowing the small opening to create sufficient airflow. In theory, the use of the tight-fitting cowling also provided some thrust due to the compression of air at speed through the cowling.
Another revolutionary aspect of the new design was the extensive use of electrically-powered equipment replacing the hydraulic systems used by most aircraft manufacturers of the time. On the first two prototypes (described below) the main undercarriage was hydraulic. Starting with the third prototype, the undercarriage was operated by push-buttons in the cockpit controlling electric motors in the wings, and was kept in position by electric up- and down-locks. Similarly, the electrically operated landing flaps were controlled by buttons in the cockpit as was the variable incidence tailplane, which could be used to flight-trim the aircraft. The fixed armament was also charged and fired electrically. Tank believed that service use would prove the electrically-powered systems would be more reliable and more rugged than hydraulics, as well as being much easier to service when needed and the absence of flammable hydraulic fluids and vulnerable piping, which was usually prone to leakage, would reduce the risk of fire.
Tank also designed an extremely clean cockpit layout, aided by the use of the electrical equipment. The cockpit had most of the main controls laid out in a logical pattern and incorporated into consoles on either side of the pilot, rather than being placed on the fuselage skinning.
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