Hobby Master 1/48 - FW-190 F-8 Northern Italy, 1944

Hobby Master 1/48 - FW-190 F-8 Northern Italy, 1944

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

In late 1943 all the various forms of ground-attack units were consolidated into one new ground-attack unit Schlachtgeschwader 4. The new unit consisted of I./SG 4, II. /SG 4, III./SG4. This reorganization created a single Geschwader equipped solely with Fw-190’s. After suffering losses in late 1943 I./SG 4 was transferred to Piancenza Italy to rest and re-equip with Fw-190 F-8. In February 1944 I./SG4 and II. /SG-4 were transferred to Viterbo Italy. The new Fw-190 F-8 was used to try and halt the Allied advances at Anzio and in the Cassino region. In July 1944 the entire squad was transferred to the northern USSR to help with the Defense of the Reich. It was quite common for I./SG 4 to wear desert camouflage and a spinner with a white spiral even when they weren’t in desert areas.

Specifications :

Role:	Single Seat Specialized Ground Attack Variant
First Battlefield Availability:	March 1944
Users:	German Luftwaffe and RHAF (Royal Hungarian Air Force)
Performance:
Engine:	1 x 1,700 hp (1268 kw) BMW 801D-2 14 cylinder air-cooled radial engine Or
	1 x 2,100 hp (1566 kw) with MW-50 methanol/water injection in emergency situations.
Maximum Speed:	408 mph (653 km/h) with boost on
Initial Climb Rate:	2,350 ft (720 m) per minute
Service Ceiling:	37,400 ft (11410 m)
Range Using Internal Tanks Only:	560 miles (900 km)
Weight:
Empty:	7,055 lbs (3200 kg)
Maximum Take-Off:	10,800 lbs (4900 kg)
Dimensions:
Wing Span:	34 ft 5.5 in (10.50 m)
Length:	33 ft 5.5 in (10.2 m)
Height:	11 ft 0 in (3.35 m)
Wing Area:	196.99 sq ft (18.30 sq m)
Armament:	(2) 13 mm (0.51 in) MG 131 machine guns above the engine
	(2) 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots
	(2) MG 151/20 or MK 108 cannon in outer wings
	Plus (1) 3,968 lbs (1800 kg) centerline bomb Or
	1,102 lbs (500 kg) SC500 centerline bomb And
	(2) 551 lbs (250 kg) bombs on wing racks