Focke-Wulf Fw 189

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The Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu (Eagle Owl) was a twin-engine twin-boom three seat tactical reconnaissance and army cooperation aircraft. It first flew in 1938 (Fw 189V1), entered service in 1940, and was produced until mid-1944. It performed superbly as a reconnaissance aircraft and was both rugged and manoeuvrable.

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 410 engines and a central crew gondola, while Blohm + Voss proposed something far more radical. The proposal of chief designer Dr Richard Vogt was the unique asymmetric Bv 141.

Most likely the best reconnaissance aircraft to operate during WWII, the Fw 189 was produced in large numbers, mostly at the Bordeaux-Merignac aircraft factory (now the Dassault Mirage plant) in occupied France.

Called the "Flying Eye" of the German army, the Fw 189 was used extensively on the Russian Front where it succeeded beyond the most optimistic predictions. Despite its fragile looks, the Fw 189's superb handling and agility made it a very difficult and elusive target for attacking Russian fighters. When attacked, the Fw 189 was often able to out turn attacking fighters by simply flying in a tight circle that enemy fighters could not follow. Its phenomenal toughness was demonstrated when Fw 189s routinely returned to bases with one tail shot or torn off.

The main production model was the Fw 189A reconnaissance plane, built mostly in two variants, the A-1 and A-2. The Fw 189B was a five-seater training aircraft, but only 13 were built. A heavily armored ground attack variant, the Fw 189C conceived, but its two prototypes (V1b and V6) were not satisfactory, and it was not produced.

Total production was 846 aircraft of all variants.

[edit] Survivor

One Fw 189 survives today. Its story starts when on May 4 1943 Fw 189 V7+1H (werke Nr. 2100) based at Pontsalenjoki took off on a mission to photograph the Loukhi-3 airbase from an altitude of 6,000 m, 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 nose dived to escape the fighters but owing to damage already suffered could not pull out in time and 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 had been killed in the crash and the second died from loss of blood as a result of a severed leg. Incredibly, the pilot was able to survive two weeks in sub-zero temperatures, evading Russian patrols while eating bark and grubs as he walked back to his base. Lothar 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.

[edit] Specifications (Focke Wulf Fw 189)

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Length: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
• Wingspan: 18.4 m (60 ft 4 in)
• Height: 3.7 m (12 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 38 m² (409 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,680 kg (5,920 lb)
• Loaded weight: 3,950 kg (8,708 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: kg (lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Argus 410 , 350 kW (465 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 357 km/h at 2,600 m (222 mph at 8,530 ft)
• Range: 670 km (416 miles)
• Service ceiling: 8,400 m (27,550 ft)
• Rate of climb: 8.3 m/s (1,640 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 103.9 kg/m² (21.3 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0.177 kW/kg (0.107 hp/lb)

Armament

• 4 X 7.92mm machine guns
• 4× 50 kg bombs

[edit] Related content

Comparable aircraft

Bv 141 - Praga E-51 - Sukhoi Su-12

Designation sequence

Fw 187 - Ju 187 - Ju 188 - Fw 189 - Fw 190 - Fw 191 - Ao 192

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of Germany