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#Post#: 15860--------------------------------------------------
Plane of the Week; Luftwaffe Focke-Wolf 189 Scout
By: Beowolff Date: February 6, 2021, 6:24 am
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Luftwaffe Focke-Wolf 189 Scout
HTML https://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/163153965148-0-1/s-l1000.jpg
An amazing plane in real life... and in IL2 as well, though I
don't think much attention is paid to it (or as much as it
should be due to it's sort of seemingly less adventurous or
should I say 'less romantic' roles compared to the exciting,
blood-pumping, high-speed adventures of the fighters and their
dashing jocks or the huge explosions generated from the heavier
bombers!)
Yes. compared to fighters...I.E. the 109, the 190 and so on,
this little seemingly insignificant Scout/Utility plane gave
Yeoman service to the Germans during the war. The Focke-Wulf Fw
189 Uhu or Eagle Owl, a German twin-engine, twin-boom,
three-seat tactical reconnaissance and army cooperation
aircraft. It first flew in 1938 (Fw 189 V1), entered service in
1940 and was produced until mid-1944.
In addition, Focke-Wulf used this airframe in response to a
tender request by the RLM for a dedicated ground-attack
airplane, and later submitted an armored version for trials.
However, the Henschel Hs 129 was selected instead.
Called the Fliegende Auge ("Flying Eye") of the German Army, the
Fw 189 was used extensively on the Eastern Front with great
success. It was nicknamed "Rama" ("frame" in the Russian,
Ukrainian and Polish languages) by Soviet forces, referring to
its distinctive tailboom and stabilizer shapes, giving it the
characteristic quadrangular appearance.[citation needed] Despite
its low speed and fragile looks, the Fw 189's manoeuvrability
made it a difficult target for attacking Soviet fighters. When
attacked, the Fw 189 was often able to out-turn attacking
fighters by simply flying in a tight circle into which enemy
fighters could not follow.
Light Reconnaissance Group 15, attached to the 4th Panzerarmee
in southern Poland during late 1944, carried out nocturnal recon
and light bombing sorties with a handful of 189A-1s. These
planes typically lacked the main model's rear dorsal machine
gun. Small numbers of A-1s were used in the night fighter role
in the closing weeks of the war - the aircraft were modified for
this new duty by having their reconnaissance equipment removed,
and then fitted with FuG 212 AI radar in the nose and a single
obliquely-firing 20mm MG FF autocannon in the common Schräge
Musik upwards/forward-firing offensive fitment also used for
heavier-airframed German night fighters, like the Bf 110G, but
for the Fw 189; in the crew nacelle in the space where the rear
dorsal gun was normally housed. The majority of the nachtjager
189s were operated by NJG 100, flying out of an airbase at
Greifswald. Chronic fuel shortages and enemy air superiority
over the 189s' defence area (chiefly Berlin) meant that only a
very few kills were scored by these craft.
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/hGKLY7P6/a20402bfbd152fb693d7a2f5b5d29a91.jpg
Variants:
Fw 189 A-0: Ten preproduction aircraft for operational tests and
trials.
Fw 189 A-1: Initial production version, armed with two flexible
7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine guns in the dorsal and rear
positions, one 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 17 machine gun in each wing
root, plus four 50 kg (110 lb) bombs. It could carry an Rb 20/30
or an Rb 50/30 aerial camera.
Fw 189 A-1 trop: Tropicalised version of the Fw 189 A-1, fitted
with air intake filters and survival equipment. Conversion from
A-1s.
Fw 189 A-1/U2: VIP transport version of the Fw 189 A-1.
Fw 189 A-1/U3: VIP transport version of the Fw 189 A-1.
Fw 189 A-2: The flexible MG 15s were replaced by twin-barrel
7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 81Z.
Fw 189 A-3: Tropicalised production version of the Fw 189 A-2,
fitted with air intake filters and survival equipment.
Fw 189 A-4: Light ground-attack version, armed with two 20 mm MG
151/20 cannons in each wing root, fitted with armour protection
for the underside of the fuselage, engines and fuel tanks. No
production known.
The Fw 189B was a five-seat training aircraft; only 13 were
built.
Fw 189 B-0: Three preproduction aircraft.
Fw 189 B-1: Five-seat training version. ten built.
The Fw 189C was conceived as a heavily armoured ground-attack,
close-support variant, in competition with the Henschel Hs 129.
But its two prototypes (V1b and V6) were not satisfactory, and
it was not produced.
Fw 189D: Proposed twin-float trainer floatplane. Not built.
Fw 189E: Prototype only, powered by two 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)
Gnome-Rhone 14M radial engines.
Fw 189 F-1: Re-engined Fw 189 A-1 aircraft, powered by two 600
PS (592 hp, 441 kW) Argus As 411 engines.
Fw 189 F-2: Fitted with electrically-operated landing gear,
increased fuel capacity and additional armour plating, powered
by two 600 PS (592 hp, 441 kW) Argus As 411 engines.
As you can see from above, this little bird got around! ;)
Operators
Germany
Luftwaffe
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Air Force
Hungary
Royal Hungarian Air Force
Norway
Royal Norwegian Air Force (Postwar)
Romania
Royal Romanian Air Force
Slovakia
Slovenské vzdušné zbrane
Slovak Insurgent Air Force
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/fWdVxRM9/a3e89d2c9fddb84482b060b598f8ffa5.gif
Specifications (Fw 189 A-1)
General characteristics
Crew: 3
Length: 11.9 m (39 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 18.4 m (60 ft 4 in)
Height: 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 38 m2 (410 sq ft)
Empty weight: 2,690 kg (5,930 lb)
Gross weight: 3,950 kg (8,708 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Argus As 410A-1 V-12 inverted air-cooled piston
engines 465 PS (459 hp; 342 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed Argus variable-pitch propellers
Performance
Maximum speed: 344 km/h (214 mph, 186 kn) at 2,500 m (8,202 ft)
Cruise speed: 317 km/h (197 mph, 171 kn)
Landing speed: 120 km/h (75 mph; 65 kn)
Range: 940 km (580 mi, 510 nmi)
Service ceiling: 7,000 m (23,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 5.17 m/s (1,018 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 4,000 m (13,123 ft)in 8 minutes 18 seconds
Armament
Guns:
2 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns mounted in the wing
roots, firing forward
1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine gun in dorsal flexible mount
position firing to rear
1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 in rear cone firing to rear
(optional)
Bombs:
4 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/J7XLTyDR/ea65af868bc2157fbd9f9723c58f1a5a.jpg
As you can see, the Owl was a fantastic little bird, heavily
used, and usually to good effect. But again, not very romantic
as compared to bombers and or especially classic WW2 Fighters of
the time.
And that's how it is in the game too. IL2 does a good job of
recreating this classic little Recon job... it looks good, and
performs well. Oh but how many times do you hear anyone mention
flying it? LOL! I'll wager almost zero!
:'(
And too bad because this little bird DESERVES more attention!
Salute! ;D
Beowolff
#Post#: 15872--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; Luftwaffe Focke-Wolf 189 Scout
By: cafs Date: February 6, 2021, 1:22 pm
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I like the FW-189 design, do not have the elegance of an Italian
plane, specially the 205 fighter series, but seems very
ballanced and well thought. Lots of plexiglass, like a good
tactical recon plane must have.
But low and slow, over a mid to late WW2 front line, on any
front, wasn't good to health. :o ;) ;D
#Post#: 15890--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; Luftwaffe Focke-Wolf 189 Scout
By: Beowolff Date: February 7, 2021, 6:49 am
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More (real life) pictures of the Owl!!!!! In the immediate
picture below, note the detail of the strange teardrop like
fuselage! Also, in one of the pics below, note the struggle of
ground crew in process of mounting bombs to the Owl's wings!
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/s2pzrwdw/fw-189-closeup.jpg
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/kG2hngRq/focke-wulf-fw-189a-the-twin-fuselage-fw-189-was-designed-as-a-light-bomber-but-saw-service-mostly-as.jpg
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/1zzdWBR8/russia-focke-wulf-fw-189-bundesarchiv-bild-101i-331-3034-13a-liedke-cc-by-sa-3-0-741x486.jpg
HTML https://alchetron.com/cdn/focke-wulf-fw-189-cd88af0f-6645-4f75-96d2-296df6ecd3f-resize-750.jpeg
#Post#: 15926--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; Luftwaffe Focke-Wolf 189 Scout
By: ben_wh Date: February 8, 2021, 2:41 pm
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Beo,
Good write-up - the Fw-189 is an excellent recon plane with a
classic WW2 German plexiglass cockpit design. Visibility in the
cockpit was great, but as cafs said the pilots might have felt
somewhat vulnerable if flying low over an active battlefield.
Cockpit for the proposed ground attack version was a good
contrast to the 'glasshouse' cockpit of the recon version:
[img]
HTML https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/4oBfNfVgfLSXSIlkwg3OoztFQ2uM3GBWI49SvZZ5Lxpgzr8WqUeDl-TPWQEqy0ktTs6bYF3VgQ2DcJnlN-zJHNgpVQUXLIS5_SCd27gSaA0OoMATcbQplSOUJDKz[/img]
Indeed, computer pilots usually go for fighters or ground
attacked planes, but this is partly due to the fact that recon
is a relatively less developed aspect of the gameplay. If, for
example, there is more tangible impact of successful recon
missions in a campaign, this and other recon/ army cooperation
planes may enjoy more attention.
Cheers,
#Post#: 15928--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; Luftwaffe Focke-Wolf 189 Scout
By: DHumphrey Date: February 8, 2021, 4:00 pm
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Nice article Beo ... learned quite a bit about this PoW ...
thanks for sharing. :)
#Post#: 15929--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week; Luftwaffe Focke-Wolf 189 Scout
By: JG51_Ruski Date: February 8, 2021, 4:08 pm
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Good post Beo I learned about something new,,Thank You
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