Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Focke-Wulf Fw 190 — German Luftwaffe’s Workhorse” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/focke-wulf-fw-190/.
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 — German Luftwaffe’s Workhorse
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
Old retired fighter pilot here. My favorite plane to own for pleasure is a T-28B Trojan. B model probably not used in Vietnam for ground attack. The A model (which I flew) is a bit underpowered, and any C model probably saw extensive Vietnam use. My reasons for choosing it are that it is very similar to a WW2 fighter in everything, has the best visibility of practically any similar airplane, and is relatively inexpensive. If I could own a real WW2 fighter, then the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat would do, although my number one is, like the author's, the P-38.
Talyn
SAINT
The story is inaccurate. The basic philosophy that shaped the F8F was not the September FW 190 flight evaluation but the result of 1942 combat experience in the Pacific vis-a-vis the Mitsubishi Zero, the need for what amounted to a fast-climbing interceptor, and the requirement for a fighter the size of a Wildcat to operate from the small decks of the newly created escort carriers.
The F8F originated with a memo from Roy Grumman to Chief Engineer Bill Schwendler dated 28 July 1943 requesting a predesign of a small fighter built around the most powerful R-2800 engine available and providing some additional guidelines. It was reportedly the result of previous discussions between those two dating back to at least late 1942.
The Conception of the F8F Bearcat
The interweb would have you believe that the F8F Bearcat resulted from a Grumman evaluation of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 accomplished in early 1...
thanlont.blogspot.com
A predesign drawing by Dick Hutto dated 20 August 1943 indicates that the basic size and shape, including a bubble canopy, of the Grumman G-58 were well established by then.
The Grumman F8F Bearcat: An Engine With a Saddle
What the bantamweight Bearcat lacked in finesse it made up for with brute strength.
www.historynet.com
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The BF190 was designed to be transportable by rail, hence the narrow track. The aircraft, with wings removed, could be simply be rolled onto a flat car. Kurt Tank faced intense opposition to his FW190 design, (it would have too much drag due to the radial engine, be too slow, blah blah blah) but won a contract because radial engines were available while V12 production was maxed out, a rare victory of common sense over bureaucratic ossification.
Talyn
SAINT
More Bearcat...
thanlont.blogspot.com
F8F Safety Tips—It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
Much of this post was taken from Naval Fighter Number Eighty: Grumman F8F Bearcat , an excellent monograph on the Navy's last and arguably b...
thanlont.blogspot.com