Aviation Classics Magazine: Profiling the world?s greatest aircraft and manufacturers, and those who flew, maintained and supported them.
The focus of this latest issue is the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 which, when it was first introduced in 1941, was the best fighter plane in the world. Written by military aviation historian Dan Sharp, the latest release contains its usual blend of excellent features and photography within 132 glossy A4 pages.
A fearsome flying machine and truly formidable opponent, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 stood alongside the Messerschmitt Bf 109 as the iconic fighter of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Hugely adaptable and sent into action on nearly all fronts, when it entered service it was more than a match for the best Spitfires the RAF could field and began shooting them down in ever increasing numbers.
It was used for the Mistel flying bomb combination and as a test aircraft for the Ruhrstahl X-4 wire-guided air-to-air missile and later developed into the ‘long nose’ Fw 190D-9. It’s final development was the powerful Ta 152 fighter, designed to defeat the most advanced Allied piston-engined fighters such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Spitfire XIV, Hawker Tempest and P-51 Mustang.
Today there are no more than two dozen survivors of the more than 20,000 produced. Aviation Classics 26 tells the Fw 190’s story with a wealth of new artwork, hundreds of period photos and never-before-seen original Focke-Wulf design drawings.
Contents:
| 8 | Rise of a legend – the origins of Focke-Wulf |
| 16 | A false start with the Fw 159 |
| 20 | War horse – early development of the Fw 190 |
| 28 | First encounters with the RAF |
| 34 | Secrets revealed part I |
| 40 | Secrets revealed part II |
| 42 | Evolution under fire |
| 48 | High altitude failure – Fw 190B and C |
| 54 | Best in the West |
| 62 | Close support – Fw 190F and G |
| 68 | The 190 abroad |
| 70 | Beasts of the East |
| 76 | Secrets revealed part III: in Soviet hands |
| 80 | Sturmovik killer Otto Kittel |
| 86 | Long-nose Dora – the stopgap |
| 92 | Fw 190 Sturmbock |
| 96 | Last defence of the Reich |
| 100 | Final fighter – Ta 152 |
| 108 | Special weapons and unusual variants |
| 114 | A legend reborn |
| 122 | After the war |
| 126 | Survivors |
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