The Focke-Wulf Fw189 Restoration Society
Peter Evans
Help put a Focke-Wulf FW189 Owl back in the air!
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Focke Wulf Fw189A-1 werk.no 2100, coded V7+1H
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Restoration of this aircraft is vital as it is the only known
survivor of its kind. The 189 Restoration Group intends to re-build
the magnificent historical aircraft and get it back where it
belongs - in the air.
The Group aims to foster the appreciation of the design work of Kurt
Tank and the skills of the people who both built the aircraft and
those who are to rebuild it: Aero-Prague and BMZ.
The restoration Group intends to promote good will and understanding
amongst all those who appreciate the beauty of craft that fly.
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For more information on how to become a member of the Focke-Wulf 189
Society, please send a SAE or IRC to the following address:
The Focke-Wulf 189 Society, 24 Willowbed Drive, Chichester, West
Sussex, PO19 2JB, United Kingdom.
* When replying, please mention that you saw this article on the
rec.aviation.newsgroup on the internet - thanks...
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Service History
Focke-Wulf Fw189, coded V7+1H, werk.no. 2100
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This example of a Focke-Wulf Fw189 is thought to be an A-1 version,
although there are signs that it may have been converted to an A-2.
It was originally built at Aero Company in Prague in mid-1941. It
was test flown twice by Aero test pilot Karel Vanek on 23rd July
1941 and again on the 24th July before being passed as airworthy
and handed over to the short-range army unit. This aircraft is
thought to be the fourth of only 10 Fw189 produced by Aero in 1941.
Its service history between its last test flight and its final
mission in May 1943 is unknown, although this gap is currently
being researched as to try and find out more.
It operated with 1(H)/32 based at Pontsalejoki and on 4th May 1943
she took off on a reconnaissance mission to photograph and attack
the Murmansk-Leningrad railway. However, only 31 minutes into its
mission a radio call was received at its base saying that they were
under heavy attack from enemy fighters. This was the last message
from V7+1H until the wreckage wa s discovered a few hours later by
Russian troops near Loukhi. It seems that the pilot had been unable
to clear a forest to crash land and had clipped the tree tops before
finally resting upside-down. Of the three crew, only the
navigator/bombardier/gunner Lothar Mothes survived and returned to
Germany after the war. The group is trying to Locate Lothar or any
living relatives so as to piece together some of the missing
service history.
Due to the extreme cold in this area of Russia, the wreckage had
been kept in excellent condition. The airframe had suffered severely
from the crash landing and several internal instruments and armament
had been removed by souvenir hunters. In 1992 a Russian recovery
team located the wreckage and began plans to airlift the airframe
from its resting place by helicopter. It was them purchased by
Sussex based restorer Jim Pearce and transported to the UK by rail,
road and air in 1992.
It was decided that the complete airframe was to be restored by BMZ
Air-Service, based at Prague-Letnany airfield near the original Aero
company hanger, where she was assembled for its original test
flights in 1941. The tail unit was transported to BMZ in November
1995 where it is now undergoing restoration. A new engine, still in
its packing case, has also been delivered. The two original engines
will be going to Deltair, with the better one of the two being
overhauled and certified to flying condition. The useable parts on
the other engine will be used during the overhaul with any spares
being stored for possible use in the future.
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A Brief Development History of the Focke-Wulf Fw189
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The Focke-Wulf Fw189 Uhu (Owl), or popularly known as the "Das
Fliegende Auge" (The Flying Eye), was conceived in February 1937 in
response to an RLM specification calling for a Short-Range
Reconnaissance aircraft. Two other projects were also put forward -
the Arado Ar198 and the radical asymmetric Blohm und Voss Bv141.
The Fw189 design opted for a twin-boom configuration with all metal
stressed skin structure which had a smooth flush riveted exterior.
The wing comprised of a rectangular centre section and detachable
panels bolted on, just outboard of the tail booms and tapered on the
leading edge only. The long-span ailerons and three sections of the
electronically operated split flaps were all fabric covered. The
rest of the tail assembly was all metal although the elevator and
rudders were also fabric covered. Each main landing gear had and
H-shaped frame with twin shock absorbers in levered suspension. The
gear was raised hydraulically, swinging back under the wing into a
bay in the boom closed by twin doors. Linkage also pulled the
castor tailwheel, which retracted sideways to the left to be stowed in
the tailplane.
Construction of the Fw189 V1 (D-OPVN) began in April 1937, the aircraft
flying for the first time in July 1938 with Kurt Tank himself at the
controls! It was powered by two 430hp Argus As410 twelve-cylinder
inverted-vee air-cooled engines and proved to have delightful flying
characteristics. An armed Fw189 V2 (D-OVHD) joined the programme in
August 1938 and two further prototypes (V3 & V4) also made
successful flights. The Fw189 V3 was fitted with special Argus
designed propellers which were controlled by a special automatically
controlled vanes on the nose of the spinners. The Fw189 V5 was the
first prototype for the B-series duel control trainer . The glazed
fuselage of the Fw189A was replaced by a refined aerodynamic
shape and conventional stepped cockpit. The RLM ordered construction of
3 Fw189B-0s and 10 Fw189B-1s with all but three of the Fw189B-1s being
delivered by the summer of 1939. Each of the B-series could carry a
crew of 5 although all defensive armament was removed.
Late in 1939, the Fw189 V1 was withdrawn from the test programme and
returned to Focke-Wulf at Bremen for modification to a Fw189 V1b
close-support aircraft. The original fuselage nacelle was replaced
by a smaller structure composing mainly of armour plate. Initial
flight trails of this new design proved disappointing with overall
performance severely reduced.
At the beginning of 1940, the first 10 Fw189A-0 pre-production
aircraft left the Focke-Wulf production line at Bremen and were
followed by an initial batch of 20 Fw189A-1 production machines.
These were similar to the Fw189 V4 prototype but were armed with two
fixed MG17 machine guns in the wing-roots, a movable MG15 in the
dorsal and tail positions and four ETC50 bomb racks. Several
developments of the basic Fw189A-1 airframe were produced during the
summer of 1941. These included:
Fw189A-1/Trop - with desert survival equipment,
Fw189A-1/U2 - personal transport
Fw189A-1/U3 - personal transport
There was even a planned Fw189D-1 floatplane which was essentially a
Fw189B-series fitted with floats, although this prototype was
eventually to be converted to a Fw189B-0 before it could be
completed.
In late 1940, a second production line was laid down at the Aero
factory in Czechoslovakia. A complete set of jigs and tools were also
delivered to the French SNCASO factory in the Bordeaux area for
production purposes. By mid-1942 production of the Fw189 had
virtually ceased at Bremen in favour of the Fw190 fighter.
Production finally ceased at Focke-Wulf at Bremen and Aero in Prague
in 1943, although SNCASO produced some airframes at its factory at
Bordeaux-Merignac until early 1944.
In all, some 846 Fw189s (including prototypes) were built - the
yearly figures were as follows:
1939 - 6
1940 - 38
1941 - 250
1942 - 327
1943 - 208
1944 - 17
Specification for the Fw189A-2
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Type: Three-seat Tactical Reconnaissance and
Army Support aircraft.
Power Plant: Two Argus As410A-1 12-cylinder inverted-vee air
cooled engines rated at 465hp.
Armament: Two 7.9mm MG17 machine guns in the wing-roots.
Two 7.9mm MG81 machine guns in flexible mounts in
dorsal positions
Two 7.9mm MG81 machine guns in the tail of the
fuselage nacelle
Four 110lb SC50 bombs on ETC50 underwing racks.
Performance: Max Speed: 217mph at 7875ft
Max Cruising: 202mph at 7875ft
Normal Range: 416 miles
Endurance: 2hrs 10 mins
Service Ceiling: 23950ft
Weights: Empty: 6239lbs
Empty Equipped: 7154lbs
Normal Loaded: 8708lbs
Max Loaded: 9193lbs
Dimensions: Span: 60ft 4.1/2in
Length: 39ft 5.1/2in
Height: 10ft 2in
Wing Area: 409.029sqft
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The Fw189 In Service
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The first Fw189A-0 had been delivered to training Staffel 9.(H)/LG2
in the autumn of 1940, although this unit had also received several
Fw189B series trainers earlier that spring.
On the Eastern front, 174 Fw189A-1s and A-2s were eventually to form
the equipment of Aufklarungsgruppen 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 31, 32
and 41. When these units were formed into the Nahaufklarungsgruppen,
only NAGr7 did not operate Fw189s. The only reconnaissance Staffel
to operate Fw189A-1/ Trop in the Middle-East was 4.(H)/12 which
operated under the Fliegerfuhrer Afrika.
Reconnaissance was not the only task performed by Fw189s with several
aircraft used by I./NJG100 the "Eisenbahn-Nachtjagd" (Railway Night
Fighter) unit. These operated against the small Po-2 biplanes of the
Soviet Air Force which carried out nuisance raids against German
railway targets at night.
During 1942, a batch of 14 Fw189A-1s were supplied to the Slovakian
Air Force and later in the year, a quantity of Fw189A-2s reached
Hungary to equip the Hungarian 3/1 Short Range Reconnaissance
Squadron.
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Sources - Fw189A-1 werk.no 2100
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Focke-Wulf 189 Society Newsletter No1, winter 1995*
Focke-Wulf 189 Society Booklet*
Warbirds Worldwide No21, May 1992
Aeroplane Monthly, October 1995
(* both available when you become a member)
Sources - Archive
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Warplanes of the Third Reich - William Green
German Aircraft of the Second World War - JR Smith & Anthony L
Kay
Warplanes of the Luftwaffe - David Donald
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Aircrew - PBY-5A Consolidated Catalina VR-BPS
Plane Sailing Air Displays
Duxford - England
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Bronze Member No66
The Focke-Wulf 189 Owl Restoration Society
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Luftwaffe Enthusiast 1939-45
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eric.sch...@gmail.com
Hello, I have a wrist watch that I believe is a fw189a-1 pilot watch. It is a chronograph with an eagle clutching a swastika in the center and directly below that it says luftwaffe fw. 189A-1. The back of the watch has a large swastika stamped in the center and a small one at the bottom edge along with the numbers 786 at top and d1943h at the bottom. All stamped in the case. I’m trying to find more information about it and any help would be appreciated. My email Eric.sch...@gmail.com thank
Dean Markley
> To whom it may concern;
>
> Hello, I have a wrist watch that I believe is a fw189a-1 pilot watch. It is a chronograph with an eagle clutching a swastika in the center and directly below that it says luftwaffe fw. 189A-1. The back of the watch has a large swastika stamped in the center and a small one at the bottom edge along with the numbers 786 at top and d1943h at the bottom. All stamped in the case. I’m trying to find more information about it and any help would be appreciated. My email Eric.sch...@gmail.com thank
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