Histoire & Collections

Planes and Pilots: Focke Wulf Fw-190 From 1939 To 1945

by  Dominique Breffort and Andre Jouineau

Reviewed By  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $19.95 ISBN: 978-2-915239-25-6 Available at at Avalon Hobbies (Or any bookstore) www.histoireetcollections.fr HISTORY The Focke Wulf FW-190 has probably had as much written about it as any combat aircraft from any time period. This publication is another in a long list of FW-190 books, but it deserves consideration before one muses "What? ANOTHER book on the FW-190?" This book is one of a series that has appeared in the past several years, including the P-40, P-51, ME-109, JU-87, Mirage, and two volumes on French aircraft of the World War II period. All are to be recommended, noting the comments below. This book was apparently intended to provide the modeler and enthusiast with a complete reference work on the specific aircraft. The books all follow the same format, with the developmental history, operational career, basic colors and markings, and differences between the basic variants. This information is provided in both text and drawing format, with a few photos thrown in for interest, some of which I haven't seen before. Other features include an explanation of unit markings, camouflage patterns, and technical and maintenance stenciling which appeared on the aircraft. There is no coverage of internal details, however. The book contains a brief factual history of the aircraft, along with 39 black and white and color photos, specifications, and 184 color profile drawings of excellent quality, in addition to two pages of four view drawings showing standard camouflage patterns. Two pages of side profile line drawings illustrate the major variants, although the FW-190D and TA-152 are shortchanged here. PROBLEMS The problems associated with this book stem from two basic factors. The book was originally written in French, and was translated by an English writer into English. This results in some unclear statements. (Example: "…the access panels to these weapons with a greater rate of fire had bosses") I have no idea what the authors are trying to say. Other terms, such as 'circular antennas" obviously refer top ADF loop antennas carried underneath the rear fuselage of many FW-190's. That being said, the text is quite readable, and even though some of the wording seemed a little strange to this reviewer, the novice will get a good grasp of the basic story without undue effort. Secondly, the book contains some inaccuracies which probably stem from the production process as well as faulty proofreading. A photo on page 62 purports to show an FW-190D-13, when in fact it is one of the original prototypes, the FW-190 V53, which had, however, the same armament. The same aircraft is shown, correctly identified, in color profile two pages later. On page 73, two of the FW-190D's are mixed up, with an FW-190D-9 being identified as FW-190D-11, and vice versa. On the last color pages depicting the TA-152 series, apparently the artist made a basic drawing of a TA-152, identifying the TA-152 V7, which was the TA-152C prototype, correctly, but showing the engine cowling associated with the Jumo powered version. The TA-152 had a DB-603, with the intakes on the opposite side of the cowling--- along with the short wings properly installed on the TA-152C. The same basic drawing is used for the rest of the aircraft on the pages, resulting in all TA-152H's showing the short wings of the TA-152C, but the correct cowling. For one familiar with the type, this should not present a problem, as the purpose of the drawings is to show camouflage patterns, but it is inaccurate. Another problem is the placement of the wing crosses on the generic camouflage drawing of the FW-190A on page 47, which are too far outboard. In the text, the authors state that the FW-190A-9 had a cowling one foot longer than those of the earlier "A" variants, and I believe that this is incorrect. One disappointment was the complete lack of information on that enigmatic variant of the FW-190, the FW-190G-8. Even Hasegawa's kit of this aircraft in 1/72 scale hedges on a color scheme, and the only photo I have seen purporting to show an FW-190G-8 showed an aircraft so heavily covered with tarps that it could have been almost anything. So maybe they were wise to omit this version after all. I have yet to see a documented photo of an FW-190G-8 in any source. RECOMMENDATIONS With its minor faults, I still bought the book and will find it useful, even though I have most of the books published on this aircraft throughout the years. There is a wealth of useful and interesting information contained in this small book, and for the price, you get quite a lot of material. I recommend buying it, along with the other books in this series, but be sure to cross check your references.

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