Aircrafttotal Encyclopedia


Role	Tactical reconnaissance and army cooperation aircraft, light bomber
Manufacturer	Focke-Wulf
Designer	Kurt Tank
First flight	July 1938
Introduction	August 1941
Retired	1945
Primary users	Luftwaffe Hungarian Air Force Slovak Air Force
Produced	1940–1944
Number built	864

The Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu ("Eagle Owl") is 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.

In 1937, the German Ministry of Aviation issued a specification for a short-range, three-seat reconnaissance aircraft with a good all-round view to support the German army in the field, replacing the Henschel Hs 126, which had just entered service. A power of about 850–900 hp (630–670 kW) was specified. The specification was issued to Arado and Focke-Wulf. Arado's design, the Ar 198, which was initially the preferred option, was a relatively conventional single-engined high-wing monoplane with a glazed gondola under the fuselage. Focke-Wulf's chief designer Kurt Tank's design, the Fw 189, was a twin-boom design, powered by two Argus As 410 engines instead of the expected single engine. As a "twin-boom" design like the earlier Dutch Fokker G.I, the Fw 189 used a central crew gondola for its crew accommodation, which for the Fw 189 would be designed with a heavily glazed and framed "stepless" cockpit forward section, which used no separate windscreen panels for the pilot (as with many German medium bombers from 1938 onwards)..

Variants

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG
Focke Wulf FW-189 Uhu

General Info

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)

Powerplant

Empty weight: 2,690 kg 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 (8,200 ft)
Cruise speed: 317 km/h,
Landing speed: 120 km/h;
Range: 940 km (580 mi, 510 nmi)
Service ceiling: 7,000 m

Armament

- Guns:

Special Links Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG

Links to Youtube & Others

The Fw 189 had as part of its defensive armament, an innovative rear-gun emplacement designed by the Ikaria-Werke: a rotating conical rear "turret" of sorts, manually rotated with a metal-framed, glazed conical fairing streamlining its shape, with the open section providing the firing aperture for either a single or twin-mount machine gun at the unit's circular-section forward mount.

Focke Wulf FW-189 Uhu

Night Reconnaissance Group 15, attached to the 4th Panzerarmee in southern Poland during late 1944, carried out nocturnal reconnaissance and light bombing sorties with a handful of 189A-1s.

Youtube Link

Chronic fuel shortages and enemy air superiority over the 189 defence area (chiefly Berlin) meant that few aircraft were shot down by these craft.

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG
Focke Wulf FW-189 Uhu "Eagle Owl"