Fw 190D-9

As potent as the 190 was when it first entered service, the arrival of the Spitfire IX and other aircraft threatened to turn the tide back towards the Allies, spurring the development of a second generation of FW 190s. Focke-Wulf had pursued several options toward such an aircraft, including the Fw 190B with a pressurized cockpit and boosted BMW 801D-2; four of these were built, but problems with the pressurization system kept series production from being undertaken. The Fw 190C was a more radical step, with a supercharged DB603 driving a four-bladed propeller. This also did not make the cut, but the Fw 190D proposal did, this also featuring an inline, in this case the Jumo 213A-1. The Fw 190D-0s were test aircraft converted from A-7s, and were followed by the D-9 or "Dora 9" production variant, which began equipping Jg 54 in the early fall of 1944.



The NMUSAF's D-9 was brought to the US for evaluation in the summer of 1945, subsequently coming into the hands of the National Air & Space Museum before being loaned to the Air Force Museum in 1968. There is only one other original Dora 9 remaining, another ex JG 26 machine being restored in Germany.

The Dora-9 actually went into service with the Soviet Navy's Baltic Fleet for a short time postwar, as Russian forces overrunning Germany had captured a number of brand-new examples.


Dora Variants

Fw 190D-10: Jumo 213C-1; 1x Mk108, 1x MG151
Fw 190D-11: Jumo 213F powered fighter-bomber; 2x Mk108, 2X MG151
Fw 190D-12: As D-11, but with only a single Mk108
Fw 190D-13: All MG151 armament.
Fw 190D-14: D-9 and D-12 testbed conversions with the DB603A.
Fw 190D-15: Projected conversion with the DB603EB.


Bibliography:

S.L. Slobodian "Long Nosed Dora"   Scale Modeler October 1971   Building the Fujimi 1/48 Fw 190D - includes a color 3-view of a JG 52 Fw 190D-12, small scale 4-view.

"Champlin Fighter Museum"  Aeroplane Monthly March 1988  Includes a photo of the museum's Fw 190D-12.

Jim Zeske  "Hasegawa's All-New Fw 190D-9"  FineScale Modeler  October 2003  p.28-31  Building the 1/32 scale kit

Alfonso Martinez Berlana "Fixing Up a Focke Wulf"  FineScale Modeler  December 2004  p.30-34  Converting the 1/48 scale Dragon Fw 190D-11 to a rare Fw 190D-13/R-11

Chris McDowell  "Die Würger - Staffel Dora"   Model Aircraft  April 2016   Eduard's 1/48 Fw 190D-9 kit

Walk Around #10 Fw 190D by E. Brown Ryle and Malcolm Laing
This work has an extensive array of photos depicting the outer features and "innards" of the NMUSAF's Dora, as well as Champlin's D-13. There are two pages of camo & color guides, five pages of color profiles, and many period photos.


Phil Butler   War Prizes: The Album  p.27-32: RAF Fw 190A-4/U8 PE 882, British Fw 190F-8/R15, FW 190s of the USAAF 79th FG, Soviet A-4s, Fw 190Ds FE-121 & FE-118, F-8 F-116, NMUSAF's FE-120 before restoration.