Focke Wulf Fw 187 A-0 Falke by Special Hobby
1/72 scale
by Special Hobby
Kit No. SH72056
Retail: $35.00
Decals: Three versions – all WWII Luftwaffe
Comments: Engraved panel lines, one-piece injection molded canopy; resin and photo-etch details; lesser known Focke Wulf twin-engine fighter of WWII
History
In 1936, Kurt Tank set about designing a twin-engine heavy fighter for the Focke Wulf company designated the Fw 187. His effort was initiated by Focke Wulf without a development agreement in place with the RLM; it was rather an initiative by the company to stimulate RLM interest and secure a fighter contract. Although a heavy fighter, like other Heinkel airframes its core design values were maximum speed and minimum drag. Therefore it was designed to be supremely aerodynamic, with its fuselage having a cross-section comparable to that of a single seat fighter. As a result, its cockpit dimensions were so tight that some instrumentation was located outside the canopy but still in plain view of the pilot, embedded in the inboard side of the engine nacelles. The specifications called for superior performance compared to single-engined fighters of the day with comparable-to-superior maneuverability.
The Fw 187 V1 prototype was first flown in the Spring of 1937, and the V2 followed soon thereafter. Both aircraft were fitted with the Junkers Jumo 210 inline engine as the powerplant. Tank had designed the Fw 187 with the Daimler Benz DB 600 in mind, but Messerschmitt seemingly had a lock on the production of these engines for the Bf 109 which was then entering service, so initially that engine was unavailable. The Fw 187 V1 prototype, dubbed Falke (Falcon) had a top speed of 525 km/hour (326 mph) which was faster than the Bf 109B by 50 km/hour (31 mph).
The initial Fw 187 prototypes were single seaters, but the Luftwaffe High Command was fixated on the idea that heavy fighters had to be two-man machines. Therefore subsequent prototypes from V3 onwards featured tandem cockpits, with the pilot up front and the rear seat assigned to the wireless operator. With the V6, the Fw 187 was finally fitted with its intended powerplant, the new DB 600. This yielded increased performance with top speed rising to 625 km/hour (388 mph), although the standard cruising speed after installation of the cooling system was 560 km/hour (347 mph) — still quite an impressive speed for the late 1930’s.
The V6 became the pre-production prototype for the Fw 187 A-0 series. Although the Fw 187 had superior performance and generally better maneuverability that its most serious competitor, Messerschmitt’s Bf 110, the latter was selected as the Luftwaffe’s standard heavy fighter since it had rearward firing defensive armament, which the Fw 187 lacked. In taking this decision, the RLM appears to have overlooked the fact that a truly effective fighter, of whatever type, should have sufficient speed, maneuverability and firepower so that it has little to no need for rear defensive armament. It was a glaring decision in light of data from a direct performance comparison with the Bf 110, detailed below. This decision — reputedly fueled in part by Erhard Milch’s dislike of Ernst Heinkel — prevented the Fw 187, which was frankly the better aircraft, from going into production. Milch was a high official in the fighter development arm of the RLM, second only to Ernst Udet, and would take over Udet’s post following his November 1941 suicide.
The handful of Fw 187’s that Heinkel built would see limited Luftwaffe service, however, fulfilling the role of fighter protection (Industrie-Schutzstaffel) for the Focke Wulf factory in Bremen. One pilot, Ing. Mehlhorn, is reputed to have achieved a number of victories flying the Fw 187, but this is not well documented. Joseph Goebbels would make use of photographs of the Fw 187 for a disinformation campaign launched by his Propaganda Ministry, to impress upon the world the extent of Germany’s growing airpower during the late 1930’s, after Hitler publicly repudiated the military restrictions imposed on Germany by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. The effect was to convince Britain and France in particular that the Luftwaffe was stronger than it actually was.
RLM Ignores Fw 189’s Demonstrated Superiority
Sometime after the Bf 110B entered service in March 1938, a performance comparison between it and the Fw 187 A-0 was arranged. Although the two planes had idential powerplants (the Junkers Jumo 210), the Fw 187 was documented to be superior in nearly every category critical to fighter performance. It was lighter, with a gross weight of 4900 kg (10,802 lbs.) compared to the Bf 110’s 5701 kg (12,568 lbs); it was faster, both at low level and at altitude — 466 km/hour (289 mph) at low level, compared to the Bf 110’s 380 km/hour (236 mph), and 545 km/hour (338 mph) at maximum altitude, compared to the Bf 110’s 455 km/hour (282 mph); it had a higher service ceiling (10,000 m/32,808 ft., compared to the Bf 110’s 8,000m/26,246 ft.); and it had greater range (1450 km/900 miles, compared to the Bf 110’s 635 km/394 miles). The Bf 110 won out in a single category, having heavier armament (four (4) forward firing 7.92mm machine guns to the Fw 189’s two, plus the rear defensive machine gun — mitigated by the fact that both aircraft carried two MG FF 20mm cannon). As noted above, the more capable the fighter, the more the rear defensive gun becomes superfluous. The RLM completely ignored these figures in awarding the heavy fighter contract. In light of these statistics, there is a strong likelihood that factors other than performance played a pivotal role in which aircraft was ordered into production.
Later in the war, the Fw 187 would continue to demonstrate its competitiveness, if not outright superiority, in relation to newer piston-engined fighter designs intended to fulfill the Zerstorer or night figher roles. In particular, it was faster than both the Heinkel He-219 and Messerschmitt Me 410, and had a superior climb rate and service ceiling to both those aircraft. Germany’s fastest piston-engined fighter of the war, the Dornier Do 335, was barely faster than the Fw 187, with a maximum speed only 7 km/hour (4.3 mph) faster than the older Focke-Wulf design.
In the Winter of 1940-41, 13 Staffel/JG 77 tested the Fw 187 in Norway with excellent results, and one machine served in the Luftschleiss-Schule in Danish Varlose, but even these developments were not enough to convince the RLM to put the Fw 187 into production. Germany thus lost a superior aircraft that could have doubled as a day fighter and its originally conceived role as a nightfigher, due to a combination of faulty doctrinal thinking and petty politics. So it was that the judgment of history would not be kind in evaluating the efficacy of the heavy fighter, embodied as it was by the Messerschmit Bf 110.
The Kit
Released by Special Hobby in 2003, this limited run kit is not often seen today but can still be found via aftermarket sources. The kit is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 48 plastic parts on three sprues, including two clear parts for the one-piece canopy and glazed underside of the nose. Since the pilot gained access to the cockpit on the actual aircraft by means of a windscreen that rotated upward and forward toward the nose, some intrepid modelers may be tempted to attempt cutting the one-piece canopy to separate the windscreen and create an open cockpit. It may be worth the effort, since the two-seat tandem cockpit is relatively detailed with photo etched parts for the main and side instrument panels, seat straps, rudder pedals, in addition to radiator faces in the engine nacelles.
The photo etch fret features an additional 27 parts, and there are 21 resin detail parts providing cockpit sidewall and landing gear details, as well as barrels for the kit’s four fuselage-mounted machine guns. These extras are rounded out by a film insert for the main instrument panel. The kit includes detailed landing gear as well as internal structural parts for the two engine nacelles. The two three-bladed propellers are each a single part, as are the spinners that fit over them.
Markings
The kit decals provide three versions of Luftwaffe aircraft. The first is for a Fw 189 A-0 seen in propaganda photographs dating to the Winter of 1940-41, which emphasized the Fw 189’s Industrie-Schutzstaffel (factory protection) role. This aircraft, White 1, appears in a splinter camouflage scheme of RLM 70/Black Green and RLM 71/Dark Green over RLM 65/Pale Blue. The second machine is also a Fw 189 A-0, White 7, also seen in propaganda photographs dating to the Winter of 1940-41, which emphasized the Fw 189’s Industrie-Schutzstaffel (factory protection) role. It bears an identical paint scheme as the first aircraft. The third machine is a Fw 187 A-0 based at Luftschleisschule Vaerlose in Denmark, circa May 1943. It appears in a combination splinter and mottle camouflage of RLM 74/Dark Grey and RLM 75/Medium Grey over RLM 76/Light Blue sides and undersides, with a mottle pattern of RLM 75 splotches on the fuselage sides and vertical tail, with RLM 70/Black Green spinners.
Conclusion
This is a fascinating subject of a superior Luftwaffe fighter whose near-total demise relegated it to the back waters of World War II history, and served to highlight the dysfunctional process of fighter procurement in Nazi Germany.
References
- Focke-Wulf Fw 187: An Illustrated History, by Dietmar Hermann & Peter Petrick; Copyright 2003 Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. Altgen, Pennsylvania
- Special Hobby instructions