In 1937 even though the Me-109 was a very capable fighter the Reichsluftfahrtministeriun
(RLM) or Reich Air Ministry was worried that future foreign designs might surpass its
performance so they called for submissions of designs. Kurt Tank won the competition with
his radical use of an air-cooled radial engine that he dubbed the Fw-190 Würger (Butcher
Bird). There were many skeptics who believed this new aircraft would surpass the
performance of the Me-109. However when the Fw-190 entered combat in the summer of
1941 it already was Germany’s premiere piston-powered WWII fighter. Over 20,000 of all
variants of the Fw-190 were built with 13,291 of these being of the 9 different “A” variants.

The production of the Fw-190A-7 began in November 1943 and ended in January 1944 with
only 80 aircraft being produced. Fw-190-A-7 W.Nr380394 was the test aircraft for an attempt
to reduce drag caused by center-line fuel tanks thereby increasing airspeed. The experiment
was called “Doppelreiter” (Double Rider) and involved placing a streamlined fuel tank on top
of each wing which meant reducing the armament to two 151/20 E cannons. Each tank was
droppable and carried 270 liters of fuel giving the aircraft an extended range. The over the
wing tanks reduced the aircraft speed by 13 kph while the standard center-line tank reduced
speed by 33 kph. Even though these were positive results the RLM did not accept the
modification because they didn’t want to disturb regular production schedules. The A-7 was
replaced by the A-8 variant

Specifications for the Focke-Wulf Fw-190A-7
Crew 1

Dimensions
Wing span - 10.5 m
Length - 8.95 m
Height - 3.95 m

Performance
Powerplant – 1 x PE BMW-801D-2, 1700 hp
Maximum speed - 610 km/h
Time to 6000 m - 9 minutes
Service ceiling – 11,400 m
Service range (with external fuel tank) – 1,470 km

Weight
Empty - 3,470 kg
Maximum takeoff - 4,900 kg

Armament
4 X 20-mm cannons
2 X 13-mm machine guns

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