History
As all serious World War II aircraft model builders know, the Focke-Wulf 190D (Dora) was built in response to the 1941 German Luftwaffe RLM Sofortprogramm (immediate program) for a high altitude fighter capable of confronting the four engined strategic bombers that the RLM knew were coming. Requirements included a top speed of 405mph at a minimum altitude of 39000 feet. The fighter had to be available as quickly as possible, and in order to do that, Kurt Tank and his fellow engineers at Focke-Wulf knew it had to be based on existing Fw-190A airframes.
After the
failures of the trials of the Fw-190B and C, due to cockpit pressurization
problems, Kurt pressed on with the third phase of his research for the
Sofortprogramm in March 1942, designing an aircraft around a bomber engine,
the Junkers Jumo 213. It developed a power rating of 1700bhp (brake
horsepower) and was an inverted V-12, like the Daimler-Benz series of inverted
V-12s currently in use in the Bf-109. The difference lay in available
numbers of the Jumo engine vis a vis the Daimler-Benz.
The first
prototype of the Dora, V17, flew for the first time in September of 1942.
Following prototype testing proved encouraging, and the production run was
started in the spring of 1944. The fighter proved successful, and it was
a thorn in the side of the Allied fighter squadrons of the European Theatre
who engaged it in combat, but along with Tank's opus magnus, the Ta-152
(Daimler-Benz powered), and Willy Messerschmitt's Me-262 jet
fighter, by late 1944, it was too little, too late to stem the flow of
overwhelming Allied numbers of aircraft.
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images below to see larger images
The Kit:
The Academy kit of the Dora, although not having the level of detail that the Tamiya kit of the same aircraft has, is a decent kit nonetheless, and well worth the money. It is relatively easy to assemble, with no build headaches or hidden surprises. Follow the norms of model assembly, taking time for dryfitting of parts, and the modeler will be rewarded for his patience with a fine looking representation of one of Germany's finest fighters.
This model
represents Oblt. Hans Dortenmann's fighter, Gelb Ein, shortly after he was
posted to Jg26 from Jg54.
Pete
L'Heureux
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images below to see larger images
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