Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series HA7403 FW 190 A-8/R8 IV/JG.3 , Hauptmann Wilhelm Moritz August 1944

1/48 scale pre-finished Die-cast metal with a minimum of plastic. Professionally painted. All markings pad applied for superb results. Cockpit slides open. Comes with a pilot that can be removed. Comes with display stand. Can be displayed with landing gear up or down.

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 Wurger (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.

This aircraft is W.Nr. 681382 flown by Hauptmann Wilhelm Moritz and is painted with a “Black Double Chevron” (denoted a Gruppenkommandeur). Moritz was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 on 18 April 1944. The Gruppe specialized in anti-bomber operations flying heavily armoured and armed single-engined fighters. In July 1944 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross) and on October 1st, he was promoted to the rank of Major. However on December 5th, Moritz had a nervous breakdown and was relieved from command of IV.(Sturm)/JG 3. Over the length of his career Moritz flew more than 500 missions and credited with 44 victories.

Dimensions Wingspan - 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) Wing Area - 18.3 m (197 sq ft) Length - 8.96 m (29 ft 5 in) Height - 3.96 m (13 ft)

Weight Empty - 3,470 kg (7,650 lb) Maximum - 4,900 kg (10,800 lb)

Performance Engine - BMW 801D 1,700 hp 14-cylinder radial engine Maximum Speed - 657 kph (408 mph) (335 kts) Service Ceiling - 10,300 m (33,800 ft) Range - 800 km (500 mi) (435 nmi)

Armament (2) 13 mm Machine Guns plus (4) 20 mm cannon or (2) 20 mm cannons plus (2) 30 mm cannons