German Fw 190A-4 "White 8" Staffel-Gruppe Feb 1943 Hobby Master HA7421 1:48

German Fw 190A-4 "White 8" Staffel/Gruppe JG 54, Eastern Front, 1943 Hobby Master HA7421 1:48 Highly detailed Hobby Master pre-painted diecast metal model Hobby Master Item#: HA7421 Scale: 1:48 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. Walter “Nowi” Nowotny reported to JG 54 Grünherz (Green Hearts) in December 1940 as part of their Erganzungsstaffel (replacement squadron). Two months later he was transferred to 9./JG54 flying a Bf-109. On July 19, 1941 he scored his first two victories but was then shot down himself. In October 1942 Nowotny was appointed Squadron Leader of 1./JG54. In January 1943 JG54 began to re-equip with the much faster and more agile Focke-Wulf Fw-190. Flying more than 442 missions Nowotny accumulated 258 victories of which 255 were over the Eastern Front. 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