The Rarest Focke-Wulf 190 - Unique German 'Butcher Bird'

Ajouté : 2026-05-15

[00:00:00][music] [music] >> One of my favorite World War II planes is the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Luftwaffe's famed butcher bird.

[00:00:22]Created by plane designer Kurt Tank, the Fw 190 entered service in 1941, becoming the backbone of the German fighter arm.

[00:00:32]More powerful than the Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was an excellent day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground attack aircraft, and even sometimes a night fighter.

[00:00:42]Over 20,000 were built, but in 2026, only 28 original Fw 190s still exist in museums and private collections globally.

[00:00:53]In the UK, the most notable example is this Fw 190 A-8 R-6 that used to hang from the ceiling of the Imperial War Museum, London, until 2013, when it was moved to the RAF Museum at Cosford for restoration, where it is currently displayed.

[00:01:11]This aircraft has a very interesting history.

[00:01:14]It was originally the control aircraft for a Mistel S3B composite aircraft flying bomb along with a Junkers 88.

[00:01:24]The pilot of the Fw 190 would fly the combination Mistel to near the target, aim it, and then release the Junkers 88, which then flew into the target. And then the Fw 190 would attempt to escape back to base.

[00:01:39]It was primitive, but it was used against bridges and other precision strike targets whose defenses were such that risking air crews' lives was too risky.

[00:01:50]This Fw 190 was captured at war's end by the RAF on the 8th of May, 1945, at an airfield in Denmark.

[00:01:59]In November 1945, it was ferried from Germany to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, but actually ended up not being tested and was placed in storage until 1967 when it was loaned to the Imperial War Museum by the RAF.

[00:02:16]However, though interesting, this FW 190 is not the rarest butcher bird on display today.

[00:02:24]When I was in Virginia just before Christmas, I saw this lovely example of an FW 190 on display at the Steven F.

[00:02:31]Udvar-Hazy Center at Chantilly.

[00:02:35]This is an FW 190 F-8 of the Luftwaffe's ground attack wing two that was captured intact by US forces in 1945.

[00:02:46]This aircraft had seen service on the Eastern Front, likely based in Hungary.

[00:02:52]It was shipped to the US and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1949. However, it's very nice, but not unique.

[00:02:59]To see the world's rarest FW 190, you need to go to Germany of all places.

[00:03:06]I only found it quite by accident. The Military History Museum at the former RAF Gatow airfield in Berlin was a must-see for me on my recent trip to the German capital, and I was surprised to see this beauty in the main hangar.

[00:03:22]It seemed to jog a memory, which I'll explain shortly.

[00:03:26]This is the rarest Focke-Wulf 190 in existence, a two-seat FW 190 F-8 U-1.

[00:03:34]Only 20 out of 20,000 FW 190s produced were two-seaters, and this is the only survivor.

[00:03:42]This plane was originally a normal single-seater, but underwent conversion to a trainer.

[00:03:48]It was done by converting the space where the radio set lived into a small, somewhat cramped cockpit, enabling an instructor to sit behind the student pilot.

[00:04:00]Some 20 of these aircraft were converted so that Junkers Ju 87 Stuka pilots could learn to fly the Fw 190.

[00:04:11]And also to act as high-speed liaison planes.

[00:04:17]Now, I mentioned that this plane stirred a memory.

[00:04:21]That I'd remembered seeing this plane somewhere before. And then I remembered, Cosford, the RAF Museum.

[00:04:30]This Fw 190, the rarest in the world, is in fact owned still by the Royal Air Force and has been loaned to the German Museum for 3 years.

[00:04:40]It was converted in 1944 from a standard F-8 fighter at the Arado plant at Warnemünde before being issued to a conversion unit.

[00:04:52]This particular example was captured at Grove in Denmark in May 1945.

[00:04:59]Brought to Britain, it was ferried from Farnborough to RAF Brize Norton on the 5th of September 1945 by the very famous Royal Navy test pilot, Lieutenant Commander Eric Winkle Brown.

[00:05:12]It remains today a truly unique example of one of the 20th century's most important fighter aircraft and I think a rather cool-looking plane if ever there was one.

[00:05:25]As I mentioned at the beginning, only 28 original Fw 190s still exist, but there are now also 21 reproduction 190s all over the world. Many of them airworthy.

[00:05:37]Alas, however, no reproduction two-seater as yet.

[00:05:44]Many thanks for watching. Please subscribe and share. Also, visit my audiobook channel, War Stories with Mark Felton.

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