History:

This aircraft was surrendered by its pilot at Furth on May 8, 1945. Though there is a picture of the pilot climbing down from his aircraft, surrendering to Allied forces, but so far no identification has been positively made of either pilot or unit that this aircraft served with. However, all evidence points to the second Gruppe of JagdGeschwader (Fighter Wing) 6. JG 6 was a brief-lived unit, formed in the late summer of 1944. It first saw action on the Western Front, and took part in "Operation Bodenplatte" but was withdrawn to the East after repeatedly suffering heavy losses (23 pilots were lost in "Bodenplatte" alone!) Starved of fuel and forced to move many times to avoid the Russian advance, what was left of the unit retreated to the Prague area, several pilots flying West at the end of the war to avoid capture by Soviet forces, among them the pilot of Black "12". As with so many other Luftwaffe aircraft, Black "12" survived the war only to end up on the scrap heap at Furth.

Colors:

Though a color picture of this aircraft does exist, it serves only as a general indication of the colors of this Dora. Examining quite a few black & white images in addition to the color image, my interpretation is that this aircraft was paainted in parts, with the sides and undersurfaces of the fuselage in a variation of the standard lt. blue-gray RLM 76 (though this application would appear to be more blue-green.) Upper surfaces appear to be dark brownish-green (RLM 81?) and medium gray (RLM 75.) The upper surfaces of the wing and tail appear to be much lighter than this, and I have interpreted them as being medium gray (RLM 75) and a light blue similar in value to the color of the fuselage undersurfaces. This was not uncommon among late-war Fw-190D's. The undersurfaces of the wings appear to be partially painted medium gray (RLM 75), carried over from the upper surfaces, with the flying surfaces in light blue (RLM 76) and the rest unfinished (bare metal.) The quality of aluminum used for skinning German aircraft varied considerably. Due to shortages of raw materials and Allied bombing, the aluminum generally contained a larger percentage of impurities than similar Allied materials, and so appeared darker and duller in comparison with the shiny USAAF polished aluminum skinning. At the time of its capture, Black "12" was quite muddy about the lower surfaces, indicating operation from unimproved landing strips.

References:
D. Brown & D. Wadman, History, Camouflage and Markings of JV 44 and JG 6 Fw-190 D-9s (Experten Decals #72-1) (Experten Historical Aviation Research/1993)
J. Smith & EW. Creek, Monogram Close-Up 10: Fw 190 D (Monogram Aviation Publications/1986)

Don't forget to read the readme.txt file!!

Copyright Info: This virtual aircraft model is released as freeware, for all to use and enjoy. They may not be used in any commercial package or project, nor may they be sold or altered for any purpose without the express permission of the authors. This is my blood and sweat, if I'm not going to make any money off it, nobody else is either!

I encourage repaints, but if you want to distribute any of my files, please get permission first! No files in the original package can be altered or distributed without permission of the authors.

I do not guarantee that this plane will work on your system. It works on mine, sorry but everyone else has to figure it out for themselves. It was designed using the best information I could find that it would be compatible, and at the very least cause no harm, but I offer no warrantees. Your computer blows up, you are on your own.