History:

As the war in Europe came to a close, the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) launched Project "Lusty", the retrieval of aircraft, engines and other equipment for evaluation in the United States. Colonel Watson headed the effort, gathering a group of planes and parts that represented the latest in German technology, which were then shipped to Wright and Freeman Fields.

It was the job Air Technical Service Command, based at Wright Field, to evaluate these aircraft. In so doing, they maintained several aircraft in an airworthy status, initiating a flight test program at Wright Field, while maintenance and storage was left to the Foreign Aircraft Evaluation Center at Freeman Field. Each aircraft brought to the US for evaluation was issued an "FE" (Foreign Evaluation) number. The prefix was later changed to "T2", but the numbers remained the same.

FE-121 was a Focke-Wulf 190D-9, originally Black "5" of JG 26. It was originally captured at Flensburg by the British, Watson negotiating with the British for several aircraft, including this one. Shipped to the US on the HMS Reaper, it went to Freeman Field, where it was overhauled and partially repainted. Later it was completely repainted, as were the majority of the other ex-Luftwaffe aircraft. This aircraft was flown extensively at Wright and Freeman Fields.

With the end of the war, the country returned to peacetime with a vengeance. The evaluation program at Wright Field rapidly wound down, and the remaining aircraft not tagged for a future museum display were sent out on display tours, the flyable aircraft doing fly-bys and demonstrations at events across the country.

FE-121 was maintained in a flyable state until late summer of 1946, when a lack of spare parts and a general cooling of public interest caused the USAAF to scrap many of the remaining planes.

FE-121 is run up on the apron prior to a flying demonstration. At this point it had only partially been repainted. (USAF Collection)

Colors:

FE-117 is portrayed as it finally appeared after having been completely repainted. This color scheme was applied to many of the ex-Luftwaffe aircraft, and consisted of dark blue-gray upper surfaces, with light blue gray undersurfaces. A "scribble" pattern had been applied to the rear half of the fuselage and tail, but not to the front or upper surfaces. At least two other Focke-Wulfs were painted exactly the same way! I used color photos of the other aircraft to establish the correct colors.

References:

Phil Butler, War Prizes (Midland Counties Publications/1994)
J. Smith & E. Creek, Monogram Close-Up 10: Fw 190 D (Monogram Aviation Publications/1986)
P. Straney & R. Sacchi, Luftwaffe Over Ohio

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.