Focke-Wulf FW 190 in Action

In September of 1941. mysterious, snub-nosed Luftwaffe fighters staked a claim to the skies over Dunkirk. Seizing control of the air from Britain's Spitfire Mk. V. these new fighters main­tained a near stranglehold over Allied airpower until the summer of the next year. This new fighter, the Fw 190, which had been agreed to by the Luftwaffe's RLM (ReichsJuffahrtmmisterium/StQlt Aviation Ministry) as a 'supplemental* fighter to the already proven Mcsserschmitt Bf 109. had instead demonstrated qualities which were arguably supe­rior — stirring a debate which has outlived World War Two itself. Without question, howev­er, the Fw 190 would become a critical factor in Germany's very survival during those terrible years of conflict, and still remains the most historically significant aircraft produced by the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau, G.M.B.H. and its chief designer, Diplom Ingenieur (Dipl. Ing -Certified Engineer — later Professor) Kurt Waldemar Tank. By the end of hostilities, on 8 May 1945, Germany's 'mystery fighter' had become for the Allies an all too common sight on every war front, and within the five years of war had been manufactured in numbers estimated at roughly 20,000 machines.