Fw 190A-8 Oberstleutnant Walther Dahl, JG 300, January, 1945 (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 W'rger (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.

Major Walther Dahl initially flew with JG 3 but in June 1944 he was given command of JG 300. On September 13, 1944 Dahl is credited with bringing down a B-17 by ramming it and this earned him the nickname 'Rammdahl'. This became a normal tactic for units using special variants of the FW-190 that had been reinforced to do the job. Dahl had a falling out with Hermann G'ring because he refused to have his pilots and himself fly in terrible weather conditions. The only reason he wasn't shot was the German ace Adolf Galland came into the room and agreed with Dahl. As a result Dahl was demoted to inspector of day fighters but continued to fly sorties whenever possible. By the end of WWII Dahl had accumulated 129 victories. The Fw-190A-8 was the most produced of all the sub-variants with over 1,300 being produced. This version of Major Dahl's Fw-190A- 8 has the red band around the fuselage that was called Reichsverteidigung. This was a quick visual method of identifying friend or foe and shows the aircraft was used in the Defense of the Reich.
Specifications for the Focke-Wulf Fw-190A-8

Dimensions
Wingspan ' 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
Wing Area ' 18.3 m (197 sq ft)
Length ' 8.96 m (29 ft 5 in)
Height ' 3.96 m (13 ft)

Weight
Empty ' 3,470 kg (7,650 lb)
Maximum ' 4,900 kg (10,800 lb)

Performance
Engine ' BMW 801D 1,700 hp 14-cylinder radial engine
Maximum Speed ' 657 kph (408 mph) (335 kts)
Service Ceiling ' 10,300 m (33,800 ft)
Range ' 800 km (500 mi) (435 nmi)

Armament
(2) 13 mm Machine Guns
plus
(4) 20 mm cannon
or
(2) 20 mm cannons
plus
(2) 30 mm cannons