Behold, the plane that is the origin of the Fw 190!
The
PZL P.11How is this possible?
The P.11 was developed into this plane, with a better cowled engine and an enclosed cockpit:
The
PZL P.24After building their own P.24's, Romania developed it further into this plane, by redesigning the P.24 into a low-wing monoplane with a closely cowled radial engine and high visibility cockpit canopy:
The
IAR 80And finally, we come to Kurt Tank's final product.
The
Fw 190Notice the remarkable similarities to the IAR 80 present in the Fw 190 - the wide stance of the landing gear, the shape of the wing, the closely cowled radial engine driving a 3-bladed prop!
The major dimensions of the two aircraft are remarkably similar: both aircraft have a wingspan of 10.5m. The IAR 80 is 8.9m long, the Fw 190 measures up at 8.84m.
The IAR 80C had an armament of 4 machineguns and 2 cannon - an identical mix of guns was carried by the Fw 190A-1.
The evidence is clearly overwhelming! It is indisputable that the P.11, from which the IAR 80 was developed, was the major influence on Kurt Tank's design of the Fw 190!
