the FW190 the best fighter aircraft of WWII....

[yellowjack]

P5BNij said:

This was the best I could manage at Hendon.... different cockpit on this variant, two seater or modified after the war...?

I'm pretty sure that one used to reside at RAF St Athan back in the 1970s/1980s. They trained ground technicians there, and part of their apprenticeship would be spent maintaining a hangar full of old aeroplanes. At the annual "Battle of Britain At Home Day" airshows they'd run some of these old 'planes up outside, although I don't recall this one actually flying.

They had a twin-engined Japanese light bomber too, a Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah". I loved going there (I had a cousin who worked there) and seeing the old aeroplanes squeazed into the hangar space, and also seeing them brought out into the sun (optimistic to say the least in South Wales in September!) on open days. The Fw 190 was certainly a head-turner when it was run up, even though you knew it wouldn't be going up...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/classic_aviation/331...
https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?129...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oaJghobb1M

Have a link to the Me 410 running too...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAcgUPjb16Q


A good list of historic aircraft that went through the hands of the RAF St Athan collection here...

http://ciapoldiescorner.blogspot.com/2009/01/10050...

...which included a Kawasaki Ki-100 single seat radial engined fighter, similar in layout and appearance to the Fw 190.

[aeropilot]

Yep, the 2-seater is the one that used be run up at St.Athan with the Me410.

For many years it was the only working BMW 801 engine in the world up until the demise of St.Athan and these aircraft then being pushed into static museums never to be live again

[Eric Mc]

I visited St Athan in 1988 and got a personal guided tour around the exhibits. You could phone in advance for the tour. All they needed was your car reg number and you would be met at the guard house and escorted around the base.

It was brilliant.

[P5BNij]

Thanks for that yellowjack.

Something I noticed missing at Hendon last week - I didn't see the Me262 or the Lysander, two of my favourites. They may have been in Hall 2 which was closed for refurbishment though.