              The Focke-Wulf FW189A-4 "Uhu"
  Tactical Reconnaissance and Army Cooperation Aircraft

The FW189 became known as "das Fliegende Auge" (the flying
eye) when it was introduced to the reconnaissance units of
the Luftwaffe.  Roughly shaped like a P-38 Lightning, the
FW189 had a glazed nose and tailcone, and carried a crew of
three.  Kurt Tank, the designer for Focke-Wulf, called it the
"Eule" (Owl) but this was changed in the field by the troops
to Uhu (another term for Owl).  This would later confuse some
people due to the He219's official name of "Uhu".

As a reconnaissance aircraft, the FW189 was blessed with
great maneuverability, the ability to take considerable
damage, and good defensive weaponry.  The normal camera
installation was the Rb 20/30 plus the HK 12.5/7x9 hand
camera, although sometimes an Rb 50/30 or Rb 21/18 was used.
The Rb designation came from "Reihenbilder" (literally,
series pictures) since the first Rb automatic cameras were an
improvement on existing moving picture camera technology.  By
1938 Rb officially stood for "automatic mosaic camera."  The
HK designator was used hand cameras ("HandKammer").

The numbers in the German designator referred to the basic
lens length followed by the film exposure size, both in
centimeters.  Therefore the only difference between the Rb
75/30 and the Rb 50/30 is that the 75/30 had a longer lens.
The larger lens lengths were used at higher altitudes.

German aerial reconnaissance cameras were mainly built by
Zeiss, and were of very high quality.  Their main drawback
was their size and weight (the Rb 50/30 weighed over 160
pounds fully loaded) which caused mounting and performance
problems in smaller aircraft.  The Rb series used a magazine
that held 210 feet of film, good for well over 300
photographs.

The Fw189 was used extensively in Russia performing both
tactical reconnaissance and close support.  Armament
consisted of two MG FF 20mm cannon in the wing roots (an
upgrade from the 7.9mm machineguns in the FW189A-2), a twin
7.9mm MG 81Z installation in the dorsal rear position, and a
twin 7.9mm MG 81Z installation in the tailcone.
Additionally, the Fw189A-4 could carry 4 110 pound bombs on
underwing racks.
SPECS: Top speed 217 mph at 7875 feet, cruising speed 202
mph, economical cruise at 190 mph, range 416 miles, ceiling
23,950 feet.  Crew of three.
MODIFIED AIRCRAFT designed by Gregory M. Smith