Turner
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This timeline is grossly simplified and some aspects are completely missing, among the missing parts is the Ta152B programme of mid-to-late '44 which featured a original 190 wing of 10.5 meter wingspan, the Jumo 213A engine and Mk103 cannons at inner wing stations.
May 1943 - Meeting between Focke-Wulf and Technisches Amt personnel on the creation of prototype/development aircraft for the new Ta152A.
7th July 1943 - First flight of the FW 190V19 W.Nr. 0041 the first Ta152 related prototype a/c.
October 1943 - First Focke-Wulf request to RLM for Ta152A development priority. Rejected.
23rd November 1943 - First flight of FW 190V20 W.Nr. 0042, TI+IG piloted by Hans Sander.
December 1943 - Second Focke-Wulf request to RLM for Ta152A development priority. Rejected.
January 1944 - Focke-Wulf representatives meet with RLM in an attempt to move ahead the second proposal which included not only the Ta152A but the FW190D and Ta152H as well. The H being in development for the Höhenjäger program. No official approval received from RLM. (Indeed, the Luftwaffe appears also to have wanted the Ta152A to go-ahead, and the type remained on the military procurement list until the early part of June 1944.)
February 1944 - FW 190V19 crash, complete loss.
13th March 1944 - First flight of FW190V21 W.Nr. 0043, TI+IH piloted by Bernhard Märschel.
April 1944 - Night Fighter conversion prototyping of Ta152A type abandoned.
May 1944 - V21 W.Nr. 0043 assigned to E-Stelle Rechlin for field testing.
July 1944 - FW190V20 & V21 re-assigned to FW Ta152C development project. Eventually re-engined with DB603E or L-series engines.
5th August 1944 - 8th USAAF raid on Hannover-Langenhagen, V20 prototype a/c destroyed.
The B programme eventually did not materialize. The C programme was approved for production by RLM starting January 1945. The H programme started production even earlier than the C and contrary to the C is known to have seen combat and use in Jagdwaffe units.
The fact of the matter is, the Ta152 type could have seen active service within the first half of 1944 had the RLM not rejected the FW requests for priority. That is, had the programme officially been a priority with the resulting additional resources at hand. Granted, the first types of the 152 that would have seen service would not have been powered by the DB603LA but more likely the Jumo 213A and later E. The C and DB603LA would have seen service later in either case. So, the bottom line here and the point I'm making is that it is not historically inaccurate to have Ta152s fielded by mid-1944. January 1944 however, is straying quite afar from historical accuracy and into the highly unlikely.
Furthermore, and I quote "Nevertheless the FW190D-9 with its Jumo 213A in-line engine was actually a very capable performer in its own right, and has sometimes been erroneously described as the design that the Ta152 was derived from, which is not true." So... the two programs were not directly related, but parallel offspring to the Fw190A type.
It should be noted that the RLM eventually came to their senses realizing the necessity of the Ta152 programme by mid-1944, after the Allies had introduced the P-51D and other long-range types to establish air superiority all over the continent. The RLM then quickly approved of the FW190D programme which converted FW190A airframes to D standard, in order to provide a stop-gap measure before Ta152 production was a reality.
Then we all know the story of too little too late.
Source: Focke-Wulf Ta152, 4+ publication
< Message edited by Turner -- 10/10/2013 6:20:57 PM >
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