Lonnie Ortega Aviation Art

The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger ("shrike"), often called Butcher-bird, was a single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft of Germany's Luftwaffe, and one of the best fighters of its generation. Used extensively during the Second World War, over 20,000 were manufactured, including around 6,000 fighter-bomber models. Production ran from 1941 to the end of hostilities, during which time the aircraft was continually updated. Its later versions retained qualitative parity with Allied fighter planes, but Germany was not able to produce the aircraft in enough numbers to impact the later years of the war. The Fw 190 was well liked by its pilots, and widely regarded as superior to the front line Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V on its combat debut in 1941. Compared to the Bf 109, the Fw 190 was a "workhorse," employed in and proved suitable for a wide variety of roles, including ground attack, long-range bomber escort, night-fighter and (especially in the "D" version) high-altitude interceptor.