Germans use grass strips for take off and landing?

Post by **aferguson** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:18 pm

This is kind of a daft question i think but i want to pose one of my FW-190D's at the moment of taking off and i want to have it taking off from a grass strip simply because i have the mat'l handy for it and making a section of concrete runway is going to be a nuisance.

I don't recall ever seeing German late war aircraft taking off from grass strips, though i imagine they must have, much as the british did during the battle of britain. All the dioramas etc i have checked out on the net have FW's on concrete runways.

So my question simply is: could the FW-190D have used grass strips to take off and land?

Mr. Football · Post by **Mr. Football** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:37 pm

I think more often than not, the Germans used unpaved (grass) landing strips.

KAMIKAZE · Post by **KAMIKAZE** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:39 am

aferguson,
A lot of late war German aircraft also used any public road or strip of
highway.This was a neccesary precaution because the allied fighter-
bombers were really reaking havoc on German airfields at this point in the war.I think it would be a cool diorama idea to have your Focke Wolf
sitting on the side of the road,partially covered with pine limbs,being rearmed for it's next flight.

Mark

normandy · Post by **normandy** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:38 pm

Aferguson, check out these pics.... only a few but I think they might answer your question. http://fw190.hobbyvista.com/fw190dgallery.htm

normandy · Post by **normandy** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:47 pm

Take a look at the rest of the site, lots of info.... http://fw190.hobbyvista.com/index.html

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:35 pm

thanks guys for all the help! :)

Jagdflieger · Post by **Jagdflieger** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:12 pm

Grass or dirt strips were the norm opposed to the exception. As a matter of fact, the 109s actually preferred grass strips as the wear on the tires was less.

acetow · Post by **acetow** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:47 pm

Grass Is nice to land tailwheel aircraft on. It cuts down on your chances of a ground loop. If you want to see what a ground loop looks like push a shopping cart backwards really fast and let go, It will swap ends pretty quick. Tailwheel airplanes do the same thing.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 5:27 am

Thanks again guys. Another question: I read that the Focke Wulf had 'split flaps'. What are those exactly? I think it's that the bottom half of the ailerons fold down to also act as flaps, as well as the main flaps themselves. Is that right?

Also, would a FW-190D have flaps down for take off? All flaps, or just the main flaps?

Thanks to anyone who can help. :)

KAMIKAZE · Post by **KAMIKAZE** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:16 am

Nice pictures Normandy.

Mark

acetow · Post by **acetow** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 10:52 am

There are four types of flaps.
1. Plain Flaps
2.Split Flaps
3. Slotted Flaps
4. Fowler Flaps

A plain Flap is attatched to the wing with a hinge and simply deflects downward. It looks a lot like a door on the back of the wing is being deflected down when they are extended.

A Split flap is hinged only to the bottom portion of the wing it helps produce some lift bit produces much greater drag than the plane flap because of the turbulant wake it causes.

Slotted and Fowler flaps are a little harder to explain and dont really apply to WWII aircraft. Some airplanes you may be familiar with that have split flaps are the T-6 the DC-3 and the P-40. The 109 on the other hand has Plain flaps.

All flaps fall under the Category of High Lift Devices and are designed to increase the efficiency of an airfoil at low speeds. Drooping the aelerons down with the flap was used on the Storch but I dont think they did that on the FW-190 but I could be wrong.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 12:34 pm

Ah so, that's a good explanation Acetow, thanks. Why would anyone use a split flap if it produces less lift and more drag then a plain flap?

Would it be more correct to show the flaps on my FW-190D down during take off or up? I know flaps are always lowered for landings but i'm not so sure about take offs...

acetow · Post by **acetow** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 5:52 pm

On aircraft like the FW-190 you run into a problem, a wing that is efficient at 390 mph is usually not very efficient at 100 mph. This can pose a problem when you are trying to land. The best way to deal with this is to change the shape of the wing and that is exactly what flaps do. Lowering the flaps makes the wing more efficient at low speeds. Aircraft like the FW-190 also run into another problem, they are too clean and hard to slow down so coming in to land a little fast or a little high can make you "float" down the runway adding lots of drag makes it easier to controll when you touch down.

Many aircraft use flaps for takeoff espesially in situations where you have a short or soft field. The flaps are usually only lowered the first 10 degrees because this Greatly increases the amount of lift the wing is producing but does not significantly increase drag.

As for wether the FW-190D used takeoff flaps or not I cant tell you but you may be able to find a Pilot's manual for one on the web and it will have it in the Before Takeoff Checklist.

Split flaps are easier to Build into a wing than a plain flap.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 6:53 pm

Excellent. Thanks again!

:)

Small Scale Military Headquarters

Germans use grass strips for take off and landing?

Germans use grass strips for take off and landing?

190's and grass strips

Absolutely

Grass

Split flaps

Flaps