The "Eyes of the Wehrmacht" | Focke-Wulf Fw 189 "Uhu"

[@aviationdeepdive]

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[@Brightsideofmilitary]

Plz contact me my friend

[@majorjunkers5678]

my great grandfather used to be a gunner in the 189, he was shot down once on the eastern front and the pilot managed to bring her back to german lines and belly land her, if anything that’s a testament to it’s durability and ability as a reconnaissance aircraft!

[@aviationdeepdive]

Incredibly story, thanks for sharing

[@d.o.g573]

Is it true that the backgunner had to lay on a special air mattress on his belly ?!

[@Sacto1654]

What made the Fw 189 surprisingly effective was its amazing maneuverability of the plane given its engine limitation of using two Argus engines. Russian pilots actually found the plane hard to shoot down even at the low altitudes the Russian pilots are used to.

[@mossena]

You can see one of these planes in the soulcrushing WW2 movie "Come And See", it appears overhead several times and symbolizes the German presence.

[@TheLateBird7]

A wonderful and comprehensive overview of this exceptional aircraft. Your own enthusiasm shines through nicely! Also very well selected photos and film documentation. I especially liked the different variants, hadn't seen them before.

[@aviationdeepdive]

Many thanks!

[@Mephistopholies]

Looks like the plane in the beginning of Come And See.

[@Davey-Boyd]

It is yeah

[@stefanebert7171]

Uhhh, good one!

[@Jbroker404]

As soon as I saw the Fw189, I knew it would be an authentic movie. I was right.

[@Alan59-n9d]

I was sitting here watching this and thought " I wonder if Capt Eric " Winkle " Brown " ever flew this plane , then you confirmed he did , great stuff 👍

[@youbretaw]

Really good video, thank you. One tiny correction if I may; Eric Brown was Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm), not Royal Air Force.

[@horaciokanashiro-hv2zn]

The OV-10 Bronco grand'pa! ❤️👍

[@danhubert-hx4ss]

Excellent vid as per usual. But wasn`t Eric "Winkle" Brown a naval pilot with FAA, not RAF?

[@PiersLawsonBrown1972]

Correct, during the war he was a Royal Navy pilot. He had a stint in the RAF in the 1930's though, so kinda technically correct (ish)

[@aviationdeepdive]

Good catch

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

It's complicated. From 1st April 1924 until 24th May 1939 the Fleet Air Arm was part of the RAF. In Brown's case he joined the RAFVR when returned from Germany in September 1939 before joining the RNVR as a Fleet Air Arm pilot. My source doesn't say how long he was in the RAFVR.

[@bluephoenix8470]

Solid, well done documentary.

[@俊-o6o]

（形勢のあまり良くない）戦いで大変だったはずなのに、ドイツが様々なコンセプトの軍用機をどんどん開発していったことには驚くしかありません。ものすごい向上心・執着心です。それに比べるとわが国は最後まで隼とか零戦を使い続けました（使うしかなかったのです）。同じく敗戦したとは言え、ドイツの航空力学の底力の凄さに感動を覚えます。

[@bradmiller9507]

Excellent!

[@mikepette4422]

Uhu isn't just Owl it's the Great Owl or Eagle-Owl

[@jvcyt298]

I've had an interest in this one ever since I saw one briefly in the BBC battlefield episode, battle of Stalingrad. At first, my research brought me to a design out of Holland, the Fokker G.I that looked very similar.

[@browserrr1]

Especially the B-model with stepped nose looks like a G.1. Wonder who made the original design of the tail cone, the G.1 design preceded the FW189 but whether Fokker bought the cones in Germany I don't know.

[@jvcyt298]

@@browserrr1; Well, they had the Fokkers in May 1940, but according to this video, the Germans had the FW189 in 1938., so, who's to say.

[@browserrr1]

@@jvcyt298 The G1 was first exhibited on the Paris air salon in 1936 if memory serves me well.

[@jvcyt298]

@@browserrr1; Perhaps Kurt Tank attended.

[@JohnXinaChong]

Hi so I have watched a few of your videos I have to say I really enjoy your content would you ever consider doing tank videos

[@melchiorvonsternberg844]

The max. speed, was 360 km/h and not 344 km/h. And there were several variants, with even more powerful engines and therefore more max. speed... But in the end, you made a solid job, with this video!

[@aviationdeepdive]

Figures vary, ie Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933-1945 Vol.2 - Flugzeugtypen Erla-Heinkel, German Aircraft of the Second World War says it's max speed was 344 km/h at 2,500 m.

[@mattwilliams3456]

$1.5 million seems very cheap for what that recovery and restoration must have cost.

[@raymondyee2008]

This aircraft only makes a cameo appearance in the “Sudden Strike” games.

[@davidbarrass]

what's with the propeller spinners? Rhey have those large vanes on them. In some shots the appear static when the poreller itself is spinning, other times they can be seen rotating

[@sivalon1]

Windmills that powered the prop pitch actuator.

[@floycewhite6991]

Subscribed.

[@aviationdeepdive]

Thanks!

[@MaticTheProto]

My grandfather was also a recon pilot in the luftwaffe (he didn’t want to kill people). He was shot down at least 2 times. One time over Africa. Somehow, he managed to steal a spitfire and managed to get back to Germany, among other shenanigans

[@aviationdeepdive]

That is really quite incredible, what was his name?

[@MaticTheProto]

@@aviationdeepdive actually I’d have to ask my aunt again what his last name was at the time. I think it was „von Trauchburg“. First name was Hubertus. He died when my mother was still a child and like most Germans who participated in the war he didn’t usually talk about it. I‘ve been asking my aunt to look up some more information about his actions in ww2 for a while now, but so far she hasn’t really done any deeper research. From what I know he was a recon/courier pilot and served both in Africa and later at the eastern front. He mostly flew Junkers planes (I‘d assume it was the 52). Regarding his escape from being a pow, he was apparently shot down over the sea and then drifted towards the British held territory where he got captured and was made to do maintenance work on an airfield. Eventually he managed to get into a spitfire without anyone noticing, managed to do a relatively convincing take off and (after desperately figuring out how to set the right radio frequency) managed to land at a German airfield again, where his spitfire was hastily repainted before he was sent to fly it to a certain airfield in Germany. He also did a slight detour (against orders) to drop a letter tied to a stone out of the cockpit above his home, telling his family that he was still alive. Doing so at low altitude apparently almost have his father a heart attack as he thought he was about to die to a strafing run. Other than that I only know that he did his best not to fall into russian hands at the end of the war. I really need to look up more details tho 😅

[@strayling1]

Watching this, I couldn't help comparing the Fw-189 with the P-38 Lightning. They seem to have played similar - or at least overlapping - roles.

[@scootergeorge7089]

And the Hughes F-11 if it had been adopted.

[@drstrangelove4998]

The UHU had three of four crew, not a single pilot.

[@neoclassic09]

Wasn't the he-219 the Uhu?

[@aviationdeepdive]

They both were!

[@deingewissen_official]

🦉

[@m.r.3912]

A missed oportunity for a long range fighter? The Bf 110 Destroyers were to slow and clumsy for air defence in the battle over britain. Maybe the FW 189 with stronger engines like DB 605 could have played the role, that the lightning did later over germany?

[@johndonlon1611]

looks an awful lot like a US Army OV-1 Mohawk--30 years earlier.

[@Spitfiresammons]

I bet the flying heritage collection USA will purchase the restored FW-189 from Duxford and after the restoration it will fly along side with FW-190A-5 BF-109E and the IL-2 great video.

[@FiveCentsPlease]

+@Spitfiresammons The Flying Heritage Collection purchased that Fw-189 over 20 years ago and the project went silent. After Paul Allen's death the project was offered for sale and it looked about 50-60% complete with a lot of work to do. The sale listing was gone later. The Flying Heritage Collection has a new owner now and maybe the Fw-189 remained with the museum.

[@onkelmicke9670]

If I had the cash I'd easily buy it.

[@scootergeorge7089]

I thought the He 219 was called the Uhu.

[@Davey-Boyd]

Both were

[@RobertParedes-kl2el]

I am surprised that the Nazi engineers did not invent there own proximity fuse if there would have equipped there fighters with them I think we would be eating swastika shaped cereal

[@ihorkorotchenko9732]

+

[@SamiHukka]

Such a slender and petit looking plane for Luftwaffe..

[@Watkinsstudio]

Underpowered and slow.