Fw189

[Nige321]

For the last few years, ARCO have been quietly beavering away on the restoration of a Fw189.
This was probably for Paul Allen's collection, so it's now emerged and is for sale...

Despite being a well-kept secret for many years, work on the Fw189 is well advanced. In the fuselage area of the aircraft, the forward frame is 40% complete, the central fuselage 65%, and the aft section is 75%, with the rear turret (capola) also being approximately 75% complete. The structure/skins of the centre wing and the engine nacelles are 80% complete and the fuel tank panels are 60%. The wing tips are at 40% and the starboard outer wing is 65%. Both port and starboard tail booms are 80% and the fin units are 60% complete on the port side and 80% on the starboard. Of the control surfaces, the ailerons are at 50%, the flaps at 40% and the rudders at 20%.

Fw189 A1/2, Werke Nr 2100, is presented for sale as a unique and ongoing project to be seen through to completion to airworthy or static condition.


ARCO's web page (https://www.aircraftrestorationcompany.com/fw189)

$1.5M to buy with another $2M to finish...


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1600x1067/aircraftrestorationcompany_aircraft_sales_focke_wulf_fw189_2 2_19b69fab512f9d8d606b3d13a93933cb2c365d86.jpg

[megan]

Interesting history, added as has detail not on ARCO's site.Its story starts on May 4, 1943 when Fw 189 V7+1H (Werk Nr. 2100), of 1./Nahaufklärungsgruppe 10, with V7 originally the Geschwaderkennung code for Heeres-Aufklärungsgruppe 32 based at Pontsalenjoki (due east of Kuusamo, and within the south-central area of modern Russia's Republic of Karelia) took off on a mission to photograph the Loukhi-3 airbase from an altitude of 6,000 m (20,000 ft), then to continue north along the Murmansk-Leningrad railway. Approximately 31 minutes after taking off, V7+1H was attacked by Lend-Lease-acquired Soviet Hawker Hurricane fighters. The aircraft dived to escape the fighters, but owing to damage already suffered, could not pull out in time, and it struck the treetops. The tail was torn off, and the crew nacelle left hanging upside down within the trees. The pilot, Lothar (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lothar_Mothes&action=edit&redlink=1)Mothes, survived but one crewman was killed in the crash and the third died from blood loss as a result of a severed leg. Incredibly, Mothes was able to survive two weeks in sub-zero temperatures, evading Soviet patrols while eating bark and grubs as he walked back to his base. Mothes spent the next nine months in a hospital recovering from severe frostbite before returning to the front line, eventually to fly another 100 missions.

In 1991, the wreckage of V7+1H was found in the Russian forest where it had remained for 48 years. The aircraft was purchased by a group of British aircraft enthusiasts and was shipped to the UK, arriving in the town of Worthing, West Sussex in March 1992. The Focke Wulf 189 Restoration Society was formed to restore the aircraft to flying condition. Her former pilot, Lothar Mothes, met up again with his aircraft at the 1996 Biggin Hill Airshow.