Talking about very late marks.
They went from the classical supercharger air intake located just a bit behind under the engine to a Mustang-style inlet just right behind under the spinner with the Mk 24, 47 and late Spiteful/Seafang.
How much was the speed gain achieved with this alteration?
Aesthetically it's a guppification/uglification imho.
Some time back I pointed out that the USAAF did a dogfight between a captured FW-190A and a P-47D. The Jug out turned and generally outmaneuvered the FW-190. And a US Navy pilot who had flown both F6F in combat flew a captured FW-190A and summed up his evaluation: "It's not a dogfighter."
I have a hazy recollection that the Fw 190 used in the tests was a ground attack/fighter bomber version, either F or a fighter-bomber/ground attack sub-version of A4 or A5. And anyway often the war-booty planes were not in tip-top condition, the fuel used was not best suited for the engine settings, lack of manuals affected its performance etc.
I have a hazy recollection that the Fw 190 used in the tests was a ground attack/fighter bomber version, either F or a fighter-bomber/ground attack sub-version of A4 or A5. And anyway often the war-booty planes were not in tip-top condition, the fuel used was not best suited for the engine settings, lack of manuals affected its performance etc.
As well, it was dissembled in North Africa, and shipped to the US in containers, then re-assembled without manuals. And the FW suffered from engine problems during the test.
I don't think the Navy test was a good representation of a front line Fw190
Interestingly enough I just read a Flight Journal article comparing the performance of the P-47 to RAF fighters but it stated they could find no evidence of a P-47 flyoff with captured German fighters in the ETO. I don't recall which book had the account of the P-47/FW-190 dogfight but I'll see if I can find it. The FJ article did have a summary of flyoffs between the P-47 and the Oscar and Zeke.
I seem to recall another wartime document that compares the P-47 and a couple other US fighters to the FW-190. Not sure if it was an official test, or something that one of the European Fighter Commands did on its own. Or I many be hallucinating, as I can't locate it online with a brief search. Here's a USN test that's broadly similar: http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/fw190/ptr-1107.pdf
It just may be stored on my old laptop. I'm in the process of moving house, so I might be able to dig it up in a few days.