[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Dottore

Not to be pedantic - but the FW-190 was never called the "butcher bird". It was, in German, referred to as the "Schlachtvogel" - which correctly translates as "battle bird".

(Although a "schlachter" is a butcher in English - "schlacht" here means battle. A "butcherbird" would be "schlachtervogel" in German - which makes little sense.)

First off, I know several ex-WW2 FW-190 pilots and they all said that it was called the Butcher Bird. The gent pictured above still calls it that but not until asked about it.

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Here is how it got that name, from the first test pilot to fly the plane.

* The "FW-190-V1" (V1 meaning "Versuchs 1 / Prototype 1") flew from the Bremen airport on 1 June 1939 with test pilot Hans Sander at the controls. Tank himself, a skilled pilot and definitely a "hands-on" engineer, performed some of the test flights. He gave the machine the name "Wuerger (Butcher Bird / Shrike)". Early test flights demonstrated some problems, including leakage of carbon monoxide fumes into the cockpit; failure of the landing gear to lock in place after being raised; and engine and cockpit overheating. The first two problems were quickly resolved, but the overheating troubles proved harder to fix.

http://www.vectorsite.net/avfw190.html

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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3897/is_200010/ai_n8925541

http://www.warbirdalley.com/fw190.htm

http://www.aviation-history.com/focke-wulf/fw190.html

http://www.nitroplanes.com/fofw19070bub.html

http://www.shockwaveproductions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=59764&sid=278cf738b782b0e271e2ef49a06a67f5

http://www.amazon.com/Focke-Wulf-Russian-Front-Osprey-Aircraft/dp/1855325187

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fw_190