Review: Wings Of Power P-47 and FW-190

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On to the Wurger!

The FW-190 continues Shockwaves attention to detail and their legacy as king of the WWII fighter add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator. I'm not as huge a fan of the German aircraft as some, but anything done to these standards is welcome. The FW-190 is one of the more recognizable German fighters. Aside from the ubiquitous ME-109, the 190 likely had more of an impact on Germany's air war than most would think. Kurt Tank's design for this aircraft was rugged and easily produced. Shockwave gives us most of the "A" variants which were produced in greater numbers than the later versions of this interesting fighter.

Shockwave models the A3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and F8. You also get the different weapon versions of the A5U12, A8R8. Each model comes with strict attention to detail and the correct cockpit and weapons version unique to that aircraft. All of the Shockwave birds come with great documentation and the write-ups for each model in the aircraft selection screen review the differences and strengths of the variants.

The FW-190 was known for its climb ability and it's roll rate. These are executed nicely with the flight model. The cockpits and modeling are superior as everything else from Shockwave seems to be. The only gripe I have is the engine sound. I don't know what the 190's engines are supposed to sound like, but to me it sounds like a Cessna 182 in the sim. It's not the default sound to be sure, just not very convincing to me. Other than that, this is another winner, the textures here are nicely weathered and at times subtly so, just as most of these aircraft were. Flying this bird with it's wicked roll rate is a joy. As with all tail draggers though, be careful in the landing pattern. These aircraft need some speed to negotiate turns and it's easy to stall if your not careful. If you turn up the realism to the upper range of the sliders, you can get these aircraft to do real spins also. Quite a feat for the constraints of Flight Simulator.

Since this aircraft has been out Shockwave has added the Fw-190D, the long winged Dora! I haven't had the chance to fly her yet, but the model looks superb. Don't miss out on that if your a Dora fan!

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