Revi of Focke Wulf 190 A-8

[Kurtl12]

I wonder what version of Revi gunsight the Focke Wulf 190 A-8 had. Think it was a newer version than the 16B. Could it be 16D? Who knows more about that? - Kurtl

[Roger Gaemperle]

Kurtl12,

It was the Revi 16B. The Revi 16D was used only in few aircraft (Me 262, Do 335, it is also reported to have been installed in a Ju 88 G nightfighter that landed by mistake in England) and was soon replaced with the standard Revi 16B.

Regards
Roger Gaemperle

[George Hopp]

A few Fw 190 A-8s had the EZ42 gyro gunsight installed; but as Roger noted, the standard gunsight for the Fw 190/Ta 152 through war's end was the 16B.

[Roger Gaemperle]

Yes, George ist right. I forgot about the EZ42. There exist at least two nice photos: one of a JG300 Fw 190 where you clearly can see the EZ42 and a cockpit view.

Regards
Roger Gaemperle

[Kurtl12]

Guys thanks for your answers. So it's Revi 16B. I read in a book about WW2 aircraft that with the A7 version the Focke Wulf 190 got a new Revi. According you this was the Revi 16B or the EZ 42. Now my question: What Revi had the 190 before the A7 version? - Kurtl

[Revi16]

The FW-190 A1-6 used the Revi C/12D, from the A-7 till the end (TA-152) the Revi 16B.
Very few aircraft used the EZ42, pilots didn't like it, very few units were built. I've heard anywhere from 200-400 units. Not sure how accurate that may be.
I collect gunsights and have searched thousands of pictures looking for the EZ42 in use. I have only been able to find three pics of it installed in aircraft.
The above mentioned FW 190A-8, one ME-262 pic and one DO-335 pic.
If there's more out there I sure would like to see them.

Regards,
Mike

[George Hopp]

Very few aircraft used the EZ42, pilots didn't like it

I saw the same statement in a volume on the Me 262, and wonder about its accuracy. In a translation of a German document from the "Training school for shooting of the Luftwaffe: Report on activity of Enlisting and Training Commands for EZ 40/42 at II/300. 13 to 28 Sept 44" it noted that in sorties by 5./JG 300, "Everyone who made a sortie against four-engined bombers managed to shoot down planes. . . . In succeeding conversation with Training Officer Lt. Brettschneider puts in request for said implement for his whole unit and guarantees a 100% result." And in the 8th AF News of January 1989, Ernst Schroder commented on his sortie of 27 September 1944: "My squadron leader and I had installed (for trial) a new aiming device ... that included very rapidly running gyros that automatically calculated the necessary aiming alllowances. (He then comments on shooting down 2 B-24s). The new aiming device was functioning astonishingly. I was so surprised and fascinated that I flew alongside my victim and stared at the meter-high flames which were pouring out of this Liberator all the way back beyond the elevator. Then this great machine clumsily laid itself over on its back and went down."

So, here are two satisfied users. The German gyro gunsight was certainly more complex than the Allied one, in that it had 2 gyros rather than the one for the Allied gunsight. And the Germans were having to make do with inferior metals. So, I can see breakdowns occurring more often than on the Allied gunsights. But, if set up properly, they should have done their job.

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by George Hopp

"My squadron leader and I had installed (for trial) a new aiming device ...

....according to Schroeder, not only was the EZ 42 more accurate, it also enabled the 190s to open up from much greater range..

" ...
My Staffelkapitän and myself had volunteered to trial a new gunsight in combat. This was a revolutionary gyroscopic device that was instantly able to compute the required angle of deflection and made it possible to open fire at long range with an accuracy that the classic Revi 16 B could not match. In my own case the results were impressive. I blazed away at "my" bomber long before I had closed to the usual range......".

[FRANCESCO M LENTINI]

Also I have read sometimes that Revi EZ 42 pilots don't like it, but now I discovery according to Schroeder and Bretscheneider (two famous four-engined killer) the Revi EZ 42 was very useful.

My question: we must considered this aiming device in a new light ?

Francesco Maria Lentini

[FalkeEins]

..as George suggested the more complex sight seems to have been prone to breakdown ..there's another account in the JG 300 history from Hubert Engst who describes having to use the EZ 42 in 'fixed' mode..