FW190 undercarriage doors

[Larry]

Quick question:

Were the small undercarriage doors under the fuselage (not those attached to the undercarriage legs), fitted to all FW190A variants and very often removed - or were they perculiar to a particular sub variant such as A-6. When looking at photos I see these doors on very earlier versions and later ones. However there doesn't seem to be clear indication of whether they were removed or never fitted, whether the FW190 was on the Western or Eastern Front.

Thanks in advance

[Leo Etgen]

Hello Larry

It is my understanding that these doors were standard on all Fw 190 A-series aircraft up to the Fw 190 A-7 upon which they were discontinued. Note that up to the Fw 190 A-6 these doors automatically closed when the fighter was on the ground thus often giving the impression that they had been removed. However, they were removed when the aircraft was fitted with the ETC 501 rack. I hope this helps.

Horrido!

Leo