The idea of installing a Junkers Jumo 213A engine (until then mainly used on bombers) in a Focke-Wulf 190 airframe was born of a need to improve the high altitude performance of the aircraft: the A and F versions, in fact, suffered a significant drop in speed above 7,000m. Armed with two 20mm cannon and two 13mm guns, the D-9 was immediately a favourite with pilots, who considered it an aircraft equal to the P-51 Mustang. In its secondary role as a ground strike aircraft, the Dora 9 performed excellently during Operation Bodenplatte, the last stand of the 3rd Reich in the Ardennes. About 650-700 D versions are thought to have been made, of which four still exist today.
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