Page-17

Aircraft of the Lufwaffe

Heinkel He
111

OTHER GERMAN AIRCRAFT
Messerschmitt
Bf109E       Junkers
Ju87
Junkers
Ju88       Messerschmitt
Bf110-G       Dornier
Do17

If
there was an aircraft that had done more damage regarding strategic
bombing during the Battle of Britain, it was the Heinkel He 111.
But, unlike many of Britain's bombers, the He 111 was not
specifically made for the Second World War. As we know, Germany was
not allowed to have a military air force under the terms of the
Versialles Treaty, so many aircraft were being built under strict
secrecy, often under the guise of Lufthansa Airlines. The He 111 was
no exception. The Luftwaffe had requested that a large commercial
airliner be constructed way back in 1934, but it should be designed
in such a way that it could be easily and cheaply converted into a
bomber adhering to German military specifications.

Walter and Siegfried Günter based their design on the He 70
'blitz' current at the time. Because, as a military aircraft capable
of carrying a bomb load, the payload weight would be far greater so
the overall size of the aircraft had to be increased. as did the
engines powering the aircraft. The first He 111 was to fly in
February 1935, and with a few modifications a number of He 111A's
were constructed which at the time it was considered that the
aircraft performed exceptionally well. But by 1936, it was
considered that the He 111 was under powered and those aircraft that
had been constructed were sold to China. Heinkel swapped the twin
600hp BMW engines for the far more powerful 1,000hp Daimler-Benz
DB600A engines for the next variant the He 111B. Not only would the
additional power be more suited to a bomber, but it also increased
the top speed to 225 mph. A number of changes took place from 1937,
mostly in trying to get the power unit correct. In fact, the number of variants of the Heinkel He
111 reads like a book index.

The
variants came, and went using the letters of the alphabet, and a
number of experimental or temporary versions were given the letter
"V". These variants, were not necessary in alphabetical order,
although by looking at the variant listing, it was very close, but
the variant used in the battle of Britain was the He 111H. But the
variant that laid the foundations to this was in fact the He 111P.
Up until the "P" version, the nose of the aircraft was round, but
all metal and the pilots cockpit stepped almost Dakota fashion. It
was with the "P" that the nose took on the popular look as we know
the He 111 to be with its all glazed nose that housed the nose
gunner and above him the pilot and the observer. The He 111P was in
production in late 1938 and within two months was supplied to KG157
and was used extensively in the build up to the Polish campaign and
continued service well into 1940.

The
He 111H entered service with the Luftwaffe just prior to the
invasion of Poland and made up a total of 810 He 111's of differing
variants when war was declared in September 1939 comprising 400 He
111H, 349 He 111P, 40 He 111E and 21 He 111J. Of these it is
believed that nearly 100 aircraft had been declared unserviceable
which in effect the total Heinkel He 111 strength was only just over
700 aircraft. Those that took part in the Polish campaign claimed
many successful missions, and construction was far greater than
losses meant that the build up of the He 111 meant that in future
campaigns the Heinkel bomber force would be one of great strength.
Where there were seven Kampfgeschwadern operating He 111 bombers in
Poland, only three operated during the Norwegian campaign, mainly
due to the fact that there were no suitable airfields in Norway at
the time. It was a formation of 100 He 111 bombers that attacked
Rotterdam on May 14th 1940.

By
the time that the Battle of Britain had commenced, nearly all
bombing missions were carried out by the Heinkel He 111H (and the
Dornier 17Z.) most of the other variants had disappeared although
records show that one of the Heinkels shot down over Middle Wallop
as late as August 14th 1940 was in fact a He 111P which only shows
that older variants were still being used in raids against Britain.
The Heinkel He 111H variant itself also had a number of
supplementary variants being designated by a number following the
variant designation. These were He 111H-1, He 111H-2, He 111H-3 and
He 111-4. The modifications were mainly in the power unit used,
although a few other modifications were made. The original He 111H-1
based on the He 111P used Junkers Jumo 211 engines, an improved Jumo
211A-3 engine was put into the He 111H-2, the He 111H-3 used a Jumo
211D-1 engine and was equipped with a forward firing 20mm cannon and
used as an anti-shipping strike aircraft. later models of the He
111H-4 used Jumo 211F-1 engines. The Junkers Jumo 211F-1 engine that
produced 1350 hp each replaced the older 211D-1 engine that only
produced 1100 hp and was used continuously until the Jumo 213 was
introduced on the He 111H-23 much later in the war.

One
of the most common variants used was the He 111H-5. The modification
here was that additional fuel tanks were installed where the wing
bomb cells were, and this extended the normal range of the aircraft
to 1,212 miles (1950 kms). Two external bomb racks were fitted with
each one capable of holding a 2,205lb (1000kg) bomb. The all up
weight of the He 111H-5 was now increased to 30,985 lbs (14055kg)
and obviously was to slow the aircraft when under a full load, but
these aircraft were filled to capacity during the night raids on
London during the 'Blitz" and caused devastating results.

The
next variant was the He 111H-6, and although not used during the
Battle of Britain, it was used in great numbers in bombing raids on
London and all major British cities from early 1941. This variant as
well as the He 111H-5 and other German bombers continued night
attacks on British targets to which Britain really had no answer.
The He 111H-6, equipped to carry torpedoes, although it was mostly
used in normal bombing missions, was used as a shipping strike
aircraft from Bardufoss and Banak in Norway against shipping convoys
plying the North Cape route from mid-june 1942 onwards with great
success.

As
the later models of bomber was introduced by such aircraft as the He
177 and Do 217 the role of the He 111 was becoming outdated and the
aircraft was reverted to the role of a transport although later
variants of the He 111 still continued to serve in the Middle East
and along the Eastern Front in a bomber role. It was during the move
on Stalingrad between November 1942 and February 1943 that in the
role of a supply aircraft flying in food and ammunition to the
German 6th Army that under the extreme cold conditions the Luftwaffe
was to lose a total of 170 He 111 bombers of different variants.
This was to place an additional strain on other bombers and pilots,
and on the Luftwaffe itself, as it meant pulling other aircraft away
from important duties, or ceasing supply operations at Stalingrad,
the latter was really out of the question.

In
1944, Germany had developed the V-1 flying-bomb. These early
versions were launched from aircraft and not rocket launchers as
they were later in the war. The idea was for an aircraft to carry
the V-1 at extreme low level to avoid detection from British radar,
then as they approached the British coast they would sharply
increase their altitude to about 1,500ft (450m) before releasing the
V-1, then generally using cloud cover or low level flying to make
good their escape back to their bases. The aircraft chosen to carry
out this task was the He 111H. A number of these including the He
111H-6, the He 111H-16, the He 111H-21 and the He 111H-22, were
modified to carry the new projectile which actually was a Fieseler
Fi 103 flying bomb, but known as the V-1. All these aircraft, after
modification became the He 111H-22. They were delivered to III/KG3
that was based in the Netherlands, and for the next six or seven
weeks it has been reported that the He 111H-22 carried and launched
over 300 V-1 rockets against London, 100 against Portsmouth and
Southampton and 20-30 against Bristol. The use of the He 111H-22 and
the V-1 rocket was such a success, that over 100 He 111H aircraft
were modified to He 111H-22 standards and delivered to KG53 for the
sole purpose of launching the V-1 at British targets.

But
the success was no where near the great height achieved on the
initial missions. In the next six months, only 20% of 1,200 V-1
rockets reached their intended targets, many of then falling and
exploding in empty fields or in out of the way suburbs, and some
eighty He 111H-22 aircraft were destroyed either by the RAF or by AA
gunfire. Later, the rockets were launched from specially constructed
launch pads.

One
of the great success stories of the He 111 comes from the Soviet
airfield of Potavia on June 21/22 1944 where, after the bombing of
Berlin by B17s and their P-51 escorts the U.S were using the
airfield at Potavia. The Luftwaffe sent a formation of He 111
bombers to make a surprise attack on the airfield. Some forty-five
B17 bombers  and 15-20 P-51 fighters were destroyed. Through
German eyes, a glittering finale to the workhorse of the Luftwaffe.
An aircraft that could take a lot of punishment and still be able to
fly, possibly one of the reasons that so many damaged He 111 bombers
made it back to their base. An aircraft that took on many roles, not
all of them successful, but it was against London in 1940 to 1942
that the bomber will best be remembered.

Heinkel 111H
Specifications

Type

Long Range Medium
Bomber/Night Bomber/Glider Tug

Crew

Five

Power
Plant

2 x Junkers Jumo
211F-1 1350 hp engines

Fuel
Capacity

765
gallons

Unladen
weight

19,136 lbs
(8680kg)

Laden
weight

30,864 lbs
(14000kg)

Max Speed (19,685
ft)

270 mph (435
km/h)

Max range (Normal
Load)

1,212 miles (1950
km)

Max range (Full
Load)

760
miles

Max range (with
wing tanks)

2,640 miles (with
normal load)

Service
Ceiling

27,890 ft
(8500m)

Armament

1 x 20mm MG FF
Cannon
1 x 13mm MG 131 Machine Gun
7 x 7.92mm MG 15 and/or MG
81 Machine Guns
1 x 4,409 lb bomb (carried
externally) and
1 x 1,102 lb bomb (carried
internally) or
8 x 551lb bombs (all
carried internally)

Wingspan

74ft 1¾in
(22.60m)

Length

53ft 9½in
(16.40m)

Height

13ft 1¼in
(4.00m)

Wing
Area

931.1 sq ft
(86.50 m²)

HEINKEL He
111 VARIANTS

He 111a (He 111 VI):
1st prototype, two 600-hp (448-kW) B.M.W. V16,OZ with
two-blade propellers
He 111 V2: 2nd prototype (D-ALIX)

He 111 V3: 3rd
prototype (D-ALES)
He 111 V4: 4th prototype (D-AHAO)

He 111C-0: six
aircraft (D-ABYE. -AMES. -AQUY. -AQYF-ATYL-AXAV); two
delivered to Kommando Rowehl for clandestine
reconnaissance
He 111A-1: 10 aircraft based on V3;
rejected
He 111 V-5: DB 600A power plant; all-up weight
18,959 lb (8600 kg)
He 111B-0: pre-production version accepted by
Luftwaffe: one aircraft with Jumo 21Ga
He 111B-1: production
bombers; early aircraft with 08 iOOAa. later 08 60CC; all-up
weight 20.536 lb (9323 kg); maximum bombload 3.307 lb (1500
kg)
He
111B-2: supercharged DB 600CG engines, all-up weight
increased to 22.048 lb (10000 kg)
He 111 V-7: prototype with
straight tapered wing
He 111G-01: also termed He
111 V12 (D-AEQU) B.M.W. VI 6.OZu. passed to
DLH
He
111G.02: also termed He 111 V13
(D-AYKI)
He 111G-3: two aircraft V14 (D-ACBS)
with B.M.W.132Dc and V15 (D-ADCF) with B.M.W. 132H-1;
both passed to DLH and re-styled He 111L

He 111G-4: also
termed He111 V16 (D-ASAR); D8 600G; used by Milch as
personal transport
He 111G-5: four aircraft with DB 600Ga engines,
sold to Turkey
He 111 V-9: modifIed from B-2 airframe with DB
600 Ga; became He 111D prototype with wing
radiators
He 111D-0: pre-production batch with DB 600Ga
and radiators moved to engine nacelles
He 111D-1: small number of
production aircraft. abandoned due to shortage of DB
engines
He 111 V-6:  prototype (D-AXOH) from
modifIed B-0 with Jumo 610 Ga
He 111 V-10: prototype He
111E (D-ALEQ) from modified D-0 with Jumo
211A-114.
He 111 E-0: pro-production aircraft 3.748-lb
(11700-kg) bombload; all-up weight 22,740-lb
(10315-kg)
He 111 E-1: production bombers. 4.400-lb (12000-kg) bombload
all-up weight 23,754 lb (10775 kg)
He 111 E-3: minor intemal alterations. internal
bombload only
He 111 E-4: half bombload carried
externally
He 111 E-5: as E-4 with extra internal
fuel tanks
He 111 V-11: prototype He 111F with straight-tapered wing;
Jumo 211A-3 engines
He 111 F-0: pm-production aircraft, all-up
weight 24.250 lb (11000 kg)
He 111 F-1: 24 aircraft sold
to Turkey in 1938
He 111 F-4: 40 aircraft for Luftwaffe with E-4
bombload
He 111 J-0: pm-production aircraft. 08 EOOCO; extemal bombload
only
He
111 J-1: 60 production aircraft intended as torpedo
bombers but saved as bombers only
He 111 W: modified 10-ADUOI
with stepped cockpit profile
He 111 P-O: pre-production
batch similar to V1, following J-1 in factory

He 111
P-1:
production 08 601A-1; maximum speed 247 mph (398
km/h)

The Battle of Britain
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2007