Heinkel He 111

The Heinkel He 111 was a German plane of the Second world war builds by the company Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke with Rostock. It was a twin-engine which was designed as well like bomber as like airliner and which could transport 10 passengers in addition to the two men of crew. The experience gained with the Heinkel He 70 was determining for the development of the " He 111".

Design

As of 1932 the German ministry of transport (Reichsverkehrsministerium) required to develop an airliner also which can be used as bomber. The development of the version bomber (still held secret) had priority. The November 17th 1934 the He 111 V1 (Serial number 713, 1st military version) took off for its first vol. In May 1935 followed He 111 V2 (Serial number 715) as a first civil prototype. During the tests, various modifications were carried out, such as for example the integration of more powerful engines to obtain a larger maximum speed required by the Luftwaffe.

Engagement

The Luftwaffe was seen delivering its first He 111 B at the end of the autumn 1936. In March 1937 followed the first mission of combat within the Légion Condor during the war of Spain in which 30 apparatuses of this type took part.

During the Second world war, during which He 111 were employed on all fronts, they were also employed like transport aircraft, launcher of torpedes or tug boat of sailplanes, in addition to their principal use as a horizontal average bomber. He 111 was the legendary bomber of the Bataille of England, persons in charge of the damage on the ground caused at the time of the Blitz, even if this role were largely shared with the Dornier Do 17 Z and Junkers Ju 88 has, fewer in manpower of Luftwaffe.

In autumn 1944 the production was stopped after the manufacture of 7300 specimens.

30 He 111 F-1 and 5 He 111 G-5 were delivered to the Turkey.

In Spain, the company CASA manufactured He 111 pennies license under the denomination " 2.111" CASA;. This manufacture continued well after the second world war and CASA them 2.111 were reformed only in the years 1960. He 111 H present in film of 1969 " The battle of Angleterre" of Guy Hamilton is in fact of CASA 2.111 of Spanish origin.

Alternatives

Prototypes

He 111 V1 : The first He 111, been driven by engines BMW VI 6,0 Z of 600 ch and two-bladed propellers.
He 111 V2 : plane intended for the transport of passengers and postal parcels which could transport 10 people. This apparatus had a smaller scale.
He 111 V3 : the first version intends exclusively for the bombardment. This apparatus also had a smaller scale.
He 111 V4 : a civil prototype from which were developed six planes of the type He 111 C built in series and used by the Lufthansa. It was officially presented the January 10th 1936.
He 111 V5 : last prototype, equipped with more powerful engines dB (Daimler-Benz) 600 A. Thanks to its improved characteristics, this version formed home base for the first great series of bombers He 111 B . First flight take place at the beginning of 1936.

Models of series

He 111 A-0 : Preproduction. 10 specimens of the preproduction " A-0" were disappointing as for their behavior in flight, related to the too weak engines. These specimens were yielded to the China.
He 111 B : Heinkel equipped now He 111 with more powerful engines with 1000 ch each one and named this alternative He 111 B (417 km/h). Luftwaffe used this apparatus starting from beginning 1937 under the denomination He 111 B-1 with engines dB 600 C. the B-2 model had better engines dB 600 CG and a better auxiliary armament. As from March 1937, 30 specimens of this type were tested under real conditions within the Légion Condor.
He 111 C : six specimens of this type were built for the Lufthansa.
He 111 D : a more powerful version with engines dB 600 Ga with 1050 ch, 460 km/h, but which was not built a long time because Daimler-Benz was already completely saturated with manufacture with engines for the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
He 111 E : the series " E" 498 km/h (improved radiators) reached.
He 111 F : series " F" , 30 specimens were sold with the Turkey. In this version the leading edge of the wings and the motorization were modified. All these alternatives were still very similar to the series " A". The bad visibility of the crew was criticized, which led to the development of He 111 P.
He 111 P : the series " P" was a version of transition while waiting for the version " H" equipped with different engines. This version had a ventral nacelle, an asymmetrical nose entirely glazed and engines DB600 of 1100 ch each one. The planes of this type were delivered to the Luftwaffe where they replaced the apparatuses of the " type; B" and " C". At the time of the attack of the Poland all types starting from the series " D" were employed. The version He 111 P-3 was a version of drive with duplicated orders.
He 111 H : The series " H" was identical to the series " P" , put aside engines, of JuMo211F. The experiment had indeed shown that the bombers too slow and were too slightly armed to be defended against the combined hunters, involving high losses. This version remaining vulnerable all the same, the missions were then moved during the night and the defensive armament was reinforced. The engines also were constantly improved, while remaining engines of the family JuMo211 (H2, H-3, H-4, H-5). The version " H-6" did not have interior compartment for the bombs. Torpedes or bombs could be fixed on supports which were under the wings and the fuselage while the frontal armament was reinforced (Canon Oerlikon MG-FF of 20mm in the place of machine-gun MG17 of 7,9mm). Other alternatives of the " types; H-8" until " H-23" were manufactured until in 1944 for various and varied roles.
He 111 Z : this type is particularly remarkable. This plane indeed consisted of 2 fuselages connected to each other by a central wing. In the center of this one, a fifth engine was added. Starting from 1942 an minor amount of these apparatuses, intended for the towing of the giant sailplane Messerschmitt 321 was built to Me, in the absence of other powerful apparatuses. Previously, this type of sailplanes were drawn by 3 Messerschmitt Bf 110 distinct (device " Schlep" troika;), which required an extremely dangerous synchronized piloting of the three tug boats.

See too

List of the military aircrafts

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