Heinkel He 111

The Heinkel He 111 was a WW2 medium bomber in service with the Luftwaffe from 1935 to 1945. It was massively produced, with more than 6,000 aircraft. The most widely used version was the He 111H. This German bomber first saw combat action in the Spanish Civil War, as part of the arsenal of the Condor Legion. During World War II, it would play an important role in the German Blitz, the bombing of London in 1940 and 1941.

Technical Characteristics

The Heinkel He 111 was designed in 1934 by Siegfried and Walter Gunter under the guise of a fast civil airliner, but which was capable of a quick adaptation for a bombing role. As a matter of fact, the new aircraft was a twin-engine scaled up variant of the He 70, which had entered service with the Lufthansa early in 1934. The bomber versions had accommodation for five crew members.

The Heinkel He 111 was fitted with straight wings, mounted low on the fuselage. They were dihedral, angling upwards and wide at the base. The wings were built around a two-spar structure, which carried through the fuselage fore and aft of the bombays. Meanwhile, the fuel tanks were located inboard and outboard of the engine nacelles. The rear portion of fuselage was empty and it was used as a stowage space for the master compass and the emergency dinghy.

Variants

The Heinkel He 111A-0 and He 111B-0 were the pre-production models, while the He 111C-0 was the 10-seat, airliner variant, which entered service with the Lufthansa in 1936. The He 111B-1 would be the first production bomber, which was shipped to Spain to fight in the civil war. The He 111E featured more powerful engines; Junkers Jumo 211A-1, delivering 1,000 HP. Meanwhile, the Heinkel He 111H-1, 111H-2, 111H-3, and 111H-4 would be introduced in 1940 and they would participate in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. These latter versions were equipped with two 1,100-HP, Jumo 211D engines.

Specifications (He 111H-16)

Type: Medium night bomber/pathfinder

Length: 16.40 m (53 ft, 9 in)

Wingspan: 22.60 m ( 74 ft, 1 in)

Wing Area: 86.50 square meters (931.1 sq. ft)

Height: 4 m (13 ft, 1 in)

Powerplant: two 1,350-HP, Junkers Jumo 211F-2 inline piston engines

Maximum Speed: 435 km/h (270 mph)

Range: 1,950 km (1,212 miles)

Crew: 5

Armament: one 20mm MG FF cannon; one 13mm MG-131; seven 7.92mm MG machine guns. Bombload: 2,500 kg (five 500-kg bombs).

Below, two Heinkel He 111H-3 bombers on their way to the Eastern Front

A color photo of a parked He 111H-7 at an airbase, with maintenance personnel about to load a 500-kg bomb onto the aircraft.

The same German bomber in flight in the skies over France in 1940.