Heinkel
2 types ยท 0 airframes
Pre-1950 Narrative
Narrative coming soon.
Aircraft Types
Heinkel He 177 Greif
The He 177 Greif was the closest the Luftwaffe came to a long-range heavy bomber in the Second World War. Designed to the 1936 Bomber A specification and first flown on 19 November 1939, it used two coupled Daimler-Benz engines, each pair driving a single propeller, because no single German engine was powerful enough. The coupled engines overheated and caught fire throughout the type's career, an official dive-bombing requirement added weight the design could not spare, and the bomber reached service only in 1943. It flew anti-shipping strikes with Hs 293 glider bombs, joined the Steinbock raids on Britain and served on the eastern front before fuel shortages grounded it in the summer of 1944. Published production totals differ, and no example survives.
Heinkel He 280
The Heinkel He 280 was a German twin-jet fighter prototype, the first jet fighter to fly. Heinkel began it after the Air Ministry showed little interest in the He 178; it flew first as a glider in September 1940 and under jet power the following spring. Persistent engine trouble and official preference for the Messerschmitt Me 262 ended the programme in 1943, after nine prototypes; it never entered service, and no complete example survives.