Heinkel He 111

A major German bomber, although slow and weak defensive armament, the He 111 was also employed as destroyer, towing gliders (He 111Z) and missile launcher (V-1 flying bombs, among others), being produced by the end of the war in several variants

Variants

Details taken from Aeroplane Magazine Database for June 2002 unless otherwise stated

German

• He 111A – Prototypes and initial production version. Produced at Rostock. (BMW VIs (750 hp), 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) of bombs, 1,100 km (684 miles), 330 km/h (205 mph), three MG15s). Rejected by Luftwaffe
  • V1, V2 and V3 - Prototypes,
  • A-0 - Pre-series aircraft
  • A-1 Six production machines, transferred to China in 1936. (Revised 2002 version of Putnam book ‘German Aircraft of the Second World War’ states all ten 111As went to China).
• He 111B – Initial Luftwaffe Bomber (Elliptical wings, DB600Cs (910 hp), 375 km/h (233 mph), 650 km (404 miles) with 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) of bombs, or 1,150 km (715 miles) with 1,500 kg (3,300 lb ) bombs. Guns as 111 A. DB600Cs replaced by 600Gs under refit order of July 1938. Nine later passed to Spain. Luftwaffe examples rebuilt as dual control trainers under order of April and July 1939.
  • B-0 - Six pre-series.
  • B-1 – 130 production examples built at Rostock.
  • B-2 – 283 production examples built at Wismar by Norddeutsche Dornier-Werke
• He 111C – Six examples of passenger variant of 111A series for DLH. (BMW VIs, 10 passengers, 2 crew, 1,700 km (1.056 miles), 310 km/h (193 mph). Two (WNr 1828 D-AMES Nurnberg and WNr 1833 D-ATYL Karlsruhe) were rebuilt with metal wings and BMW 132 radial engines, and redesignated He 111L
• He 111D – Bomber with increased navigation and radio equipment to act as pathfinder for bomber formations.
  • (1) WNr 1436 – Modified He 111B-0 tested at Rechlin from January 1937.
  • (2) 30 modified 111P-1s produced by EHF as Rostock. Crew of 6-8. 20 delivered by March 31, 1939. D-1 fitted with two FuG III aU radios in bomb bay. D-2 carried FuG X in place of FuG III aU.
• He 111E – First bomber variant with Jumo 211A engines. Wings of 111B. 210 built (80 by NDW at Wismar, 40 by ATB at Leipzig, 40 by Junkers at Bernburg and 50 by Arado at Brandenburg). 36 handed to Spain.
• He 111F – Bomber with Straight taper wing. 45 built by EHF at Marienehe. Jumo 211As (880 hp). 2,900 km (1,800 miles) with 500 kg (1,100 lb) of bombs, 1,200 km (745 miles) with 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) of bombs.
  • F-1 – FuG III
  • F-2 – FuG X
• He 111G – Two DLH aircraft (WNr 2534 D-AEQA Halle and WNr 2535 D-AYKI Magdeburg) originally with BMW VIs, which were replaced with BMW 132 radial engines in 1939. Straight edge all metal wing.
• He 111H – Standard bomber version, with some 6,000 built
  • H-1 – Jumo 211As with VDM props. 5-9 MG15s. Up to 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) bombs. 5 crew. FuG III aU. 3,450 litres (825 imperial gallons) fuel
  • H-2 – As H-1 but with FuG X
  • H-3 – As H-1 and H-2, but with Jumo 211Ds. Equipped for catapult launch.
  • H-4 – Rebuilt H-3 for carriage of external loads on PVC 1006/1 racks. Additional 835 litre (184 imp gal) fuel tank in place of port bomb rack.
  • H-5 – New built H-4. Additional MG 17 in tail. Sometimes MG FF in ventral gondola. PVC 1006/1s sometimes replaced with PVC 1006 B for torpedo launching. In January 1942, Anderungsanweisung (refit order) 376 ordered replacement of 211Ds with 211Fs.
  • H-6 – As H-5 (211F) but with Junkers VS props. One PVC 1006/1 and one ETC 2000/1 or two ETC 2000/1 or two PVC 1006 B. Later fitted with FuG 25 IFF.
  • H-8 – 30 examples of H-5 fitted with 370 kg (815 lb) ballon cable fender
  • H-9 – Unarmed dual trainer built from H-1
  • H-10 – Unarmed dual trainer built from H-2
  • H-11 – External bombs only – 5 racks. Some equipped with torpedoes. Better crew visibility. One MG FF, two MG 15, two MG 81. First version with Kuto-Nase balloon cable cutters on wing edge. Glider tug device as standard from this version onwards.
  • H-12 – H-6 rebuilt to carry two Hs 293 missiles. Kehl III transmitter.
  • H-14 – H-3 with Armament/engines of H-6. No Kuto-Nase. Port internal bomb rack replaced with additional fuel tank of H-4.
  • H-16 – Series version of H-11 with internal bomb load. One MG FF, one MG 131, one MG 81Z, two MG 181Z.
  • H-20 – Multi Role aircraft. As bomber see H-11. As transport with 4 crew and 16 soldiers. As Paratroop transport with 4 crew and 15 paratroops. Electric dorsal turret. Large rubber dinghy container. Redesigned ventral gondola.
  • H-21 – Designation applied to 22 H-6s refitted with Heinkel-Hirth 9-2281 turbosuperchargers.
  • H-22 – Unconfirmed designation of H-16s adapted to carry/launch Fieseler Fi-103 (V-1). 115 rebuilds are mentioned in RLM Flugzeuggentwicklungsprogramm (aircraft development programme) 227 issued on December 15, 1944, of which 96 were delivered by the end of November 1944.
• H 111J –
  • (1) – 144 examples of H 111F with DB 600Gs built by the Heinkelwerke at Oranienburg, near Berlin. 120 for the Luftwaffe and 24 for Turkey flown to Eskisehir - 18 in 1937, 6 in 1938. Turkey order included 10 additional DB 600Gs
  • (2) – Two aircraft (also designated H-6/J) fitted with Heinkel-Hirth 9-2281 turbosuperchargers, serving as prototypes for the H-21. He 111J V1 (WNr 7558 TH+ZN) was tested by Heinkel in November 1942, and at E-Stalle Rechlin from January to June 1943. He 111J V2 (WNr 7880 VQ+NV) first flew December 21, 1942 and was recorded at Rechlin in August 1943.
• He 111K – Pre war publication designation for Kampfflugzeug variants, used to distinguish a military version from civil adaptation of the type.
• He 111L – Designation used initially for two DLH machines (WNr1884 D-ACBS Augsburg and WNr 1885 D-ADCF Dresden) with metal wings and BMW 132 radial engines. Later applied to adapted He 111Cs.
• He 111P – Second standard variant, with 1,050 hp DB 601As. Production by NDW at Wismar and Heinkel at Rostock ended after production of 834 machines, due to Bf109 having priority for BD601s. 2.600 km (1,615 miles). 395 km/h (254 mph)
  • P-1 – H-1 with DB601As. Max load of 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) with 1,600 litres (352 imp gal) of fuel; minimum load 600 kg (1,323 lb) with 3,450 litres (760 imp gal) of fuel.
  • P-2 – As P-1 with FuG X in place of FuG II aU radio.
  • P-3 – Unarmed dual control trainer version of P-1
  • P-4 – H-4 with DB601As
  • P-5 – Unarmed dual control Trainer version of P-2
• He 111R – Project 1941 version with increased performance; 1,750 hp DB603s. 490 km/h (304 mph) over 2,500 km (1,533 miles) carrying 3.600 kg (7,936 lb) load. Design studies started late 1940 – initially with Jumo 211Fs. Requirement for dive speed up to 700 km/h (435 mph). Concept abandoned October 1941.
• He 111Z “Zwilling” – Built as a tug for heavy – up to 24 tons – gliders. Developed by RLM engineer Flugbaumeister Tilenlus by joining two (Jumo 211F) He 111s with a new constant chord centre carrying a fifth Jumo 211F. Tests with two prototypes (WNr 2695 DS+EQ and WNr 2696 DG+RU) led to construction of 10 production examples (WNR 2697 to 2706). 2697 (TH+ZL) first flew August 26, 1942. 2706 first flight probably January 1943.
  • Z-2 – Proposed long range bomber version. Authorised but not built.
  • Z-3 – Proposed reconnaissance version. Authorised but not built.

Spanish

• CASA 2.111 – Spanish built He 111P, produced for the Ejército del Aire. Designated BR.21. After retirement in the mid 1960s, a number were acquired for use in the film 'Battle of Britain'.
  • 2.111A – Jumo 211F powered aircraft. First example flown May 1945. First service delivery May 1950 – delay due to engine supply problems. Possibly limited to the ten 2.111s fitted with engines supplied from Germany.
  • 2.111B – Details unknown – possibly the 100 examples of 2.111A fitted with Jumo 211F engines found stored in France.
  • 2.111C – Jumo 211F reconnaissance version, with cameras instead of bomb racks. Entered service June 1952
  • 2.111D – Merlin powered reconnaissance version. Entered serviced during 1956
  • 2.111E – Jumo 211F six passenger transport version, with gun positions removed, first flown December 1950.
  • 2.111E (Dual) - A dual control trainer based on the 2.111E, first flown March 1952.
  • 2.111E (Merlin) – 2.111E airframe fitted with Merlins by CASA engineers July 1951, first flown August 1951.

Specifications

• Model: He 111H-3

  

• Wingspan: 22.3 m
• Length: 16.4 m
• Height: 4 m
• Weight: 7720 kg (empty) and 14,000 kg (loaded)
• Engine: Two Junkers Jumo 211D-2, 12 cylinders (1,200 hp)
• Speed: 415 km / h (maximum)
• Ascension Home: 150 m / min (loaded)
• Maximum ceiling: 7800 m
• Range: 1,200 km (loaded)
• Armament: 5 meters. Rheinmetall MG 15 7.92 mm (nose, dorsal and ventral gondola side windows) MG FF cannon and 20 mm (gondola)
• Charge Pumps: 2,000 kg
• Crew: 5 men