The Early Backbone Of The Luftwaffe: Heinkel He 111
In this video, we talk about the Heinkel He 111, a pre-World War II German bomber designed initially in an effort to skirt the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. We first talk about the treaty, why it came about, and how it went about restricting Germany and the German military. We then talk about a predecessor to the He 111, the He 70, a monoplane civilian plane designed to break records. We then talk about how the He 70 transitioned over to the He 111 and how the He 111 project was disguised as a civilian airliner project.
We then talk about the solid performance of the He 111 in the Spanish Civil War, the Invasion of Poland, and the Invasion of France. We then look at its worse performance in the Battle of Britain, why it performed worse, and how its many variants attempted to improve the design. We talk about the slow decline of the He 111 through the war, before production was cancelled in late 1944. We end by looking at two interesting He 111 variants: the He 111Z "Zwilling" and the He 111H-22, a V1 rocket carrier.
Пікірлер: 63
Regardless of what it was used for, the HE-111 was a very attractive aircraft. Once it got he glazed nose.
@RemusKingOfRome
2 ай бұрын
Like having a plane with it's own glass-house . You could put plants or critters in it. :D
@chonqmonk
2 ай бұрын
@@RemusKingOfRome I'd grow some weed in that bad boy, lol...
@mcrichton46
2 ай бұрын
@@chonqmonkyou’d be quite literally flyin’ high, brother man…😂
@tonybarnes3658
2 ай бұрын
Personally, I reckon the stepped cockpit is a better looking machine. The glasshouse style is most likely preferable re all-round vision, but for mine,the stepped cockpit is much more aesthetically pleasing. Practicality is always preferable in military equipment. Even if such an approach isn't always adopted!
@Siddich
2 ай бұрын
imagine having one as a private aircraft…put in additional fuel tanks instead of bombs, away with the guns and you would have a great aircraft for your yearly trip to mallorca…
The He 111's only problem is it stayed in front line service too long , probably needed to be replaced by 1942
I was actually inside an ex-Spanish He-111 at an airshow in Mesa Arizona in the 1990s. They were allowing visitors to get inside the aircraft and have a look around. It was a much smaller aircraft in person than it looks like in the pictures. Sadly, this aircraft was lost, along with the lives of two pilots, in a catastrophic crash several years later.
At the outset of the war, the A6M2 Zero was the only effective single engined escort fighter, with experience in China that developed their equipment and tactics. You might want to do a video of the Sino-Japanese air war. Great video. Mahalo and Aloha!
Most probably the reason why the Luftwaffe soldiered on that long with relatively old material was the fact that Hitler believed that his war would be a short one, hence no immediate need to develop new aircraft.
@Pikilloification
2 ай бұрын
Or simply that they didn't have the capability to replace it
@RemusKingOfRome
2 ай бұрын
No Plan "B", although the HE-177 should have replaced it but it had it's own problems (self inflicted)
Always knew of this planes importance in WWII but never heard of its development. Awesome video I learned much!
Fun Fact: The Spanish built Version served as a transport and air sea rescue aircraft until the late 60's and early 70's. Some were used in the 1968 Battle of Britain movie along with Spanish built Me 109's with Merlin engines. Go figure.
@moblinmajorgeneral
2 ай бұрын
Franco didn't have much use for them, anymore. Why not lend them?
@alanpennie
2 ай бұрын
@@moblinmajorgeneral That film was definitely made at the right moment.
@janmale7767
2 ай бұрын
Not a state of the art plane by wars end , but had that 'trusty workhorse feel about it' and something not mentioned in this video, it was relatively tough , could stand up relatively well to rifle caliber punishment,i think the large thick wings played a role in that.The Boeing B- 17 as a comparison was also conceived at roundabout the same time,perhaps a tad later,could also soak up quite a bit of punishment and also had large thick wings, the consolidated Liberator that was conceived later had certain performance advantages over the 17(range and speed) but wasn't quite as tough!
@tonybarnes3658
2 ай бұрын
The was a beaut movie for sure, and thankfully the crew could utilise the Spanish aircraft to mimic the WWII German machines. Said machines,to my eye, were just "not right". The He111s and Bf109s just don't look right with the upright RR Merlin V12s. Thankfully though, such aircraft were available to make the movie and to help memorialise this very important part of the dreadful conflict called WWII.
The last models of the HE 111 reverted back to the start. They were fast transport planes and paratrooper drop planes.
The he 111 also bombed Rotterdam, leading to the surrender of the Netherlands because there was no more air defence.
I love this plane it's always been one of my favorite bombers. Thanks for giving it some coverage!
The Air Ministry knew in.the mid-1930s that the 0.303in machine guns were obsolete and selected the 20mm cannon as it's replacement.
@johnstirling6597
2 ай бұрын
But could not apparently get it to work properly in an aircraft until late 1940/41.
@neiloflongbeck5705
2 ай бұрын
@@johnstirling6597 that's true, the gun wasn't much cop in the 1936/7 trials either but the potential was seen over 0.5in and 0.303 in machine guns. But in the run up to the war it was accepted tgatbit was better to have a barely adequate gun today over something perfect too late. Plus the idea of putting protective armour on aircraft was a fairly new, coming out of the Spanish Civil War (excluding some specialised ground attack aircraft from WW1). Even in 1940 were Spitfires being delivered without armoured windscreens.
@johnstirling6597
2 ай бұрын
@@neiloflongbeck5705 Much thanks to Dowding/Park........."If Chicago gangsters can have bullet proof windscreens, then so can my pilots".
It was a problem for the Luftwaffe across the board, having to maintain increasingly obsolescent aircraft in combat that had peaked out in 1941 because Germany failed in their efforts to replace them. Bf 110/Bf 109/He-111/Ju-87...even slightly later aircraft, the Fw-190 and Ju-88 found themselves forced to serve with increasing ineffectiveness overall.
Just found your channel. Great content, instantly subscribed
"No word on the rain..." Clever! 😉
I am intrigued as to why you give plane dimensions in metric, but all other numbers in imperial.
Something about the HE 111 always appealed to me. It was such a beautiful airplane. Watching this video makes me want to dig into my collection of models and build one.
Excellent
good vid keep it up
HE 111c is quite a handsome plane. In a stout matronly way.
Thanks for the excellent video of the Heinkel He 111...... Old F-4 Shoe🇺🇸
0:01 if you squint real hard looks like you're looking at an retrofuturistic locomotive
@CaptainJohn
2 ай бұрын
Like something from Fallout
@neves5083
2 ай бұрын
@@CaptainJohn read my mind
Nice
Another Great video. Yes, it was an inter-war plane, needed to be replaced by the HE-177 "Oh Good Grief!" - please put 4 engines , one per narcel !
Wasn't it used fairly actively as a torpedo bomber against the Arctic convoys and as a transport as its utility as a bomber declined?
@chonqmonk
2 ай бұрын
Yes! 😁
@petesheppard1709
2 ай бұрын
@@chonqmonk Having seen photos of it carrying TWO torpedoes, it had to be a terrifying sight for Allied sailors.
Cooool new video to watch tonight… I don’t want it to sound bad but I loooove watching your videos to sleep Ps. You are the reason I started to get more interested in ww2 aircraft (says the tank enthusiast) God speed and wish you good health, from Poland
You could have also mentioned that the Czech Avia S-199 used the Jumo 211 engines from the Heinkel license built Avia, they were a pretty bad aircraft, but Israel bought a bunch of them. You should do a segment on the Junkers Ju-86.
He111F with bigger wings some 84 was build of which 24 was sold to Turkey. He111G a civilian version with new engines of which 8 was build and upgraded from He111C. He111J was a torpedo bomber of which 60-90 was build for the Kriegsmarine.
Bomb Bay Smoking Room Same thing ?
It is fashionable to regard the Versailles Treaty as provocatively harsh. This overlooks the context. Germany’s industrial base was untouched while the war had been fought through the primary industrial areas of France and Belgium, while Poland was a nation in the process of resisting a Soviet invasion. The participants in the Treaty had every reason to ensure that Germany could not resume fighting.
@Jewclaw
2 ай бұрын
Damn! I hadn’t thought about that
@gswombat
2 ай бұрын
And it was considerably less harsh than the treaty imposed on France after 1870.
People can be secretive. Secrets, like bombers pretending to be airliners, are, well, secret, not secretive.
🤫🧏
111th
Your "Luftwaffe" pronunciation sounds a little off. The vowel sound in the first syllable should sound like "goof" or maybe even "hoof", but not like "buff". Thanks for the enjoyable video. 👍
@CONTACTLIGHTTOMMY
5 күн бұрын
He does better with Lufthansa.
No inline 6 it was a inline V-12
The cylindrical ventral turret was probably extendable and would for start and landing be pulled in to be flush with the fuselage...