- Yes
- No
Background
Spoiler
The He 111 bomber successfully made its first flight in the spring of 1935 by Heinkel factory chief test pilot Gerhard. The aircraft had a reasonable design, solid structure, and good performance. Its series of modifications were active throughout World War II. After the war The Spanish Air Force also used it until the 1950s. The Heinkel He 111 V-1 prototype is a bomber with a cantilevered low wing, a semi-monocoque slender fuselage, and a transparent pilot-bomber nose. In 1936, the development of the He 111A series of bombers commenced, utilizing the V-3 prototype as a basis and equipped with two BMW V16-02 liquid-cooled engines, each generating 660 horsepower. During the spring of that year, two He 111A0 bombers were sent to the Luftwaffe for testing. Unfortunately, the results were underwhelming, as the aircraft displayed sluggish responsiveness and subpar performance. Consequently, the Luftwaffe declined to accept the initial batch of 10 production He 111A0s. Meanwhile, the Guangdong Air Force dispatched personnel to Germany for inspection. The German government advocated for the aircraft to the local government of Guangdong, securing an order for 10 planes. Six aircraft were subsequently delivered the following year. However, after the “Guangdong and Guangxi Incident,” the Central Air Force assumed control. In the early stages of the Sino-Japanese War, the aircraft was incorporated into the 19th Squadron of the 8th Air Force Group. Regrettably, due to a scarcity of spare parts, only three aircraft could be deployed, while the remaining three remained on standby. Towards the end of August 1937, these aircraft relentlessly bombed the Japanese military area in Shanghai. Nevertheless, on August 25, during a joint attack on Japanese warships at the Yangtze Estuary alongside Martin 139W C bombers from the 30th Squadron, they were shot down by Japanese aircraft due to a lack of coordination. The remaining He-111K planes were relocated to Hankou, where three of them were assembled into one for liaison purposes. On October 1st, Japanese planes launched a raid on Hankou, prompting an alarm at Wangjiadun Airport. The singular He-111 returned from its mission, but it was mistakenly believed to have been downed by a Japanese aircraft. No. 1902, the sole surviving aircraft, was disarmed. Subsequently, it was transferred to China Airlines for temporary utilization on February 25, 1943. It was assigned the designation of the No. 2 plane and employed for instructional and logistical purposes. The Chinese character “中” was adorned on the body of the aircraft. Tragically, it met with an accident during its departure from Kunming on December 23, 1944.
Technical Data
Specifications
Length - 16.39 m
Wingspan - 22.6 m
Height - 3.4 m
Empty Weight - 5800 kg
Gross Weight - 8400 kg
Engine - 2 x BMW V16-02 (447 kW each)
Max Speed - 304 km/h
Service Ceiling - 8400 m
Range - 900 km
Crew - 1 Pilot, 3 gunners (Frontal gunner is also a bombardier)
Armament
1 x 7.62mm of unknown type in nose turret
1 x 7.62mm of unknown type in ventral turret
1 x 7.62mm of unknown type in dorsal turret
(Presumably Mg 15)
Up to 400 kg in bombs
Images
Sources
Spoiler
Book “Encyclopedia of Chinese Aircraft Vol 1.” - Page 91 & 92
Book “a history of chinese aviation” - Page 136