Perhaps the only German aircraft of World War II that could rival the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in popularity, the Heinkel He-111 may have begun its development as a civilian airliner, but it became one of the most feared bombers of the conflict.
With a fully glazed nose and large elliptical wings, the H-6 was the most widely produced variant of this famous bomber, serving in all theaters of World War II, bombing, torpedoing, mining, and reconnaissance roles. The lack of an effective replacement meant that these aircraft were forced to remain in service until the end of the war.
The Heinkel He-111 was a German twin-engined, all-metal, semi-sheathed low-wing aircraft of World War II. The prototype first flew on 17 November 1934. Three prototypes, designated V1, V2 and V3, were built for the Luftwaffe in 1934-1935, the last of which became the basis for the creation of a pre-production batch (He-111A-0), but it was unsuccessful due to the engines being too weak. This led to further research and experiments with other engines, which eventually led to the development of the He-111H, which was produced on a large scale from 1940. The power unit was two Junkers Jumo 211 engines with a capacity of 1,100 hp each (from the H-3 version). It was this version that was widely used during the Battle of Britain in 1940. During World War II, about a dozen versions of the He-111 were created, and each of them had its own modernizations. The most important, apart from the aforementioned "H", which also served as a torpedo bomber (He-111H-6) and, for example, as a target marking aircraft for other bombers (He-111 H-18), is the "P" version, using two Daimler-Benz DB 601A-1 engines and used at least during the September campaign. On the other hand, the most original version is the He-111Z "Zwilling" (German: twins), which is an example of an unusual "combination" of two He111 bombers. The task of this unusual machine was to tow a giant Me 321 glider or three Go-242 gliders. There was also a He-111Z2 version, which was supposed to carry 4 Henschel Hs-293 missiles, but it was not used in combat. In total, approximately 6,500 of all versions of the He-111 were produced. Technical data (He-111H-6 version): length: 16.4 m, wingspan: 22.6 m, height: 4 m, maximum speed: 440 km/h, rate of climb: 4.3 m/s, maximum flight range: 2,300 km, maximum ceiling 6,500 m, armament: 7.92 mm MG15 or MG81 machine guns, one 20 mm MG FF cannon and one 13 mm MG131 cannon, hangar - up to 2,000 kg of bombs.
