flettner-265438 views
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Heinkel He 177436 viewsThe He 177 was a try to devellop a real strategic bomber. The idea to combine two motors on one propeller lead to heavy problems. Due to this and other misstakes in construction, the plane became a deadly trap for many crews and got the the nick-name "Lighter of the Reich". The He 177 saw first operational service in 1942 and was mainly used for maritime warfare in the west. In the mid of 1944 87 He 177 flew an attack on Velikye Luki at the east-front. At the end of the war one machine was modified to carry a german atomic bomb.
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Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe433 viewsThe Me 262A-1a "Schwalbe" ("Swallow") was the first production model of the Me 262. It was produced with four Mk 108 30mm cannon mounted in the nose, in its role as an interceptor, a role that it performed with great promise. it came into the battle far too late, when the Allied air forces had reached formidable capacity; secondly, its engines were a constant source of trouble, frequently failing after no more than 12 hours; the Me 262A-2a "Sturmvogel" ("Stormbird") was reconfigured to carry two 550lb bombs, still retaining the four cannon. A further refinement, Me 262A-2a/U1 had two of the cannon removed to provide space for a bomb-aiming device, and Me 262A-2/U2 carried a prone bombardier in the nose section. Thus, for much of the aircraft's brief combat life, it was used against the wrong type of targets, with even less effect than if it had been used as an interceptor.
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focke achgelis fa223431 views
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Heinkel He 100431 viewsDisappointed by the loss of the Luftwaffe's fighter orders to BFW and it's Bf 109 and the failure of the He 112, Heinkel set out to build a lighter and faster fighter that was also cheaper and easier to build. Even though the He 100 broke several world speed records, the RLM was solidly supportive of the Bf 109 and failed to order the He 100 into production. Six prototypes were eventually sold to the Soviet Union and three He 100D-0 went to Japan. The three He 100D-0's being armed with two MG 17 and a 20mm MG/FF. The remaining 12 He 100D-1 fighters were used to form a Heinkel-Rostock factory defense unit
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Heinkel He 116431 viewsThis aircraft was designed in 1936 as a high altitude aircraft for Lufthansa. The specified Hirth powerplants were not available and the V1 flew in 1937 on lower rated engines. Eight A-series mail carriers were built followed by the He 116R with rocket boost. The He 116R later flew 6,214 (10,000km) on June 30, 1938 non-stop. Six B-0 were delivered to the Luftwaffe in 1938 as long range photo recon aircraft but their low speed, lack of pressurization and lack of armament made them too vulnerable to use in enemy airspace and these airframes spent the remainder of their careers doing photographic work over Germany.
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Arado Ar 68F429 viewsInitial deliveries of the Ar 68F were made to the Luftwaffe in the late summer of 1936. commencing with I/JG 134 'Horst Wessel'. By the outbreak of World War II most surviving Ar 68s had been relegated to advanced fighter trainer status with the Jagdflieger-schulen (fighter pilot schools).
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arado ar234424 viewsThe Ar-234 was originally conceived in early 1941 by an engineering team under Professor Walter Blume, director of the Arado aircraft company. Arado projected a maximum speed of 780 KPH (485 MPH), an operating altitude of almost 11,000 meters (36,000 feet), and a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles). A total of 210 Ar-234Bs and 14 Ar-234Cs were delivered to the Luftwaffe, but with Germany in chaos, only a handful ever got into combat. A final inventory taken on 10 April 1945 listed 38 in service, including 12 bombers, 24 reconnaissance aircraft, and 2 night fighters. These aircraft continued to fight in a scattered and ineffective fashion until Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. Some were shot down in air combat, destroyed by flak, sometimes their own, or bounced by Allied fighters when they came in to land.
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Fieseler Fi 156 Storch378 viewsThe Storch was first flown in 1936. The fabric-covered Storch observation monoplane served the German Forces throughout World War Two wherever the Germans saw combat. With ten times the life expectancy of the Bf 109 fighter, the Storch ("Stork") proved to be a rugged Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) airplane that gained the respect of all its pilots. Over 2,900 Fi 156s were produced. Today, more than 30 Fi 156s and their brethren have survived in Europe and North America, and about 20 are still capable of flying today.
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Focke-Wulf 187375 viewsThis plane was excellent when it appeared, but ignored in favor of the Bf110. The pilots in Norway were enthusiastic about its potential and demanded quantity production, but instead they were ordered to give the planes back to Focke-Wulf because they were only in inofficial use. Some Fw187 were also used in the aerial shooting school in Vaerlose, Denmark.
In the facility defense role, they shot down several aircraft. Remarkable was the great maneuvrability; the Rechlin test pilot Heinrich Beauvais was of the opinion that it circled comparable to the Bf109 and rolled only slightly slower than the Bf109, while spped and range were superior. But the disastrous (but good-looking) Me210 and Me410 design was preferred by the air ministry
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Messerschmitt Me 163B-1375 viewsAlthough the aircraft's two MK 108 30mm cannons were capable of downing a four-engine bomber with only three or four hits, the Komet's high speed, coupled with the cannons' slow rate of fire and short range made effective gunnery nearly impossible against the slow moving bombers. As a result, Me 163 pilots recorded a total of only nine kills. Although capable of reaching its service ceiling of 12,100 m (39,690 ft) in just under three-and-a-half minutes, the Me 163 carried only enough fuel for eight minutes of powered flight. An improved variant of the aircraft with a greater endurance and a tricycle landing gear, designated the Me 163 C, was also produced in small numbers before the war's end, but was not flown operationally.
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fl185372 views
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