Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms Space By Flag By Year By Tag

Heinkel He 100

1938 WORLD WAR 2

History of Heinkel He 100

Heinkel Aeroconglomerate is known for its contributions to the design and production of Luftwaffe bombers during World War II, and it is also in the business of designing and developing fighter jets. Notable entries include the "He 112" and "He 280" (detailed elsewhere on this site), the latter being a jet fighter prototype. In the years leading up to the war, the company worked to develop a new, state-of-the-art front-line fighter, the "He 100". The aircraft was a promising high-performance solution, but was ultimately ignored due to the Luftwaffe's existing commitment to the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

Added to this was the general availability during the war of Daimler-Benz's famous DB601 series of inline engines, which powered the Bf 109 as well as the Messerschmitt Bf 110 in heavy fighter form.

Nonetheless, the He 100 project was carried out by Heinkel, part of a private company with limited support from the German Aviation Ministry (RLM). The development program for the He 100 produced a total of 19 aircraft, with possibly as many as six pre-production forms to follow - although none of the airframes survived the war.

It was valued as a propaganda tool and became known as "He 113" on the eve of World War II.

The He 100 V5 was built to He 100 V4 specifications and first flew in November 1938, but the changes implemented resulted in the overall "He 100C" branch. In February 1939, the He 100 V6 followed, but was used more as an engine test bed.

The cooling system of the He 100 V7 was modified and arrived in May 1939, fully equipped with weapons, according to sources. Still, as the closest thing to a fully functional fighter, the aircraft was stripped of its combat worth and put to high-speed testing for the rest of its life.

100 V9 ??models were used for crash testing.

At the time of its introduction, the He 100 was one of the most powerful military fighter jets in the world, with extraordinary speed and ample firepower. However, the serious problem with the He 100 program seems to be the availability of the Daimler-Benz DB601 series inline engine, as it is used not only in the competition Bf 109 fighters, but also in the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters (twin-engine designs start with Adaptation makes things worse).

As a result, the Luftwaffe moved the war forward and relied heavily on both aircraft designs (the upcoming Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter, which, in the story, relied on an air-cooled radial engine).

In addition to engine usability, the design had cooling issues and chassis sag issues that were never addressed in testing.

For a short period of time, Heinkel had hoped to use Junkers Jumo 211 series in-line engines for improvement on its He 100. However, the route is fraught with all kinds of challenges that make this conversion unaffordable, especially for a fighter jet designed specifically to fit Daimler-Benz.

Additionally, the Juno 211 soon faced its own usability issues.

As mentioned before, on the eve of World War II, the He 100 fighter was featured in the Third Reich's propaganda program "He 113" and in "action" photography, while also being touted as a three-view and perspective view, aimed at Demonstrate German ingenuity in utilizing the latest advances in the development of military fighter jets. The He 113 was really nothing more than a He 100D-1 rebuilt for promotional purposes.

His success in this role was limited, although British intelligence did classify him and attempt to assign various performance and structural values ??to unproven designs.

The design of the He 100 was sold to ally Japan, who were impressed with the type, but the war in Europe undermined any plans to provide the equipment needed for mass production. The Soviet Union purchased six He 100 airframes for further research.