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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The
Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") was a night fighter that served with
the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II. A relatively
sophisticated design, the He 219 possessed a variety of innovations, including
Lichtenstein SN-2 advanced VHF-band intercept radar, also used on the Ju 88G
and Bf 110G night fighters. It was also the first operational military aircraft
to be equipped with ejection seats and the first operational German World War
II-era aircraft with tricycle landing gear. Had the Uhu been available in
quantity, it might have had a significant effect on the strategic night bombing
offensive of the Royal Air Force; however, only 294 of all models were built by
the end of the war and these saw only limited service. Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow was
the leading night fighter ace on the He 219. Modrow was credited with 33 of his
34 night air victories on the type.
Development
and production of the He 219 was protracted and tortuous, due to political
rivalries between Josef Kammhuber, commander of the German night fighter
forces, Ernst Heinkel, the manufacturer and Erhard Milch, responsible for
aircraft construction in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM the German
Aviation Ministry). The aircraft was also complicated and expensive to build;
these factors further limited the number of aircraft produced.
When
engineer Robert Lusser returned to Heinkel from Messerschmitt, he began work on
a new high-speed bomber project called P.1055. This was an advanced design with
a pressurized cockpit, twin ejection seats (the first to be planned for use in
any combat aircraft), tricycle landing gear featuring a nose gear that
rotated its main strut through 90° during retraction (quickly orienting the
nosewheel into the required horizontal position for stowage within the nose,
only at the very end of the retraction cycle) to fit flat within the forward
fuselage, and remotely controlled, side-mounted FDSL 131 defensive gun turrets
similar to those used by the Messerschmitt Me 210. Power was to be provided by
two of the potentially troublesome, dual-crankcase DB 610 "power
system" engines then under development, weighing on the order of about
11⁄2 tonnes apiece, producing (2,200 kW/2,950 hp) each, delivering excellent
performance with a top speed of approximately 750 km/h (470 mph) and a 4,000 km
(2,500 mi) range with a 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) bomb load.
The
RLM rejected the design in August 1940 as too complex and risky. Lusser quickly
offered four versions of the fighter with various wingspans and engine choices
in order to balance performance and risk. At the same time, he offered the
P.1056, a night fighter with four 20 mm cannon in the wings and fuselage. The
RLM rejected all of these on the same grounds in 1941. Heinkel was furious and
fired Lusser on the spot.
About
the same time as Lusser was designing the P.1055, Kammhuber had started looking
for an aircraft for his rapidly growing night fighter force. Heinkel quickly
re-designed the P.1055 for this role as the P.1060. This design was similar in
layout but somewhat smaller and powered by two of the largest displacement (at
44.5 litres/2,700 cu. in.) single-block liquid-cooled aviation engines placed
in mass production in Germany, the DB 603 inverted V12 engine. As designed by
Heinkel, these engines' nacelle accommodations featured annular radiators
similar to the ones on the Jumo 211-powered Junkers Ju 88A, but considerably
more streamlined in appearance, and which, after later refinement to their
design, were likely to have been unitized as a Heinkel-specific Kraftei engine
unit-packaging design. Nearly identical-appearance nacelles, complete with
matching annular radiators, were also used on the four prototype He 177B
prototype airframes built in 194344, and the six ordered prototypes of
Heinkel's He 274 high-altitude strategic bombers with added turbochargers. The
early DB 603 subtypes had poor altitude performance, which was a problem for
Heinkel's short-winged design, but Daimler had a new "G" subtype of
the DB 603 powerplant meant to produce 1,400 kW (1,900 PS) take-off power
apiece under development to remedy the problem. Heinkel was sure he had a
winner and sent the design off to the RLM in January 1942, while he funded the
first prototype himself. The RLM again rejected the He 219, in favour of new Ju
88- and Me 210-based designs.
Construction
of the prototype started in February 1942 but suffered a serious setback in
March, when Daimler said that the DB 603G engine would not be ready in time.
Instead, they would deliver a 603A engine with a new gear ratio to the propellers,
as the DB 603C with the choice of using four-blade propellers, as the
similarly-powered Fw 190C high-altitude fighter prototypes were already
starting to use into early 1943, with the DB 603. DB 603 engines did not arrive
until August 1942 and the prototype did not fly until 6 November 1942. When
Kammhuber saw the prototype on 19 November, he was so impressed that he
immediately ordered it into production over Milch's objections. Milchwho had
rejected the He 219 in Januarywas enraged.
Stability
problems with the aircraft were noted but Heinkel overcame these by offering a
cash prize to engineers who could correct them. Further changes were made to
the armament during the development of the prototype He 219V-series. The dorsal
rear defensive gunsmounted atop the fuselage and firing directly rearward from
a fixed, internally mounted, rear-facing dorsal "step" position, at a
point just aft of the wing trailing edge were removed due to their
ineffectiveness. The forward-firing armament complement of the aircraft was
increased to two Mauser MG 151/20 20 mm autocannon in the wing roots, inboard
of the propeller arcs to avoid the need for gun synchronizers, with four more
MG 151/20 autocannon mounted in the ventral fuselage tray, which had originally
ended in a rearwards-facing "step" similar to and located directly
under the deleted rear dorsal "step" this rearwards-facing feature
was also deleted for similar reasons. The A-0 model featured a bulletproof
shield, that could be raised in the front interior cockpit, hiding the entire
bottom portion of the windscreen, providing temporary pilot protection and
leaving a sighting slot by which the gunsight could be aimed at a bomber.
Production prototypes were then ordered as the He 219 A-0 and quickly progressed
to the point where V7, V8 and V9 were handed over to operational units in June
1943 for testing.
The
earlier prototypes, with four-blade propellers for their DB 603 engines (also
used on the Fw 190C prototypes, with the same DB 603 engine) had blunt,
compound-curvature metal nose cones also used for production-series He 219A
airframes. The initial examples of these nose cones possessed cutouts for their
use with the quartet of forward-projecting masts for the Matratze 32-dipole
radar antennae on the noses of at least the first five prototypes, used with
the early UHF-band Lichtenstein B/C or C-1 radar installation. These early He
219V-series prototype airframes also had cockpit canopies that did not smoothly
taper aftwards on their upper profile, as on the later production He
219A-series airframes, but instead ended in a nearly hemispherically-shaped
enclosure. The "V4" (fourth) prototype, equipped with the earlier
canopy design, had a small degree of internal metal framing within the rearmost
hemispherical canopy glazing, apparently for a rear dorsal weapons mount or
sighting gear for the deleted fixed "step"-mount rearwards-firing
armament. The idea for the rear-facing dorsal and ventral "step"
features on the original He 219 fuselage design, for armament emplacement
locations was later carried into the May 1943 revised fuselage design, for what
became the Heinkel Amerikabomber design contract competitor, the He 277, for
its revised fuselage design to accommodate a tricycle undercarriage. The
Heinkel engineering department's Typenblatt general arrangement drawing for a
BMW 801E-powered, tricycle-gear He 277 Amerikabomber design show the early He
219 V-series' rearwards-facing "steps" being inherited by the He
277's revised fuselage design in similar locations on its aft fuselage. The
adoption of the pair of He 219 prototype rear-fuselage "step"
features relocated the ventral emplacement rearwards by two meters, to provide
space for the He 277's nosewheel configuration's seven-meter long bomb bay. The
adopted "step" locations provided for the Amerika Bomber's dorsal and
ventral, generally rearwards-firing aft fuselage turrets, with each turret
placed at the position of the "step" features, being armed with a
pair of MG 151/20 cannon apiece.
Milch
repeatedly tried to have the He 219 program cancelled and in the process,
Kammhuber was removed from office. Production ceased for a time, but was
restarted because the new Junkers Ju 388s were taking too long to get into
service.
The
He 219 had an auspicious combat debut. On the night of 1112 June 1943, Werner
Streib flew the V9 and shot down five bombers between 01:05 and 02:22 hours,
before crashing on landing. Claims have been made that, "In the next ten
days the three Heinkel He 219A-0 pre-production aircraft [shot] down a total of
20 RAF aircraft, including six of the previously "untouchable" de
Havilland Mosquito fighter-bombers. Greatly encouraged, Kammhuber continued to
press for immediate production." No record of corresponding Mosquito losses
or any documentary evidence exists that He 219 pilots claimed six Mosquitos.
The
first major production series was the He 219 A-0, although initially the
pre-production series, it matured into a long running production series, due to
numerous changes incorporated into the design, along with the cancellation of
several planned variants. Production problems as a result of Allied bombing in
March meant the A-0 did not reach Luftwaffe units until October 1943. The A-0
was usually armed with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots and up to
four 20 mm or 30 mm cannon in a ventral weapons bay. The first 1015 aircraft
were delivered with the 490 MHz UHF-band FuG 212 "Lichtenstein" C-1
radar with a 4 × 8-dipole element Matratze antenna array. 104 He 219 A-0s were
built until the summer of 1944, the majority of them at EHW (Ernst Heinkel
Wien) or Heinkel-Süd in Wien-Schwechat.
The
first planned version to reach production was the He 219 A-2 model, which had
longer engine nacelles containing extra fuel tanks, unitized 1670 PS DB 603AA
engines with higher critical altitude and often also two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108
cannon, as an offensive Schräge Musik upward-firing system completely contained
within the rear fuselage, with the cannons' muzzles even with the dorsal
fuselage surface. With Schräge Musik, the ventral weapons bay held two cannon
due to space limitations. The A-2 featured an updated, 90 MHz VHF-band
Telefunken FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar system, complete with its larger,
high-drag 4 × 2-dipole element Hirschgeweih aerials. It initially had a longer
minimum range than the C-1 radar, but had improved accuracy and resolution and
was also less vulnerable to chaff jamming, through the late summer of 1944. A
total of 85 He 219 A-2s were built until November 1944, most at EHR (Ernst
Heinkel Rostock) or Heinkel-Nord in Rostock-Marienehe (now Rostock-Schmarl).
The
He 219 was a capable fighter aircraft and the pilots were free to hunt down any
detected Allied bombers. Ground control sent the aircraft into the right area,
where the pilots took over and guided themselves towards the bombers with the
Lichtenstein VHF radar's information. The SN-2 radar's 4 km (3 mi) maximum
detection range was greater than the distance between the bombers. While the
performance of the A-2 was not extraordinaryapproximately 580 km/h (360 mph)
speedit was enough of an advance over the Messerschmitt Bf 110Gs and Dornier
Do 217Ns, for the crew to chase several bombers in a single sortie.
To
improve its ability to intercept the Mosquito, the He 219 had excess weight
removed. With some weapon and radio systems removed, the aircraft was able to
attain a speed of 650 km/h (400 mph). This version was given the designation
A-6. None of these were produced, but similar weight saving measures could be undertaken
at the unit level.
The
last major production version was the A-7 with improved, unitized DB 603E
engines. The A-7 typically had two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots
(inboard of the propeller arcs), two 20 mm MG 151/20 in the ventral weapons bay
and two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108s as rear-fuselage dorsal mount, upwards-firing
Schräge Musik offensive ordnance. Production of 210 aircraft was to start
November/December 1944, but the number produced is not known as original
documents have been lost or contained no sub-version number.
The
follow-on series to the He 219As in service was to be the He 219B fitted with
the new, but troublesome 1,864 kW (2,500 hp) Junkers Jumo 222A/B 24-cylinder
engines a multibank, liquid-cooled inline engine, with six rows of cylinder
blocks having four cylinders eachwhich would have allowed the He 219 to reach
700 km/h (440 mph), each of which were almost the same displacement in their
A/B (supercharged) and E/F (supercharged with intercoolers) versions and each
only very slightly heavier, compared to the Double Wasp radial engines in the
American P-61 night fighter. The He 219B wing was also to have had an increased
span of 22.06 m (72.38 ft), for better high altitude performance. The Jumo 222
did not reach production status, with just under 300 examples built in at least
three differing displacement sizes. Only a few test machines were ever fitted
for the engines; some additional airframes were built with the enlarged wing.
These examples were slated to fly with high-altitude versions of the standard
DB 603 powerplants in place of the troubled Jumo 222 multibank powerplants, but
only one or two test machines ever flew with them.
A
further adaptation would have been the He 219C, also intended to use the
B-series design's big wing and Jumo 222 powerplants as well as an all-new
fuselage of 17.15 m (56.27 ft), with a complete three-man Ju 388J cockpit
section forward, converted to accept the He 219A's standard nose gear layout
(the Ju 388 itself used the Ju 88's conventional gear design), the
Borsig-designed Hecklafette HL 131V "quadmount", hydraulic-powered
four-gun manned tail turret intended for later He 177A versions and the He
177B-5, as well as more than one Amerika Bomber strategic bomber design
competitor.[24] Day bomber and night fighter versions were proposed and metal
was cut for the project but, without the over-1,500-kW output Jumo 222 engines
getting out of their strictly experimental status, they never flew.
Paper
projects include the very-high-altitude He 219E with a vastly increased
wingspan of 28.5 m (93.5 ft) and 1,500 kW (2,000 PS) output rated DB 614
engines, which were apparently a further-uprated version of the never-produced
DB 603G inverted V12, capable of the desired 1,491 kW (2,000 hp) power output
level that Germany had so much trouble crafting into combat-reliable aviation
powerplants.
A
more reasonable project was the Hütter Hü 211, a design by Wolfgang Hütter that
took a standard He 219 fuselage and tail and added a long-span, high aspect
ratio wing of 24.55 m (80.54 ft) to create a fast, high altitude interceptor.
Since this design was also meant to be powered by the ill-fated Jumo 222 it
never flew, although work continued on two sets of wings until they were
destroyed by Allied bombing.
When
the war had ended in Europe, the U.S. Army Air Forces Intelligence Service, as
part of "Operation Lusty" (LUftwaffe Secret TechnologY), took control
of three He 219s at the Grove base of the 1st Night Fighter Wing
(Nachtjagdgeschwader 1) in Jutland, Denmark starting on 16 June 1945. These
aircraft were made flight-worthy by "Watson's Whizzers" and flown to
Cherbourg, France. He 219 A-2 Werknummer 290 202 was shipped to the United
States with 21 other captured German aircraft on board the British escort
carrier HMS Reaper, and was reassembled at Ford Field, Newark, New Jersey.
Werknummer
290 202 was given the foreign equipment number FE-614, and later T2-614. The
aircraft was flown to Freeman Field, Indiana for flight testing along with a
second of the three He 219s: a He 219 A-5 prototype, Werknummer 290 060 and
given the foreign equipment number FE-612. The fate of Werknummer 290 060 is
unknown. Following testing, He 219 A-2 Werknummer 290 202 was then moved to
Orchard Place Airport in Park Ridge, Illinois in 1946. It was stored in a
vacant aircraft factory and then transferred to the Smithsonian's National Air
Museum on 3 January 1949. Finally, the He 219 was crated and shipped to the
Smithsonian's Silver Hill, Maryland storage facility in early 1955.
He
219 A-2 Werknummer 290 202 is undergoing restoration in the collection of the
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., USA. The
fuselage has been put on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center by Dulles
Airport, however, the wings were not attached as of late August 2016. The wings
had been stored at the Paul Garber Facility in Silver Hill, Maryland. The
repainted wings were displayed during the 30 January 2016 open house in the
restoration hangar paint shack. As of 2016, the completely restored fuselage
and tail surfaces, along with the aircraft's partially restored DB 603 engines
and nacelles (possibly as Heinkel-designed specific, Kraftei unitized
powerplant installations) displayed nearby, can be seen displayed near the
museum's Dornier Do 335 and Arado Ar 234, the only surviving examples of each
aircraft existing in 21st century aviation museums anywhere, and which were
aircraft that accompanied WkNr. 290 202 across the Atlantic over 60 years ago.
By August 2014 the wing structure (without control surfaces fitted) had been
essentially restored, and was ready for the trip to the NASM's Udvar-Hazy shops
within its integral Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, to join the fuselage
and engine nacelles there, with replacement Hirschgeweih VHF-band radar antenna
components to be fabricated, based on a preserved example located in Europe and
loaned to the NASM for replication, as part of the ongoing restoration process.
In
April 2012, a previously unknown He 219 was salvaged from the sea bed, 100
meters from the beach, north of Hirtshals, Denmark. The remains are in several
pieces, but will undergo restoration and eventually be displayed at Aalborg,
Denmark. Although severely damaged and missing many parts, the remains of this
aircraft was preserved and then put on display at the Forsvars- og
Garnisonsmuseum in Aalborg, Denmark. In August 2015 it was announced that the
wreckage had been sold to an Austrian enthusiast for further restoration.
The
He 219 was the only piston-engined night fighter capable of facing the British
Mosquito on equal terms, given its speed, manoeuvrability and firepower, but it
never played a significant role in the war because the industry failed to make
it available in sufficient numbers.
He
219 A-0 - Initially used for pre-production aircraft but became first major
production version with 1,750 PS DB 603A engines, 104 built as of 30 November
1944,
He
219 A-1 - Proposed reconnaissance-bomber aircraft; project abandoned
He
219 A-2 - Similar to A-0 but extended engine nacelles with additional fuel
tanks, 1,670 PS DB 603AA engines, 85 built as of 30 November 1944
He
219 A-5 - Planned three-seat night fighter, only some prototypes known to have
been built from A-2 airframes
He
219 A-6 - Planned Mosquito-hunter, stripped-down version of the He 219 A-2,
armed with four 20 mm MG 151/20s
He
219 A-7 - Improved night fighter version, powered by two 1,800 PS DB 603E
engines, 210 ordered as of 30 November 1944
He 219 D-1 - He 219 A-7 airframes adapted for Jumo
213E engines, five known to be delivered in 194