Heinkel He 113
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The Heinkel He 113 was a supposed Luftwaffe fighter aircraft of World War II, but which existed only as a propaganda and/or disinformation strategy.
In 1940 Joseph Goebbels publicised the fact that a new fighter was entering service with the Luftwaffe. The plan involved taking pictures of Heinkel He 100 D-1s at different air bases around Germany, each time sporting a new paint job for various fictional fighter groups. The pictures were then published in the press with the He 113 name, sometimes billed as night-fighters (even though they did not even have a landing light).
The aircraft also appeared in a series of "action shot" photographs in various magazines like Der Adler, including claims that it had proven itself in combat in Denmark and Norway. One source claims that the aircraft were on loan to the one Luftwaffe staffeln in Norway for a time, but this might be a case of the same misinformation working many years later.
It's unclear even today exactly who this effort was intended to impress —foreign air forces or Germany's public— but it seems to have been a successful deception. British intelligence featured the aircraft in AIR 40/237, a report on the Luftwaffe that was completed in 1940. There the top speed was listed as 390 mph (628 km/h). It also states the wing was 167 square feet (15.5 m²) and it noted that the aircraft was in production. Reports of 113s encountered and shot down were listed throughout the early years of the war.
[edit] Specifications (He 113/He 100D-1)
General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
- Length: 8.20 m (26 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan: 9.42 m (30 ft 11 in)
- Height: 3.60 m (11 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 14.5 m² (156 ft²)
- Empty weight: 2,070 kg (4,563 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 2,500 kg (5,512 lb)
- Powerplant: 1× Daimler-Benz DB 601M liquid-cooled supercharged V12 engine, 876 kW (1,175 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 668 km/h (362 knots, 416 mph)
- Range: 900 km (486 nm, 560 mi)
- Service ceiling 11,000 m (36,090 ft)
Armament
- 1 × 20 mm (0.78 in) MG FF cannon
- 2 × 7.92 mm (0.30 in) MG 17 machine guns
[edit] References
- Dabrowski, Hans-Peter. Heinkel He 100, World Record and Propaganda Aircraft. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-88740-345-X.
- Donald, David, ed. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
- Green, William. "Heinkel's Hoaxer". RAF Flying Review, Feb. 1963.
- Heinkel, Ernst. Stormy Life. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1956.
[edit] External links
- Heinkel He 110
- Additional details on the P.1076 from Don Johnson's Luft'46 site
- Public Records Office
- AIR 40/237
- Luftwaffe Resource Group
- He 100 page contains a three view of the D-1 and some basic information
- This page includes a description similar to that from The Encyclopedia, as well as links to a number of images of the aircraft.
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