He 111 with centreline pod

[rochie]

i watched a documentary on the history channel this morning about the battle of britain, they used footage from the movie of the same name and there was a He 111 with a pod slung underneath in front of the ventral gunner's position.
it looked like a finless bomb with a propeller on the front and had 2 square windows cut into the sides, it was painted like it was part of the airframe.
my first thought was it was a camera pod for inflight shots for the movie, i've looked for pics of aircraft with this pod from ww2 and come up blank, what do you guys think

 

[smg]

well the he 111 was a good mediom bommer just not good enogh to go all the way to the soviet union or england so yea its a good bommer

 

[Flyboy2]

I've never heard anything like that... their was a propeller in front right? Could that have possibly been to power the cameras, much like the ECM pods on an EA-6B Prowler? I'll look into it

 

[Micdrow]

Does any of these look like the item, from the book He-111 Part 2 by Kargeo. Sorry for the big picture but if I reduce the size quality is lost.

 

[MONDARIZ]

The BoB film used Spanish CASA 2.111 aircraft, not real Heinkel He 111. That might be significant when trying to solve this.

I don't think the film crew would have produced a mock-up external bomb, unless it was used and seen in the film (as far as i remember it was not).

The pod would either have been something the Spanich air force used (recon gear, external fuel tank), or something the film crew used, like a camera pod (which i find most likely).

 

[Graeme]

with a propeller on the front

How big was this propeller?

 

[rochie]

th prop wasnt very big, what made me think it was somthing to do with the filming of the movie was that the pod was painted like it was part of the airframe and had 2 square windows in the sides like you would for cameras,
no micdrow it didnt look like any of the above

 

[rochie]

i've found a picture though not a very good one see what you think

 

[smg]

http://www.thomasgenth.de/BoBHalle/He111H_1.jpg

 

[MONDARIZ]

Its not any type of weapon. The mount is way too flimsy.

My bet is still a camera pod for the movie production of BoB.

 

[rochie]

yes i agree mondariz

 

[MONDARIZ]

I also use another aviation forum, so I will take the question there.

 

[Denniss]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuI0gFUq3HY

BoB film sequence. It looks like only one He 111/Casa 2.111 has this "weapon".

 

[MONDARIZ]

After reading a few answers in the other forum i mentioned, it seems pretty certain that its a winch system for target towing.

The Spanish air force must have used them for this.

 

[rochie]

thats another possible solution mondriz thanks

 

[MONDARIZ]

Regarding the target tow.

If you look at the tail wheel and the tailplane, you can see what appear to be protection wires and their support.

By this stage, I'm pretty sure its related to target towing.

 

[Graeme]

Regarding the target tow. If you look at the tail wheel and the tailplane, you can see what appear to be protection wires and their support.

More visible in this shot, which also shows a similar 'bomb' toting CASA in the background...

By this stage, I'm pretty sure its related to target towing.

I agree with you, but initially thought it may be some form of smoke generator for the pyrotechnics department, but looking at the YouTube site posted by Denniss above, it appears that all the 'blazing' Heinkels have the smoke trailing from the engines (mostly port).

I can't find any mention of a dedicated tug version of the CASA 2.111. All references I have mention only the bomber, bomber-trainer, reconnaissance-bomber and troop transport versions. For reconnaissance, the cameras were internally mounted on the starboard side of the bomb-bay. One book does mention however, that apart from the versions mentioned it did carry out "other miscellaneous duties".

Seems an unusual(?) choice for a target tug for the Spanish in the late 50's and 60's. Surely even the Azor, Triana or Saetta would have been faster and wouldn't have required protective wire bracing?

 

[MONDARIZ]

Maybe if the towing was done by a civilian company (operating ex air force Casa aircraft). Then its unlikely the winch equipment would have been included in any official imformation on the casa.

My final guess (although im pretty sure about the towing) is a retractable radio aerial. I have seen these for HF radio on a catalina, although the winch and wire was inside the aircraft.