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Twitch said:Uh, the main difference of the He 177 and the subsequent 274 and 277 was that the latter pair were conceived as high altitude bombers. The He 274 with an offensive load of 8,800 lbs. could reach 42,650 feet with a maximum altitude of 46, 920 feet. It could hit 360 MPH at 36,090 feet too. Range was 2,640 miles, less than the 177's 3,400 miles.
Like the He 274 the He 277 abandoned the problematic engine coupling and used four nacelles. The 277B-5/R2 was set up to hit 49,210 feet. Max speed was 354 MPH but range was 3,728 miles.
The He 277B-6/R1 could do 348 MPH, hit 43,960 feer but had a range of 4,475miles. Both models could 1,100 lbs of internal ordnance but were set up to carry 5,512 lbs of SC 2500 bombs, Henschel he 293 or 294 missiles or the FX 1400 Fritz X guided bombs externally.
Twitch said:Adler- They were on the right track with the Ju 86P in mid 1940- a little too late for quantity production. However an undetected photo recon sortie was flown at 41,000 in the summer during the BoB. Several Ju 86P-1s and P-2s were delivered to 2./Aufkl.gr.Ob.d.L in 1940 and some missions were flown over the British Isles.
They were powered by Jumo 207A-1 6-cylinder diesels. The original concept was as a bomber with a slow climb to over 39,000 feet and cruise at 215 MPH to target, drop to 32-33,000 feet, release 2,200 lbs. of ordnance and go back up to 37,000 for the return home.
Don't know why but they were only used and developed further as high altitude recon ships.
Henk said:I wonder if any He-177 survived the war as well. Did any?
FLYBOYJ said:I don't know guys, after reading all this (and having a maintainer's background) I think the HE.177/ 277 was just a giant pile of crap and would of been a nightmare to maintain!!! Maintenance wise i think it might of made the B-29 look like a Piper Cub!!!!!!
Matt308 said:I'm with you Flyboy. I think that my thread has come full circle. I too have a real world airworthiness background and think this plane was plagued by too many technical issues requiring their resolution in a very short time for the airplane to accomplish its intended mission. Doesn't mean I don't find the airplane as one of the most beatiful to have come out of the war though.
delcyros said:Original question belongs to whether or not this plane was promising.
I tend to disagree. The He-277 (and to a lesser degree the He-274) were technically interesting planes, worth mentioning. But by their time, the Luftwaffe had other needs than strategical bombers. Fighter and tactical bombers were urgently needed. They already developed V-1 and V-2, which to some degree could substitute the role of a strategical bomber for much lower costs. With the numerical superiority of first class piston A/C the allied had in this stage of war in mind, a new strategical bomber design is only justified in case it is either very fast (requiring jet propulsion) or flying extremely high or both.
DerAdlerIstGelandet said:I agree fully with you on what you are saying and I too am an aviation mechanic, I just believe that with eneogh time the He-177 could have turned into a fine aircraft.
Neilster said:They got them going quite well in the end but the development took so long that the strategic picture had completely changed and as has been already noted, they were no longer a good use of resources.
They were never popular with their crews too.
Cheers, Neilster
Henk said:I wonder if any He-177 survived the war as well. Did any?
Agreed, by the time they could of been working efficiently they war would of been over or as you said there would be no need for them because of the defensive situation.DerAdlerIstGelandet said:That I completely agree with, and as deylcros said by the time would have been fully up and running with out problems the strategic reasons had changed and there was no need for them either.