US Military Intelligence report, 1942: He112 with DB601a

[yellownose]

Hello,

on archive.org I found this:

FM 30-35 Military Intelligence, Identification Of German Aircraft 1942 : United States. War Department. General Staff : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

FM 30-35 Basic Field Manual, Military Intelligence, Identification Of German Aircraft 1942-03-11 (OBSOLETE) This manual containing illustrations with...

archive.org

Title: "War Departement. Basic Field Manual. Military Intelligence. Identification Of German Aircraft. March 11, 1942"

So as you see, a He112 "done right".
The western allies had their spies and "collaborators" everywhere in the Reich, the most prominent one being Admiral Canaris, so I don't think that "they just got it wrong". So this aircraft must have been build. Whether it was used - that is the question. It probably is just a prototype. On the next page they list the He113 as an "interceptor".
So all online sources only list the He112 as the "1935 version" with the Jumo210G. But can we be sure that nobody used the 1942 version? The information on the Romanians is always kind of patchy. Maybe they had a couple of them? What do you think how this version would have fared as a fighter or a fighter bomber?

 

[SaparotRob]

Wasn't that the non-existing propaganda machine that was invented to screw around with RAF minds?

 

[yellownose]

This was the He113, I could not find anything better on this aircraft than the Polish wikipedia article:


In 1938, assistant to the Air Attaché of the American embassy in Berlin, major Arthur W. Vanaman was invited to visit the Heinkel factory, where he accidentally noticed a new, very fast plane, as he wrote in a later report. Vanaman knew that it was none of the then existing German fighters ( Bf 109 and He 112), but he saw him so briefly that he was unable to describe him accurately. This " accidental " meeting with a mysterious fighter was carefully arranged by the German side. The report on the new aircraft alerted the French and English intelligence, which began intensive efforts to obtain more information about it.

In April 1939 International Aviation Federation announced that a specially modified version of the He 112 U fighter broke the world record by flying at a maximum speed of 746.606 km / h. A short, indistinct movie of a flying plane was made public, and several carefully selected photos of it ( on which the plane was obstructed by people standing around it ), which, however, suggested that it was not He 112, but some new, previously unknown plane.

In 1940, after Norwegian campaign, German aviation magazine "Der Adler" has published a number of photos showing a new aircraft that has been identified as He 113 " Super Verfolgungsjäger ". A comparison of photos of a new aircraft with photos of a mysterious aircraft that broke the world record at maximum speed in 1939 showed that it was the same design. The magazine presents a number of photos of the new aircraft, on which armament was strong at that time - a cannon in the propeller hub and one heavy machine gun in each wing. In the next issues of " Adler " more photos of the new aircraft in the colors of different units or in the version of the night fighter[ 1].

The RAF staff reacted very nervously to information about the new German plane. It was estimated that it was faster than Spitfire, and also better armed ( in some reports three plots of 20 mm ) were mentioned. Pilots were advised to be careful in clashes with the new fighter and even avoid fighting him.

The first reports of the introduction of a new fighter appeared on May 29, 1941, when a group of Hurricane was suddenly attacked by very fast planes, which after a sudden attack quickly disappeared. Re-reports appeared in time battles for England. Pilots reported on small groups of German aircraft that " lurked " on a large ceiling to unexpectedly attack an English fighter and quickly withdraw from the battlefield. Some pilots even reported shooting down this plane, but never found any of its remains that would allow him to be identified[ 1].

The hearing of the downed German pilots did not give any results, because almost none said a word about the new " super-thinker ". Only one pilot mentioned that it is a very difficult machine to pilot and preferred his proven Bf 109 to it.

While the Battle of Britain was still running out of reports about the perception of the new plane, until around 1942 they were completely over. The RAF command came to the conclusion that due to unknown construction difficulties, the aircraft never entered serial production and was eventually decommissioned.

After the surrender of the Third Reich and the capture of Heinkel's archives, they discovered that in fact He 113 never existed.

The plane that broke the world record at maximum speed was named He 100, but it did not enter serial production. Later, it was decided to use it to misinform English and French. One, painted plane differently, was photographed many times and presented as a new fighter. His alleged appearance during the Battle of Britain was probably due to RAF reports, which suggested to English pilots that they could expect a new type of aircraft to enter the fight. In the heat of battle, there was probably a mistake and pilots for He 113 took " normal " Bf 109. As early as February 1941, the RAF command ignored a report from the British embassy in Belgrade saying, that according to secret sources, He 113 never existed and was created only for disinformation purposes.

So there you go. But I don't think the He112 listed above would have been impossible to build. It's comparable to the E-series Bf109's with the same engine. It might just have been build for exports. But what's also noteworthy is the much greater range.

 

[tomo pauk]

Hello,

on archive.org I found this:

FM 30-35 Military Intelligence, Identification Of German Aircraft 1942 : United States. War Department. General Staff : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

FM 30-35 Basic Field Manual, Military Intelligence, Identification Of German Aircraft 1942-03-11 (OBSOLETE) This manual containing illustrations with...

archive.org

Title: "War Departement. Basic Field Manual. Military Intelligence. Identification Of German Aircraft. March 11, 1942"

View attachment 724413

So as you see, a He112 "done right".
The western allies had their spies and "collaborators" everywhere in the Reich, the most prominent one being Admiral Canaris, so I don't think that "they just got it wrong". So this aircraft must have been build. Whether it was used - that is the question. It probably is just a prototype. On the next page they list the He113 as an "interceptor".
So all online sources only list the He112 as the "1935 version" with the Jumo210G. But can we be sure that nobody used the 1942 version? The information on the Romanians is always kind of patchy. Maybe they had a couple of them? What do you think how this version would have fared as a fighter or a fighter bomber?

Picture is that of the He 100 - a whole new aircraft, not a version of the He 112. The DB-601-powered prototype of He 112 is here. There was no '1942 version of the He 112', the fighter was long gone from production lines by then.

As how good would've been (the He 112 + DB 601A) - probably no worse than Bf 109 with same engine, and more forgiving than Bf 109 on landing and taking off.

So there you go. But I don't think the He112 listed above would have been impossible to build. It's comparable to the E-series Bf109's with the same engine. It might just have been build for exports. But what's also noteworthy is the much greater range.

Is there a German-language source about the range of the DB-powered He-112 prototype? Fuel tanks - self sealing or not? Actual fuel tankage?

 

[yellownose]

The drawing is a He-110. But I think it's a bit slow for a He-110. It also categorizes this one as a fighter, and the He-113 as an interceptor. So I guess somebody did get something wrong, because for me both things don't fit.
Unfortunately I don't have anything on the He-112, I found this document by accident while looking for new books on archive.org .

 

[tomo pauk]

The drawing is a He-110. But I think it's a bit slow for a He-110. It also categorizes this one as a fighter, and the He-113 as an interceptor. So I guess somebody did get something wrong, because for me both things don't fit.

He 100, not 110
US inteligece did something wrong, falling for the German ploy that He 113 is an in-service fighter. They also applied US nomenclature - like 'fighter' and 'interceptor' - a forced distinction in roles that Luftwaffe couldn't care less.

Unfortunately I don't have anything on the He-112, I found this document by accident while looking for new books on archive.org .

German-language Wikipedia is a good start, I'll also recommend the books 'He 112 in action' and Jagdeinsitzer He 112 by H-P Dabrowski

 

[Delft]

Hello,

on archive.org I found this:

FM 30-35 Military Intelligence, Identification Of German Aircraft 1942 : United States. War Department. General Staff : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

FM 30-35 Basic Field Manual, Military Intelligence, Identification Of German Aircraft 1942-03-11 (OBSOLETE) This manual containing illustrations with...

archive.org

Title: "War Departement. Basic Field Manual. Military Intelligence. Identification Of German Aircraft. March 11, 1942"

View attachment 724413

So as you see, a He112 "done right".
The western allies had their spies and "collaborators" everywhere in the Reich, the most prominent one being Admiral Canaris, so I don't think that "they just got it wrong". So this aircraft must have been build. Whether it was used - that is the question. It probably is just a prototype. On the next page they list the He113 as an "interceptor".
So all online sources only list the He112 as the "1935 version" with the Jumo210G. But can we be sure that nobody used the 1942 version? The information on the Romanians is always kind of patchy. Maybe they had a couple of them? What do you think how this version would have fared as a fighter or a fighter bomber?

Nice find, thanks !