Heinkel He-100 and He-112 Fighters

[Barry Krell]

I was thinking the more common schemes seen on the Buchons but that's pretty cool!

[Arc3371]

Probably not the Buchon scheme you had in mind but I dont know how to make NMF

[Barry Krell]

That's more like it! 

NMF?  Some decal instructions I've seen use a graduated grey fill to suggest it.

[sequoiaranger]

The ridiculously short wings of the He-112 almost cry out for such a treatment---I love the elliptical wings. Now you have a "Westland Whirlwind" kind of pugnacious fighter (or Fw-187). Do this whif, PLEASE!

[Arc3371]

And a HS12Z version (not to scale)

[sequoiaranger]

My next project after the current Douglas Decimator **MAY** be this concoction.

I have always loved the Heinkel He-100 and felt that Heinkel was "abused" by the RLM and the He-100's potential was wasted on the shortsightedness of the RLM.

The backstory is still forming, but the essense is that Heinkel was prohibited (offically) from making fighters for the Luftwaffe, but was allowed to build aircraft for export. Italians flying with the Corpo Aero Italiano against Britain are allowed to "lease" some He-100's to test them in battle conditions. The Italians loved them! (Course, who wouldn't if the alternatives were the biplane CR-42 or the lukewarm G.50?)

Thus, Heinkel goes back to the drawing board and combines features of several Heinkel products to make a suitable export fighter. Unable to use Diamler-Benz engines (reserved for Messerschmitt fighters), he goes back to the Junkers Jumos that powered the He-112, uses a semi-112 radiator setup, and uses the new wing developed for the He-280 jet fighter project. The resultant Heinkel fighter is a little larger than the 112 or 100, and since Heinkel figured his luck couldn't get any worse, approved the heretofore "unlucky" number of 113 for the "new" fighter and sells dozens to the Italians for use in the Mediterranean (origin of the designation He-113M). Some Luftwaffe pilots get ahold of them, too, once the DAK arrives in Afrika.

My He-113M will have the "typical" German desert camo and markings, with JG 27's native-and-Africa emblem.

Modelwise, it will be Aichi Nanzan-based (shortened slightly) with Mustang tail (same shape as He-100 but slightly larger), He-100 turtledeck (widened), and He-280 wings (Hey! Where did the Nanzan go??   ). Armament will be like FW-190 (two wing-root 20mm, two wing 20mm) but no cowl guns (maybe).  I think I got a winner here!



I was originally going to use a semi-He-100 canopy made from an Ar-96 (see "Swap Shop", and below), but now am going with the He-162-style tilt-up canopy that also appeared on my He-113T.

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=2264

That will "keep it in the family", so to speak. It's still a Heinkel canopy, and I have one "in stock".

[sequoiaranger]

Doctored He-100 pic for He-113M

[ysi_maniac]

What will you do with those estrange evaporation radiators in wings? I am very interested in an evolved version of He-100 too.

[elmayerle]

Why would anyone use evaporative cooling on a combat aircraft?  That's just greatly enlarging the "critical hit" zone.  I can see going with a better radiator installation (didn't the combat, as opposed to record-breaking, version have a radiator instead of evaporative cooling?

[sequoiaranger]

>What will you do with those estrange evaporation radiators in wings? I am very interested in an evolved version of He-100 too.<

Like Heinkel eventually did with both the Heinkel 119 and 100 that featured evaporative cooling, I opted for a conventional radiator setup for my He-113. Undoubtedly the extra frontal area of the radiator would reduce maximum speed, but the He-100 D (military combat version) had about 60mph on the contemporary Bf-109, so even if there was 30-40 mph lost with the radiator installation, it still would out-perform the Messerschmitt. My He-113 is also using a Jumo 211 engine (since the DB 601 used in the Bf-109 was declared off-limits to Heinkel) that, at the same time as the DB 601's 1000 hp, was cranking out 1350 hp. Therefore the increased horsepower would help compensate for the additional drag.

>Why would anyone use evaporative cooling on a combat aircraft?  That's just greatly enlarging the "critical hit" zone.<

The evaporative cooling scheme allowed better streamlining resulting in higher speed, and was considered a reasonable trade-off for the complexity and vulnerability of the system. I think the idea was that *IF* the aircraft got hit, the low-pressure system would not drain out nearly as fast, allowing the aircraft longer in the air before the engine seized up. Of course the spread-out nature of the evaporative panels (panels in each wing and along the top of the rear fuselage) meant that hits that would normally NOT hit a conventional cooling system might damage the evaporative setup.

>I can see going with a better radiator installation (didn't the combat, as opposed to record-breaking, version have a radiator instead of evaporative cooling?<

Yes. It was found that the evaporative cooling system was fine for leisurely cruising, but could not reasonably keep up with the demands of a constantly straining engine (such as would be found in an aircraft in combat). Thus the semi-retractable conventional radiators found in both the He-119 and He-100. The radiators could be extended into the airstream for maximum cooling during the strain of take-off and climb, then retracted for decreased drag during the less-demanding cruise to the combat area. (Then extended again for combat??) Though innovative, the evaporative cooling system was one of those things that seemed great on paper, but wasn't as practical for combat aircraft as expected.

[rickshaw]

Makes me wonder if it wouldn't have been better then to have two cooling systems.  A conventional one for take-off/landing and combat and an evaporative one for cruising.  The decreased drag would ensure longer range, however that would be offset somewhat by the weight and complexity of the cooling system.  Personally I've never liked the idea of evaporative cooling systems in combat aircraft.  Too susceptible to damage in combat IMO.

[sequoiaranger]

Looking at the drawings of the Nanzan/He-113 that I had presented here, I just thought the nose of the real Nanzan didn't look as "pointy" as in the drawing. Sure enough, when I compared the Nanzan model to the drawing (taken from the Nanzan instruction sheet), the REAL/model Nanzan had a longer straight nose section, and the ogive was not constant, but curved down "faster" toward the spinner (as did the He-100/He-113). AHHHHH! Now the "new" drawing looks much closer to the He-100 look.



Here is the old one for comparison:



Maybe too subtle for some, but I think the less "pointy" look is MUCH better!

[MAD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cGC47uHwZk

M.A.D

[HoOmAn]

Hi!

What would a He112 with wings of a late-war Spitfire (cut away wing tips and without kink) and a bubble cockpit (for lower drag) look like?

Thanks,

HoOmAn

[Weaver]

Hi!

What would a He112 with wings of a late-war Spitfire (cut away wing tips and without kink) and a bubble cockpit (for lower drag) look like?

Thanks,

HoOmAn

Could probably make and photograph a mockup for you when I get home tonight - not promising though. The He-112's canopy is pretty much a bubble already.