Heinkel He-121 Stratospheric Fighter

[sequoiaranger]

Though I'm not going to really start this (cut plastic, etc.) until the New Year, I have been thinking about this and planning a bit. My old (and rare) Faller 1/100 He-111, a dastardly rendition of a He-111, will become a 1/72 experimental high-altitude research aircraft turned into a "large" fighter originally meant to ply the skys at high altitudes to accompany the Ju 86P (specialized high-altitude bomber/recon) over Britain. The Japanese will purchase some for their own research into the jet streams that pour over Japan, and develop a stop-gap B-29 interceptor from it. Here is a preliminary look at it--



The long wings are from a U-2. I will round off the edges. The fuselage size (from the Faller 1/100 He-111) is about like a fat Bf-110. The nose will be solid with a custom engine. It will have a larger vert stab (from my He-119). Pilot will be dressed looking like a deep-sea diver. Underneath will be a supercharger/scoop setup from a Fw-190 V18, and likely WGr. 21 mortar tubes to supplement wing gun pods. It will have He-70 landing gear. It is intended to look 1939-futuristic, but will be being used 1944 in Japanese livery.

[PR19_Kit]

My kind of aeroplane! 

Yes, sir, that should be REALLY something when you get into it, wonderful idea. 

[dumaniac]

yes - looking interesting

[The Wooksta!]

Might it not have been easier to start with an He 70?  A DB603 from an Italeri Do 217N would be quite feasible, given that the DB603 was used in most of the Luftwaffe's high altitude prototypes.

Airmodel did a vacform conversion for the Revell He 219 that had the long span outer panels for the B series.  Might look more believable going for the shape that Siegfried Gunter went for post 1940 with the He 219 and the He 280 rather than the semi eliptical shape used pre war. 

[sequoiaranger]

Thanks for the comments!

>dumiac=  yes - looking interesting<  I hope so. The high-flying Ju-86P's went unmolested for years until a specially-stripped Spit shot one down over Egypt. The He-121 would not be easy meat, being highly manuverable at high altitudes with its large wingspan as Spits skid in the thin air.

>PR_19= My kind of aeroplane!<   Great, but how so? High altitude, new use of ancient kit, scale-o-rama?

>Wooksta=Might it not have been easier to start with an He 70?<

"Easy" isn't a relevant issue here. And for what I want to do, actually harder. I would need to cut off and replace the He-70 nose instead of just chopping off a "spinner" from the Faller He-111 nose. Actually my 1/100 He-111 is larger than a He-70. Incrementally, kind of like the Lockheed series of twin-engined, twin-tailed aircraft. Also, I wanted a slightly more modern, but similar look. More like a down-sized He-119.

>A DB603 from an Italeri Do 217N would be quite feasible, given that the DB603 was used in most of the Luftwaffe's high altitude prototypes.<

That was much later in the war (c.1942). Although supposedly a DB 603 prototype was used in a racing car in 1940, production of DB 603's didn't start until 1942, years after my time frame. Plus, I have "whiffed" an engine, an X-16" for my Heinkel, too!

>Airmodel did a vacform conversion for the Revell He 219 that had the long span outer panels for the B series.  Might look more believable going for the shape that Siegfried Gunter went for post 1940 with the He 219 and the He 280 rather than the semi eliptical shape used pre war.<

"Semi-elliptical shape"?? For what? The fuselage cross-section? Wings? The He-280 fuselage had an elliptical cross-section, though the He-219 was more boxy. If you mean the wings, the He-121 will not have the characteristic Gunter Bros semi-elliptical wing that the He-70, He-119, He-112, He-100, He-111 had. The wing will look more like the He-177 wing (looking more like the He-219 anyway).

Also, you miss three points: one is that I relish using ancient kits, and wanted to use my old 1960's Faller kit for something good. Two is that I LIKE the look of the early Gunter Bros series of Heinkel products, and you will find several in my whif inventory (Gallery--He-151, "Aichi" 119, He-280, He-113, He-211). The He-121 will fit in nicely. Three is that the He-121 is INTENDED to be an early-war use (pre-war design, obviously) aircraft, bought by Japan for research, then "forced" into combat later in the war when high-altitude Allied bombers appeared over the Japanese Homeland.

PS--Wooksta--liking Tempests as you obviously do, did you see my "Henley"?

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,30284.0.html

[PACOPEPE]

Very interesting concept. I love high-altitude aircrafts.

This reminds me a lot to Me P.1.091.


Regards
Fran

[Doc Yo]

 A wiser modeler than I once said " Any aircraft can be improved by longer wings."

Will keep an eye on this one-good luck with the build, Ranger.

[sequoiaranger]

>pacop=Very interesting concept. I love high-altitude aircrafts. This reminds me a lot to Me P.1.091.<

Was that an offshoot of the Bv/Me-155?? Looks kinda like it.

>DokYo= A wiser modeler than I once said " Any aircraft can be improved by longer wings."<

SOME characteristics can be improved with longer wings, but roll rate is certainly not one of them! At high altitudes, however, the longer wings "grip" the air better than shorter wings.

[PR19_Kit]

>PR_19= My kind of aeroplane!<   Great, but how so? High altitude, new use of ancient kit, scale-o-rama?

Because it's got long wings and flies waaaaay up there! 

And I'm the one who said about 'Any aircraft can be improved etc etc' In my case it's not always the performance issues that improve them, but they always LOOK better with longer wings.

That Me P1091 was the original scheme for the Me/Bv155, before they fitted the outer wing radiators. But the time frame of the piccies is a little screwed as by the time a Rainbow would have been flying over the Reich the later version, the Bv 155C, would have been available, and that was a bird of a different feather.

[The Wooksta!]

Would it though?  The fans of the Napkinwaffe will put any projekt, no matter how ridiculous, outlandish, or unlikely, into 'in service' markings.  This is one of the reasons that I gave up on Luftwaffe 46.

Craig, I did see the Henley and whilst I appreciate and respect the hard work that went into it, I didn't like it.  It just didn't speak to me, if that makes any sense?

[Doc Yo]

Sequoia Ranger wrote

SOME characteristics can be improved with longer wings, but roll rate is certainly not one of them! At high altitudes, however, the longer wings "grip" the air better than shorter wings.

Oh, certainly-I was speaking purely aestheticly, though  I think I know what you're talking about-the Westland
Welkin suffered from something similar, didn't it?

[sequoiaranger]

I forgot to post this "starting" pic here, but think it is somewhere else on the forum. Anyway, here are the basics, plus the U-2 wing:



I'm going to use the ventral scoop and exhaust setup (modified, of course) of the Fw-190 V18 (different, but similar prop and spinner).

[sotoolslinger]

Nice one Tree I am looking forward to this one.

[sequoiaranger]

My choice of the U-2 wing for the He-121 was appropriate, especially given its high-altitude mission, but the wing would have butted up against the fuselage with a "boring" and UN-Heinkel-like joint (left). Heinkel was known for the "curvy" wing root that was narrower in chord than the wing itself (right). So...I had to "Heinkel" the wing as shown here:



Aha! That's more like it! The photos above and below were taken on top of the He-70 wing for contrast, and the tip of the He-70 wing will go on the squared-off outermost tip of the U-2 wing for additional "Heinkel-izing"

[jcf]

Very cool, Craig.

Have you seen this funky mid-30s Focke Wulf project for a long-range, high-altitude bomber with pressurized and unpressurized flight decks?

I love the port hole arrangement on the high-altitude flight deck.