Blitz for krieg

Exactly 85 years ago, 1 December 1932 for the first time took off the prototype of the Heinkel Not-70 Blitz (Lightning) high-speed passenger aircraft - the first aircraft of this class in Europe. The maximum speed of the vehicle was 360 km / h, which was significantly higher than the speed of most fighters of that time. The appearance of the Blitz once again demonstrated that Germany, despite the Versailles restrictions, continued to remain a leader in the field of aircraft manufacturing. In 1933, the aircraft set eight world speed records at various distances.

After Hitler came to power and the decision to revive the Luftwaffe, the Blitz was, of course, immediately converted into a fighting vehicle — a high-speed reconnaissance aircraft and a light bomber. Protective armament was installed on it, and the five-seat passenger cabin was converted into a bomb bay that contained an airborne camera and an 300 kg combat weapon. In total, 1933 of the Non-37 instance was built in 324-70, of which only 28 was in the original civilian version.

The baptism of fire "Blitz" took place during the Spanish Civil War, where in 1936 30 such vehicles were sent as part of the German volunteer legion "Condor". The following year, the German pilots handed them over to the Spaniards, and they themselves transferred to the newer twin-engine Dornier Do-17 bombers. By the end of the war, 12 Blitz survived. The last of them were written off in 1953, already in the heyday of the jet aviation.

Technical progress in the 1930-s went at a rapid pace, so by the beginning of World War II, the Blitz was obsolete. By that time, fighters appeared at speeds above 500 km / h, from which he could not get away, and weak defensive weapons (only one machine gun) did not allow him to successfully defend. Therefore, the aircraft was removed from service and transferred to training units.

Only the Hungarian export Heinkels equipped with the French Gnom-Rhône Mistral-Major French radial air-cooled radial motors and three-blade variable-pitch propellers (sometimes called Non-170) fought a bit on the eastern front. In 1938, the Hungarians purchased 20 of such machines. Their speed reached 400 km / h, but at the beginning of the 1940-s it was already considered insufficient, especially in combination with unprotected fuel tanks, lack of armor and the already mentioned weak weaponry. Several aircraft were lost, and the rest were taken to the rear in 1942, and also later used as training.

Non-70 Airlines Lufthansa.

Passenger "Blitz" of the same company, but with Nazi emblems at the Tempelhof airfield in Berlin.

Top down:
Prototype Non-70, tested in December 1932 year.
Non-70 from the Condor Legion, Spain, end of 1936.
Non-70 one of the Luftwaffe training squadrons, 1940 year.
Hungarian Non-170, 1941 year.

Comments

[polpot]

Thanks for the article interesting topic

[Curious]

In 1935, Rolls-Royce decided to use Blitz as a flying laboratory to evaluate various aircraft systems at high speeds, as well as to test the latest engines. However, the leadership of the Reichskommissariat of Aviation was not going to give its fastest plane into the hands of a potential enemy. In the end, they came to a compromise solution - the British deliver the engine to Germany, put it on the He-70 at the Wernemünde plant and fly around it, and then fly the plane across the English Channel. The Rolls-Royce company agreed to such conditions, and, having paid £ 13000, sent 770 hp Kestrel engine to Heinkel, which was installed on the fuselage of the He-70G variant.
With a powerful Kestrel, Blitz became even more frisky, accelerating at an altitude of 4300 m to 400 km / h. Great Britain was ahead of Germany in the development of modern engines, and Heinkel hoped to significantly improve the performance of the "seventies", equipping them with "Rolls Royces." He even agreed with the British for a license exchange - Heinkel gives the Rolls-Royce the documentation for the production of the He-70, which in turn pays permission to assemble the Kestrel motor in Germany. However, officials from the Reich Aviation Commissioner met with hostility with such a proposal, convincing Heinkel that an unprecedented rise would soon come in Germany's aircraft engine industry. Because of such unprofessionalism, the Ne-70s were left without powerful power plants, and Germany did not take the chance to produce the latest engines. Subsequently, the Rolls-Royce engineers installed on the Heinkel monoplane an even more powerful engine, the Peregrine, with which on October 8, 1938, the He-70 reached the highest speed at an altitude of 5000 m for all seventies - 481 km / h. The English He-70 made its last flight on March 20, 1940, flying a total of 418 hours (176 of them with the Peregrine engine). During the war, the plane did not fly, having stood in the hangar until March 1945, and then was finally decommissioned.
In 1938, Heinkel, on his own initiative, equipped two serial He-70Gs with a DB 601A engine with a take-off power of 1175 hp. There were no side windows on the plane (before that they were available on all variants, including military ones), the rear firing point was more aerodynamic, and the MG 15 machine gun (7,9 mm caliber) was added from small arms to fire forward. The new version, received the designation He-270. However, its serial production did not take place.

[NF68]

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[Alf]

Very nice airplane. There are such samples in the history of technology that, with low TTD, are immediately remembered.

[Decabrev]

Well, at that time he had the technical characteristics - what was needed. But the main thing - it was a concept. The He-111 glider is very similar to the He-70 glider.

[Nemesis]

The He-100 was a more interesting machine, and if Germany had risked adopting it, then who knows, most likely, it would have become an analogue of the Japanese ZERO fighter in Europe, becoming equally dangerous and invincible at the beginning of the war.

[CentDo]

If the Germans adopted the He-100, then at the beginning of the war they would most likely have ended up without normal fighters. He-100 was too problematic, the Germans pulled this project only as propaganda and records. About weapons in general is a separate issue. According to many reference books, it was equipped with one 20mm gun and two 7,92mm machine guns, only the cars purchased by the USSR before the war were equipped with only three machine guns, and the third was already in overload. And indeed, MG FF, due to its features, was poorly adapted for use in the power plant; the Germans could not solve all the problems. And two or three rifle-caliber machine guns, even for the years 39-40, were already about nothing.

[Nemesis]

The He-100 was not accepted into service primarily because of the protection that Willy Messerschmitt Ernst Udet provided as a friend ... As a result, Messerschmit very well set up Udet, who, through his fault, shot himself in Germany, in general, with the history of the Me-210 aircraft .. ..There were two more reasons why the He-100 wasn’t adopted ... The difficulty in engine production, which in general could be overcome with mass production .... Motor cooling radiators were located in the wing and it was believed that they would become easily damaged ... generally criticized the survivability of the aircraft ... although no one tested it in battle .... The Japanese Zero also did not have a survivability margin, but due to the high speed and maneuverability, and the He-100 had better performance than the Japanese, it was phenomenal a car with a speed of over 600 km, reaching 670 km ... per hour ...

[CentDo]

Wing cooling radiators? The He-100 used a surface-evaporative cooling system, the surface radiator was in the keel. What exactly do you mean?
What was the difficulty with producing serial DB-601? The question was not the complexity of production, but that these engines were necessary for the production Bf-109 and Bf-110.
This machine reached phenomenal speeds exclusively with a special forced engine, in which the speed was increased to 3000, and the power to 1800 hp. Only now the resource of this engine was enough for one flight. With conventional engines, the speed was much more modest, but there were problems: the engine was constantly overheating, because the cooling system was far from perfect.
The He-100 could be a great machine, but only in the year 43-44, when the cooling system would be brought to mind, and instead of DB-601 put DB-605. Then he would really create a lot of problems for the Allies. Lightweight, fast and maneuverable, it could drive the Mustangs at a great height. And the armament problem would be solved.

[Nemesis]

Look at the He-100 photo in the book Legendary Fighters by Robert Jackson, there are cooling radiators in the wings, page 64 ...

[CentDo]

Could you give a link to a source that clearly indicates (not in the picture) that cooling radiators were installed in the wings of the He-100? It is advisable to read this source online.
You say that the cooling radiators in the wings were considered vulnerable, how then to explain the fact that on the Bf-109 they were located exactly under the wing? At worst, did they cease to be vulnerable?

[Nemesis]

On the source that I have already indicated to you, just a description, next to the photo

[CentDo]

Unfortunately, I have not found it in electronic form yet.

[NF68]

Quote: CentDo

What was the difficulty with producing serial DB-601? The question was not the complexity of production, but that these engines were necessary for the production Bf-109 and Bf-110.

The increase in the number of aircraft engines produced in Germany was associated with a number of purely technical problems, and this was not only true for DB-601 engines. According to the plans of the Luftwaffe leadership, the DB-601 engine should have been replaced not with DB-605, but with a more modern DB-608. But due to the fact that the transition to the production of a new engine would lead to a decrease in the number of engines produced, DB-608 production had to be abandoned in favor of DB-605 which could be manufactured using the same equipment and accessories as for the production of DB-601.

[CentDo]

And here DB-605 and DB-608? The point is that by the time He-100 appeared, serial production of DB-601 had been established. Of course, there, too, everything was not going smoothly, but the engines for the Bf-109 were functioning properly.

[NF68]

Quote: CentDo

And here DB-605 and DB-608? The point is that by the time He-100 appeared, serial production of DB-601 had been established. Of course, there, too, everything was not going smoothly, but the engines for the Bf-109 were functioning properly.

The fact is that even for the production of Bf-109 and other aircraft on which these engines were installed, there were few engines, as a result of which the Luftwaffe rather slowly increased the number of combat aircraft / compensated for losses and if another aircraft was launched into production on which the same engine will be installed, then the real benefits of this will not be so tangible. I mentioned DB-608 in connection with the fact that when installing these engines on the Bf-109, the Germans could count on a significant improvement in performance characteristics and under these conditions the need for the production of Non-100 would also be a big question.

[NF68]

and He-100 had better performance than the Japanese, it was a phenomenal car, with speeds in excess of 600 km, reaching 670 km ... per hour ...

At Messerschmitt's aircraft manufacturing plants, the build / finish quality of the aircraft skin was slightly worse than at other German aircraft manufacturing companies. As a result, the serial Bf-109 F4 with the DB-605 E engine, which developed on take-off on afterburner 1350 hp. at an altitude of 6300 meters, speeds of 628-635 km / h were developed, and the same Bf-109 F4 with the same DB-605 E engine, but specially specially assembled loas of leading German fighter pilots or developed as a reference at an altitude of 6300 meters to 660-670 km / h. Did the Germans make sense to produce Non-100 with its unreliable cooling system when it was possible to pay more attention to the higher-quality Bf-109 series that were already produced for a long time?

[Nemesis]

You are not careful. I wrote about the He-100 with two cooling radiators in the wings, which provided quite reliable cooling, and the perfection of the He-100 aerodynamics can only be compared with the Me-109K, since you started comparing it with Willy Messerschmitt's BF-109 ... In addition, the Me-109 had a huge drawback in the form of a narrow track gauge, which caused huge problems at unpaved airfields and caused a lot of accidents and catastrophes

[fighter angel]

The "109" lacked flaws ... But remember the one-winged wing, with recesses under the chassis and with radiators mounted on it, was very prone to aerodynamic "twisting" during high-speed maneuvers.

[NF68]

Quote: fighter angel

The "109" lacked flaws ... But remember the one-winged wing, with recesses under the chassis and with radiators mounted on it, was very prone to aerodynamic "twisting" during high-speed maneuvers.

Not without it. What did Willy Messerschmitt plan to do to address these shortcomings when VM has not yet begun or has just begun? This was only later when the war began to gain momentum and Willy Messerschmitt had to abandon potential plans to finalize the Me-109.

[NF68]

Quote: Nemesis

You are not careful. I wrote about the Non-100 with two cooling radiators in the wings, which provided quite reliable cooling, and the perfect aerodynamics of the Ne-100 can only be compared with the Me-109K, since you started comparing it with Willy Messerschmitt's BF-109 .

Due to the fact that in terms of aerodynamics, the Non-100 was better than the Bf-109 I do not argue. But if you used a traditional cooling system on Non-100, then the advantage of Non-100 over Bf-109 would not be so big with the same DB-601 engines or DB-605 replacing them. According to pre-war plans, instead of DB-109, it was planned to install DB-601 engines / working volume of 608 liters instead of DB-36,6, the height of the first option was 5200 meters, take-off power was 1650 hp.

In addition, the Me-109 had a huge drawback in the form of a narrow track gauge, which caused huge problems at unpaved airfields and caused a lot of accidents and catastrophes

And I don’t argue, as I met German data, approximately 5% of all Me-109 were lost during takeoffs and landings due to the narrow track of the chassis.
On the other hand, the production of Non-100 has yet to be mastered; the aircraft engines produced by the Germans throughout the WWII from its first days were not sufficient. Under these conditions, was it worth switching to the organization of serial production of the Non-100 even if it would not be much better than the Me-109? According to the same pre-war plans, Willy Messerschmitt could well have developed another wing for the Me-109 in order to reduce aerodynamic drag. According to the same pre-war plans, the quality of the finish of the outer skin could be improved.

[CentDo]

Show the radiators in the wings of the He-100
He had steam condensers in his wings, not radiators. 7 in the left and 6 in the right.
It tells, in fact, about every He-100 built: http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww2/he100.html

[Nemesis]

Before writing, you need to read what is written above ... Above, I indicated the source where everything is shown and told

[CentDo]

Do you think your source is the only true one? I also pointed out the source to you.

[Nemesis]

The source I pointed out to you is a decent publication and the photo on it is different from yours ... Yes, and Wikipedia has a link to the fact that different engine cooling systems were used on the plane ...

[CentDo]

Well, give quotes from this "decent publication", and the photo will not hurt. It's not so difficult to take a photo on your phone and put it here. Since it is not in electronic form.
I won’t even talk about the accuracy of Wikipedia.

[Nemesis]

A phone with an unimportant camera ... I gave you the name of the book and the page. There is no electronic version, there are libraries. I’ll give you a quote for the description below the photo. ,, The mechanics are servicing the Heinkel Xe-100 fighter. The design that can be mistaken for a radiator bath under the engine is actually the open doors of the engine hood. The X-100 engine cooling system was located in the wing. '' In the photo there is a fighter and two mechanics. The air intake of the cooling system is clearly visible on the left wing ....

[NF68]

and the same Bf-109 F4 with the same DB-605 E engine,

I was mistaken. Instead of DB-601 E, I wrote DB-605 E twice.

[CentDo]

Nemesis,
Have you read my comments? Yes, part of the cooling system is in the wings. Only these are not radiators, but vapor condensers. I wrote to you, 7 pieces in the left, 6 in the right. Traditional radiators were abandoned to improve the aerodynamics of the car. Specifically about radiators nothing is said in your book, as I understand it.

[CentDo]

Nemesis,
And in the photo you have most likely the air intake of the supercharger.