When World War I ended, the German Air Force was disbanded under the Treaty of Versailles, which required the German government to abandon all military aviation by October 1st, 1919. However, by 1922, it was legal for Germany to design and manufacture commercial aircraft, and one of the first modern medium bombers to emerge from this process was the Heinkel He 111, the first prototype of which an enlarged, twin-engine version of the single-engine mail-liaison He 70, which set 8 world speed records in 1933 flew in February of 1935. The second prototype, the He 111 V2, had shorter wings and was the first civil transport prototype, capable of carrying 10 passengers and mail. The third prototype, He 111 V3 also had shorter wings and was the first true bomber prototype. Six He 111 C series airliners were derived from the fourth prototype, the He 111 V4, and went into service with Lufthansa in 1936, powered by a variety of engines, including BMW 132 radials. The first production models had the classic stepped windshield and an elliptical wing, which the designers, Siegfried and Walter Gunter, favored.

As a military aircraft, it took longer to gain favor, because military load requirements and underpowered engines kept its cruising speed down to less than 170 mph. However, in early 1936, the plane was given 1,000 hp Daimler Benz DB 600A engines which improved performance dramatically enough to bring in substantial orders. The first two mass-production versions, He 111 E and He 111 F experienced great success during the Spanish Civil War, where they served with the Condor Legion as fast bombers, able to outrun many of the fighters sent against them.

In fact, the experience in Spain generated a false sense of security in which the Germans thought that the He 111's light armament and speed would be sufficient in the coming war. Thus, although it was out of date, the large numbers in which it had been produced made the He 111 the Luftwaffe's primary bomber for far too long in the war, availability being more persuasive than practicality for this serviceable, but highly vulnerable, aircraft. Modern fighters like the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane proved the He 111's inadequacy during the Battle of Britain. As soon as possible, the Luftwaffe replaced the Heinkel with the Junkers Ju 88, reassigning the Heinkel to night operations and other specialized tasks until, by war's end, it was being used primarily as a transport.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a German Heinkel He-111P-2 5J+CN medium bomber that was attached to Kampfgeschwader 4, then operating our of Oslo, Norway, during 1940. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 12-1/2-inches
Length: 9-inches

Release Date: October 2015

Historical Account: "The Hunter and the Hunted" - Early in the morning on April 26th, 1940, four members of KG 4 took off in their Heinkel He111 P-2 5J+CN from Fornebu, Oslo, to look for Allied activity in and around Andalsnes. Having already been attacked by HMS Manchester, the crew were taken by surprise by two Blackburn Skuas of No. 801 Squadron, flying from HMS Ark Royal. Heinkel 5J+CN was unable to regroup with other Heinkels and the pilots of Skua A7-A unleashed a hail of machine gun fire on the bomber, killing the flight engineer. With the engines either failing or on fire, Pilot Gumbrecht had no choice but to belly-land among the snow covered mountains below. With Stock dead, the remaining three crew members escaped the wreckage and made their way down the mountain.

Over four terrible days, suffering from snow blindness and exhaustion they covered over forty-five kilometres until Norwegian soldiers captured them on April 30th, 1940. For 30 years the wreckage sat undisturbed (apart from the odd souvenir hunter) until two authors set out to uncover the story of the crashed aircraft and finally managed to reunite the surviving crews of the Heinkel and the Skua that shot it down - an encounter that was sure to be more pleasant than their first. This magnificent aircraft has now been restored to a very high standard and is on display in the Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection, at Gardermoen, Oslo.