(Heinkel) He 219 Uhu @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Heinkel He 219 Uhu Heinkel He 219 Uhu
    Heinkel He 219 Uhu
  • A captured He 219 in RAF markings (1945) A captured He 219 in RAF markings (1945)
    A captured He 219 in RAF markings (1945)
  • Captured He 219s at Grove, Denmark (1945) Captured He 219s at Grove, Denmark (1945)
    Captured He 219s at Grove, Denmark (1945)
  • Captured He 219 A-5 at RAE Farnborough (1945) Captured He 219 A-5 at RAE Farnborough (1945)
    Captured He 219 A-5 at RAE Farnborough (1945)
  • The NASM's He 219 A-2 Werknummer 290202 The NASM's He 219 A-2 Werknummer 290202
    The NASM's He 219 A-2 Werknummer 290202
  • Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Chantilly, Virginia) Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Chantilly, Virginia)
    Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Chantilly, Virginia)

Heinkel He 219 Uhu

The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") was a twin-engined night fighter designed and built by Heinkel, which served with the Luftwaffe during the last two years of the Second World War. Together with the American Northrop P-61 Black Widow, it was one of the very few aircraft of the war designed from the outset for night fighting rather than adapted from a day fighter or a bomber.

The He 219 was a remarkably advanced design for its time: it introduced a pressurized cockpit, a tricycle landing gear with a steerable nosewheel (a first on an operational German aircraft) and, above all, compressed-air ejection seats for both crew members, making it the first operational military aircraft in the world so equipped. Fitted with Lichtenstein intercept radar and heavy cannon armament, including the upward-firing "Schräge Musik" installation, it proved formidable against RAF Bomber Command, and it was the only piston-engined German night fighter able to meet the de Havilland Mosquito on roughly equal terms.

Its development, however, was hampered by political rivalry between Ernst Heinkel, General Josef Kammhuber (commander of the night fighter force) and Field Marshal Erhard Milch (in charge of aircraft procurement at the Reichsluftfahrtministerium), by engine shortages and by Allied bombing. Production was officially ended on 25 May 1944, and only about 268 aircraft of all versions were completed (some sources give up to 294), so that the type never had the influence its qualities might have promised. Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow became its most successful pilot, with 33 of his 34 night victories scored on the He 219.

Design and development

From the P.1055 to the P.1060

In the summer of 1940, engineer Robert Lusser, who had returned to Heinkel from Messerschmitt, began work on a fast multi-role bomber project designated P.1055. It was a shoulder-wing monoplane of all-metal stressed-skin construction, with twin fins and rudders on a tailplane with marked dihedral, and the two crew members seated back to back under a canopy blended into the nose. The project already included most of the features of the future He 219: pressurized cockpit, ejection seats, tricycle landing gear and remotely controlled FDSL 131 defensive turrets on the fuselage sides. It was to be powered by two DB 610 coupled engines. In August 1940, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) rejected the P.1055 as too complex and too risky; the variants with different wingspans and engines that Lusser then offered, as well as the P.1056 night fighter armed with four 20 mm cannon, were turned down in turn in 1941.

At the same time, Josef Kammhuber was looking for a purpose-built aircraft for his rapidly expanding night fighter force, whose Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88 conversions were struggling against the growing RAF night offensive. Heinkel reworked the design as the slightly smaller P.1060, powered by two inverted V-12 Daimler-Benz DB 603 engines with annular radiators. The RLM rejected it once more in January 1942, preferring night fighter versions of the Ju 88 and Me 210, but Ernst Heinkel decided to finance the first prototype with his own company's money.

Prototypes and trials

Construction of the prototype began in February 1942. The DB 603 engines only arrived in August, and the He 219 V1 made its first flight on 6 November 1942 (the Smithsonian gives 15 November). Impressed by the aircraft, Kammhuber ordered it into production on 19 November 1942, against Milch's objections. Comparative trials against the Junkers Ju 188 in January 1943 were inconclusive and revealed a lack of stability, which Heinkel tackled by offering a cash prize to the engineers who could solve it. More thorough tests in March 1943 finally showed the He 219 to be superior to both the Ju 188 and the Dornier Do 217.

That same month, an RAF raid on the Heinkel works at Rostock destroyed about three-quarters of the production drawings, and the design office was moved to Vienna. During development, the rear-firing dorsal guns were deleted, as they tended to tear away from the fuselage when fired, and the forward armament was increased, with cannon in the wing roots and in a removable ventral tray. The early prototypes had four-bladed propellers, a blunter nose and a domed canopy, and carried the "Matratze" aerials of the UHF FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 radar; later aircraft received the VHF FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 with its large "Hirschgeweih" (stag's antlers) aerials, which was immune to "Window" chaff.

A contested programme

Production took place mainly at Rostock-Marienehe and Vienna-Schwechat; at the latter site, a large part of the assembly workforce was made up of concentration camp prisoners from Mauthausen. The aircraft remained complex and expensive to build, and the planned engines never became available in quantity: the high-altitude DB 603G was never ready, and the Junkers Jumo 222 intended for later versions never reached series production.

From December 1943, Milch pushed for the cancellation of the He 219 in favour of the Ju 88G, arguing that it was good enough and that expanding He 219 production would disrupt the industry; he also favoured the Dornier Do 335. The dispute contributed to Kammhuber's removal from his command. On 25 May 1944, the programme was officially terminated in favour of the Junkers Ju 388 and the Focke-Wulf Ta 154, neither of which saw combat, but Heinkel continued low-rate production until the end of the war, and a few aircraft were even assembled in the field from spare parts.

Operational history

The first pre-production He 219 A-0s were delivered in April 1943 to I./NJG 1 at Venlo in the Netherlands. The type made a spectacular debut on the night of 11-12 June 1943, when Major Werner Streib, flying the V9, shot down five bombers (four Halifaxes and a Lancaster) between 01:05 and 02:22 during an RAF raid on Düsseldorf; on his return, the flaps failed and the aircraft was wrecked on landing, though Streib and his radar operator escaped with minor injuries. A frequently repeated claim that three A-0s destroyed 20 RAF aircraft in ten days, including six Mosquitos, is not supported by the British loss records.

Once guided by ground control into the bomber stream, the He 219 crew located their targets with their own radar. Its performance, though not exceptional, was clearly superior to that of the Bf 110G and Do 217N and allowed a crew to attack several bombers during a single sortie. From the A-2 onward, many aircraft carried two 30 mm MK 108 cannon in a "Schräge Musik" installation behind the cockpit, firing obliquely upward: the He 219 could approach unseen from below and behind a bomber, out of reach of its gunners, and a few rounds were enough to bring down a Lancaster. On the night of 2-3 November 1944, one He 219 crew claimed six bombers in twelve minutes.

The He 219 was popular with its crews, who appreciated its excellent visibility, the arrangement of its weapons and its ejection seats, which saved a number of airmen; ground crews praised its ease of maintenance. The British test pilot Eric Brown, who flew several captured A-2s after the war, was more critical, considering it underpowered, with a poor rate of climb, and short on performance to deal with the Mosquito. Production problems meant that the type was used in strength by only one unit, NJG 1: on 10 January 1945, I./NJG 1 had 64 He 219s on strength, of which only 45 were serviceable.

At the end of the war, several aircraft were captured by the Allies at Grove airfield in Denmark. The RAF evaluated a few of them at Farnborough, while three were taken over in June 1945 by the American "Operation LUSTY" team. After the war, two He 219s rebuilt in Czechoslovakia from recovered components were used under the designation Letov LB-79, one of them as a jet engine test-bed.

Variants

  • He 219 V (Versuchs) : Prototypes, the first (V1) flown on 6 November 1942; V7, V8 and V9 were handed to operational units for testing in June 1943.
  • He 219 A-0 : Pre-production series that became the first quantity-produced version, powered by two 1,750 PS DB 603A engines. The first examples carried the FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 radar. 104 built by 30 November 1944.
  • He 219 A-1 : Proposed reconnaissance-bomber version, abandoned.
  • He 219 A-2 : Lengthened engine nacelles housing additional fuel tanks, 1,670 PS DB 603AA engines, FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar with "Hirschgeweih" aerials, and frequently two 30 mm MK 108 cannon in a "Schräge Musik" installation. 85 built by 30 November 1944.
  • He 219 A-5 : Planned three-seat night fighter; only a few prototypes converted from A-2 airframes are known.
  • He 219 A-6 : Planned lightened "Mosquito hunter" derived from the A-2, armed with four 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon and expected to reach 650 km/h; not produced.
  • He 219 A-7 : Improved night fighter with 1,800 PS DB 603E engines, the last major production version. 210 ordered as of 30 November 1944, but the number actually built is unknown.
  • He 219 B : Planned version with Junkers Jumo 222 engines of about 2,500 hp and a 22.06 m wingspan; the engine never reached production and only a few test aircraft flew with it.
  • He 219 C : Planned version with a new, 17.15 m long fuselage, Jumo 222 engines and a Ju 388J-type cockpit; never flown.
  • He 219 D-1 : A-7 airframes adapted to Junkers Jumo 213E engines; five delivered in 1945.
  • He 219 E : Paper project of a very high-altitude version with a 28.5 m wingspan and DB 614 engines.
  • Hütter Hü 211 : High-altitude interceptor project using the He 219 fuselage and tail with a new 24.55 m wing; never flew, its wings having been destroyed by Allied bombing.
  • He 419 : Derived high-altitude projects, culminating in the He 419 B-1/R1 with a 59 m² wing, of which six examples flew; a speed of 679 km/h at 13,600 m was claimed.
  • Letov LB-79 : Two aircraft built in Czechoslovakia in 1950 from recovered components; one was used as a jet engine test-bed.

The He 319 was an unbuilt multi-role project unrelated to the He 219, sharing only its number sequence.

Operators

  • Germany : Luftwaffe (mainly Nachtjagdgeschwader 1).
  • Czechoslovakia : Czechoslovak Air Force (post-war, as the Letov LB-79).

Surviving aircraft

The only complete surviving He 219 is the He 219 A-2 Werknummer 290202, belonging to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. On 16 June 1945, it was one of three He 219s of NJG 1 seized at Grove, in Jutland (Denmark), by a 25-man US Army Air Forces intelligence team under Colonel Harold E. Watson, as part of "Operation LUSTY" (LUftwaffe Secret TechnologY). Made airworthy by "Watson's Whizzers", the aircraft were flown to Cherbourg and then shipped to the United States aboard the escort carrier HMS Reaper, together with 21 other captured German aircraft, and reassembled at Newark, New Jersey.

Given the foreign equipment number FE-614 (later T2-614), Werknummer 290202 was flight-tested at Freeman Field, Indiana, alongside another He 219 (FE-612), which was later scrapped. In 1946 it was moved to Orchard Place Airport at Park Ridge, Illinois, transferred to the Smithsonian's National Air Museum on 3 January 1949, and crated in 1955 for storage at the Paul E. Garber facility in Silver Hill, Maryland. The fuselage, tail and engines went on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, while the wings were restored separately; the repainted wings were shown to the public in January 2016 and were joined to the aircraft in 2019. The missing radar aerials were reproduced by the museum's specialists. The aircraft, which incorporates fins and engine parts from the other two machines shipped to the United States, is now displayed next to the Arado Ar 234 and the Dornier Do 335.

In April 2012, the wreck of a previously unknown He 219 was recovered from the sea about 100 m off the beach north of Hirtshals, Denmark. It was displayed at the Forsvars- og Garnisonsmuseum in Aalborg, then sold in August 2015 to an Austrian enthusiast for restoration.

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Heinkel He 219 Uhu of Wikipedia ( authors )

Heinkel He 219 Uhu

  • Role : Night fighter.
  • Manufacturer : Heinkel.
  • Designer : Robert Lusser.
  • First flight : 6 November 1942.
  • Introduction : 1943.
  • Retired : 1945 (Luftwaffe).
  • Status : retired.
  • Primary users :
    • Luftwaffe.
    • Czechoslovak Air Force (post-war).
  • Produced : 1942 to 1945.
  • Number built : about 268 (up to 294 according to some sources).
  • Developed into :
    • Hütter Hü 211 (project).
    • Heinkel He 419.

    Specifications (He 219 A-7)

  • Crew: two (pilot and radar operator).
  • Length: 15.33 m (50 ft 4 in).
  • Wingspan: 18.5 m (60 ft 8 in).
  • Height: 4.1 m (13 ft 5 in).
  • Wing area: 44.5 m² (479 sq ft).
  • Empty weight: 11,200 kg (24,692 lb).
  • Gross weight: 15,300 kg (33,731 lb).
  • Powerplant: 2 × Daimler-Benz DB 603E inverted V-12 liquid-cooled piston engines, 1,324 kW (1,800 PS / 1,776 hp) each.
  • Propellers: 3-bladed VDM constant-speed.
  • Maximum speed: 670 km/h (420 mph, 360 kn) at 7,000 m (23,000 ft).
  • Cruise speed: 540 km/h (340 mph, 290 kn).
  • Range: 1,545 km (960 mi, 834 nmi).
  • Ferry range: 2,000 km (1,200 mi, 1,100 nmi).
  • Service ceiling: 12,700 m (41,700 ft).
  • Guns:
    • 2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in a detachable ventral tray (300 rounds per gun).
    • 2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots (300 rounds per gun).
    • 2 × 30 mm MK 108 cannon in a "Schräge Musik" installation, firing upward at 65° (100 rounds per gun).
  • Avionics: FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 intercept radar (FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 on early A-0s).

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Heinkel He 219 Uhu of Wikipedia ( authors )
Heinkel He 219 Uhu : Your comments on this subject
Powered by Disqus
Top
Legal Credits FAQ Help

Terms of use for the services available on this site

By using this Website, Users agree to the following terms of use and rules :

Definitions

  • Webmaster : Head Administrator with all authority over the management and development of the Website.
  • Administrator : Anyone that was given by the Webmaster full or partial access to the Website's structure or with moderation rights on messages posted by Users.
  • User or Visitor : Any person visiting the Website pages.
  • Website : The following provisions apply to a single Website accessible via the www.aircraftube.com, www.aircraftube.org, www.aircraftube.net and www.all-aircraft.com. URL's
  • Service : All free informations and tools contained on the Website.
  • Comments : All text written by users on Blogs and comment pages available on the Website.
  • Media : All media available on or through the Website. One must distinguish the local media (photos, curves, drawings) and the external media (videos) which the Website refers.

    • Purpose of this site

    The purpose of this non-commercial site is purely educational. Reflecting a passion, it is also there to preserve the memory of all those who gave their lives, their health or energy in the name of freedom, aviation safety or simply our passenger comfort.

    Copyright

    Some media may have escaped the vigilance of Administrators with regard to copyrights. If a user reports copyright infringement, he will be asked to prove that he is indeed the rights's owner for the concerned media. If so, his decision on the Administrator's next action will be respected: A total suppression of the Media on the Website, or the addition of some owner's reference. The publication of a media on the internet normally having as a goal to make it visible to many people, the Administrators expect in any case that the second option will be most often chosen.

    Pursuant to the Law on copyright and related rights, the user has the right to download and reproduce information on the Website for personal use and provided that the source is mentionned. They cannot however be used for commercial or advertising purposes.

    Using Blogs and filing comments

  • Moderator : The Administrator reserves the right to prevent the publication of comments that are not directly related to the Service without providing any explanation. Similarly, all insults, out of scope or unethical material will be banned.
  • Identification : Persons wishing to post a comment or use any form of contact are required to provide identification by the means of a valid e-mail address.
  • Responsibilities : Comments are posted on the Website under the unique responsability of their authors and the Administrators may in no case be liable for any statements or claims that the users might have issued.

    • As the comment system is hosted and maintained on servers external to the Website, the Administrators may in no circumstances be held responsible for the use that administrators of these servers or other third parties may have with those comments or filed data.

    Content Liability

    The Administrators carefully check the reliability of the sources used. They cannot, however, guarantee the accuracy of any information contained on the Website, partly because of the multiple sources from which they come.

    JavaScript and cookies - Storing information

    This Website imperatively uses JavaScript and cookies to function properly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Website for the retention or disclosure of personal information about Visitors. Exceptions to this rule will involve storing the Users banned for inappropriate comments they might have given as well as contact information for Users wishing to subscribe to future newsletters.

    When a user accesses the Website, the corresponding servers may automatically collect certain data, such as IP address, date and time of Website access, viewed pages and the type of browser used. This information is kept only for the purpose of measuring the number of visitors to the different sections of the site and make improvements.

    Donations - Advertising

    To continue providing the Service for free, the Webmaster reserves the right to insert advertising or promotional messages on any page of the Site. In the same idea, any donations will only by used to cover the running costs of the site, such as hosting, connection fees, hardware and software necessary for the development and maintenance of the Website.

    Links and other websites

    Administrators shall in no case be liable for the non-availability of websites operated by third parties to which users would access through the Website.

    Administrators assume no liability for any content, advertising, products and/or services available on such third party websites. It is reminded that those sites are governed by their own terms of use.

    Placing a link to third party sites or authorize a third party to include a link on their website refering to this Website does not mean that the Administrators recommend in any way the products or services offered by these websites.

    Modifications

    The Webmaster reserves the right to modify at any time without notification the present terms of use as well as all content or specific functionality that the Website offers.

    The modified terms and conditions immediately apply to the using Visitor when changes come online. Visitors are invited to consult the site regularly on the most current version of the terms and conditions

    Governing Law and Jurisdiction

    These general conditions are governed by Belgian law.

    In case of dispute regarding the interpretation and/or execution of the above terms, the parties agree that the courts of the district of Nivelles, Belgium shall have exclusive jurisdiction power.

    Credits page

    Wikipedia.org

    Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free Internet encyclopedia.

    Youtube

    YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos.

    Special thanks to all Youtube quality aviation vids providers, specially (Those I forgot, please excuse me or report) :

    Airboyd
    Andys Video
    Aviation videos archives
    Bomberguy
    Classic Aviation TV
    Historical Aviation Film Unit
    Horsemoney
    Jaglavaksoldier
    Joluqa Malta
    Just Planes
    Koksy
    Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture
    Memorial Flight
    Octane130
    Okrajoe
    SDASM archives
    Spottydog4477
    The Aviators TV
    Valentin Izagirre Bengoetxea
    Vexed123
    VonBerlich
    Zenos Warbirds

    Bundesarchiv

    The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv are the National Archives of Germany.

    FAQ

    I don't see my comments any more!

    Please note that each page has it's own comment entry. So, if you enter a comment i.e. on the B-747, you will only see it on that related page.

    General comments are accessed via the "BLOG En" button.

    Comments are moderated, so please allow some delay before they appear, specially if you are outside Europe.

    Menus are developing below the page, because they are too long!

    But they remain accessible, for example by scrolling the mouse wheel, or with your finger (on the menu) on a smartphone or tablet.

    I see adds on all videos.

    Use a good free add remover software.

    The site is loading random pages at startup.

    We think it is a good way to bring back the memory of aircraft, persons or events sometimes quite forgotten.

    HELP PAGE

    Why this site?

    Discovery

    This website is dedicated to one's aeronautical passion (which I hope we share) and was realised mainly as an educationnal tool. Knowing that, you'll notice that each new visit brings random topics for the purpose of making new discoveries, some achievements or characters certainly not deserving the oblivion into which they have sometimes fallen.

    By these pages, we also want to pay tribute to all those who gave at one time or another, their lives or health in the name of freedom, aeronautical security or simply our comfort.

    Centralisation

    Internet is full of websites dedicated to aviation, but most are dedicated to subjects or periods that are very limited in space or time. The purpose of this site is to be as general as possible and thus treats all events as well as characters of all stripes and times while putting much emphasis on the most significant achievements.

    The same years saw birth of technologies like photography and cinema, thus permitting illustration of a large part of important aeronautical events from the start. Countless (and sometimes rare) media recently put online by enthousiasts finally give us access to these treasures, but the huge amount of information often makes things a little messy. A centralization effort is obviously most needed at this level.

    All persons who directly or indirectly contributed to the achievement or posting of such documents are here gratefully acknowledged.

    General

    Fluid website

    This site automatically fits the dimensions of your screen, whether you are on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone.

    Bilingual website

    You can change the language by clicking on the flag in the upper left or via "Options" in the central menu. Of course, the videos remain in the language in which they were posted ...

    Browser compatibility

    The site is not optimized, or even designed to run on older browsers or those deliberately deviating from standards. You will most probably encounter display issues with Internet Explorer. In this case, it is strongly recommended installing a modern (and free!) browser that's respecting the standards, like Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari.

    Cookies and Javascript

    This site uses cookies and JavaScript to function properly. Please ensure that your browser is configured accordingly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Site for the retention or disclosure of personal information about its Visitors. See the "Legal" page for more on this subject.

    Website layout

    Left menus

    Because of the lack of space on smartphones and small tablets, these menus are hidden. Everything is nevertheless accessible via the main menu option, located between the video and photo sections. This menu is placed there for compatibility reasons with some browsers, which play the videos over the menus.

    "Search" and "Latest" :
    The link "In Titles" restricts the search to the titles of different forms. Use this option if you are looking for a plane, a constructor, a pilot or a particular event that could have been treated as a subject.

    The link "In Stories" will bring you to a search in all texts (the "Story" tab) and will take more time. The search term will appear highlighted in green when opening the corresponding story.

    Would you believe, "Timeline" will show all subjects in chronological order.

    "Random" will reload the entire page with a new random topic.

    The bottom section keeps you abreast of the latest five entries. New topics are added regularly. Don't hesitate to come visit us often : add bookmark.

    Blogs and Comments central section

    Under the photos section comes the comments tabs window :

    You can enter general comments in your own language via one of the two buttons on the left (BLOG EN and BLOG FR). Note that these buttons are accessible regardless of the language to allow some participation in the other language.

    All comments are subject to moderation and will be published only if they comply with the basic rules of decorum, while remaining relevant to the purpose of this site.

    The third tab allows you to enter comments on the shown topic and is bilingual. Personal anecdotes, supplements and other information questions will take place here.

    The "Story" tab shows the explanatory texts. They are most often taken from Wikipedia, a site where we participate regularly.

    The "Data" tab is reserved for list of features and specifications.

    Right menus

    On a smartphone, the lack of space is growing and this menu is moved to the bottom of the page to give priority to videos and pictures.

    The top right icons are links to videos posted by third parties (on their own responsabilities) or by ourselves. The link below these icons will take you to the channel of the one who posted the video. Feel free to suggest other videos if you think they are of some interest (Use the BLOG button or the "Contact" link).