The Heinkel He 100 was a fighter aircraft that was used by Germany during World War II.
Description[]
Proposed as a superior development of the Heinkel He 112, under the designation Projekt 1035,[1] this aircraft was initially known as the Heinkel He 113, with drawings for the type being ready by 25 May 1937. Compared to the He 112, the new aircraft needed one third the number of parts and 40% the number of rivets, while the proportion of standardised parts had increased by 70%. In addition, curved profiles were either elimineted or reduced to a minimum.[2]
After gaining permision from the RLM to build a prototype and ten pre-production aircraft, Ernst Heinkel managed to secure the type number 100, which had previously been allotted to Fieseler.[1]
The first prototype, with rounded tail fin and test pilot Gerhard Nitschke at the controls, made it's first flight on 22 January 1938, and was sent to E-Stelle-Rechlin for tests in March.[2] Due to the suoeriority of this aircraft, and the second prototype D-IOUS, which was fitted with the square tipped fin later adopted as standard, it was decided to use the latter aircraft for a speed record attempt.
On 6 June 1938, a few days before the attempt was due to take place, Ernst Udet took D-IOUS for a test flight from Marienche, and succeeded in taking the closed circuit landplane record from the Italians. The speed of 634.73km/h, offically recorded between Winstrow and Muritz, was subsequently attributed to the non existent He 112U, in an attempt to gain prestige for exported He 112s.[3]
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