The Heinkel He 113 was a fictional single-seat fighter used as a deception and propaganda tool by the German Luftwaffe at the time of the Battle of Britain.
Description[]
Varying descriptions of the He 113's specifications exist, although most agree on its size and shape. In reality, the mythical He 113 was no more than a group of repainted He 100 sporting planes used to set the World Speed Record in 1939.[4]
The Heinkel He 113 was supposedly a small, nimble craft capable of reaching alarming speeds in level flight. The fighter's wings were described to be straight at the roots and beginning to taper inwards at the beginning of the outer section. They had a slight inverted gull-wing shape, akin to but not as pronounced as the American F4U Corsair. The wingtips were rounded off.[5][1]
Being the same craft, the He 100 and the He 113 had roughly the same dimensions, although the He 113's maximum speed is interpreted differently depending on the source. The German Der Adler magazine lists the Heinkel's top speed at 747 km/h.[3] British aircraft spotting guides recorded the speed at approximately 400 mph (643 km/h).[5] The actual He 100 could reach 670 km/h.
The craft's armaments were ambiguously recorded. Most sources list two machine guns in the wings and a single motorkanone of unknown caliber.[5] The real He 100 possessed two 7.92mm MG 17 machine guns and one MG FF 20 mm motorkanone; the standard of most German fighters.[6]
History[]
Supposedly a Heinkel 113 of an unnamed night fighter unit. Interestingly, no landing lights or other necessary night fighter equipment can be found anywhere on the design.
The initial German documents featuring the Heinkel 113, first appearing in 1940, described an aircraft that was a veteran of fierce combat. The fighter was commonly disclosed to have seen service in France, Belgium, Norway, and Denmark where its squadrons were allegedly stationed.[3] In order to make the ruse more believable, the Heinkel factory took the same small batch of fighters and repainted them repeatedly before photographing, creating the illusion that hundreds of Heinkel 113s were being produced.
A fabricated squadron of He 113s on "parade".
Following the initial German claims, British forces began to report confrontations and sightings of Heinkel fighters. During the Dukirk Evacuation and the Battle of Britain, He 113s were often listed to be the cause of lost RAF pilots and vice versa. Some pilots made reference to them in diaries or journals, citing specifically the craft's speed and "beautiful" design.[7][8] As the War progressed, the frequency of Heinkel sightings increased, although they were still seldom-seen when compared to other German craft. Occasionally, even the smallest details were noted like paint schemes with yellow-tipped wings.[9] Most, if not all of these reports were the results of misidentified Bf 109E fighters.[8]
It is unclear when the Allies began to discover the deception, however Heinkel fighter sightings began to decline and eventually ceased as the years went by.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 | Aircraft Spotting Card from magazine
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 | Aircraft Spotting Card printed for the British military
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 [Carruthers, Bob, "Der Adler: The Official Nazi Luftwaffe Magazine- English Language edition", Pen and Sword, May 1, 2013]>
- ↑ Dabrowski, Hans-Peter. "Heinkel He 100, World Record and Propaganda Aircraft", Schiffer Publishing, 1991
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Sneath R., Aircraft Recognition, 1941
- ↑ http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/he100.html
- ↑ http://battleofbritainblog.com/category/squadron-operation-logs/249-squadron/
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://www.raf.mod.uk/campaign/battle-of-britain-75th/aircraft/other-types/
- ↑ http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/Cosford/Dornier17/Combat-Report.jpg
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