The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") is a night fighter designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It primarily served with the Luftwaffe in the later stages of the Second World War.
Work on the He 219 began in mid 1940 as a multi-purpose aircraft designated P.1055. It was a relatively sophisticated design that possessed a variety of innovations, including a pressurized cockpit, twin ejection seats and remotely controlled defensive gun turrets. The P.1055 was initially rejected by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM – the German Aviation Ministry), but Heinkel promptly reconfigured it as a night fighter, designated P.1060. In this capacity, it was equipped with a Lichtenstein SN-2 advanced VHF-band intercept radar (also used on the Ju 88G and Bf 110G night fighters). The He 219 was also the first operational military aircraft to be equipped with ejection seats and the first operational German aircraft to be equipped with tricycle landing gear. The prototype performed its maiden flight on 6 November 1942.
Both the development and production of the He 219 were protracted due to various factors, including political rivalries between Josef Kammhuber, commander of the German night fighter forces, Ernst Heinkel, the manufacturer and Erhard Milch, responsible for aircraft construction in the RLM. Other aircraft programmes, such as the Junkers Ju 188, Dornier Do 335 and Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito, competed for attention and resources; Milch advocated for these programmes over the He 219. Furthermore, the aircraft was relatively complicated and expensive to build, as were the powerful DB 610 V-12 inline engines that powered it. Nevertheless, the He 219 made its combat debut in June 1943 and was quickly recognised for its value as a night fighter, even being allegedly effective against the Royal Air Force's de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bombers.
In addition to its limited use as a night fighter, Heinkel worked on numerous different models of the He 219, including as a reconnaissance-bomber, high-altitude interceptor, and more advanced fighter. On 25 May 1944, production of the He 219 was officially terminated. Had the He 219 ever become available to the Luftwaffe in large quantities, it is plausible that it could have had a significant effect against the strategic night bombing offensive conducted against Germany by the Royal Air Force (RAF); however, only 268 aircraft across all models were ever completed and thus the type only saw limited service between 1943 and 1945.Boyne 1997, p. 330. Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow was the leading night fighter ace on the He 219, having been credited with 33 of his 34 night air victories on the type.
Design and development Background During the summer of 1940, Robert Lusser returned to Heinkel from Messerschmitt and immediately began work on a new high-speed bomber project designated P.1055. This was a shoulder-wing cantilever monoplane; the tailplane, which had considerable dihedral, had twin fins and rudders. The glazed canopy of the cockpit was faired into the nose of the aircraft and provided excellent external visibility for its two occupants, who were seated in an atypical back-to-back configuration. Many parts of the airframe, including its single-spar wing, rectangular-section fuselage and tail surfaces, were made of metal and had a stressed-skin covering.Smith and Kay 1972, p. 299.
The P.1055 was originally intended to be a multi-purpose aircraft, and was a relatively advanced design for the era, with a pressurized cockpit, twin ejection seats (the first to be planned for use in any combat aircraft), tricycle landing gearJapanese-language site showing He 219 nosegear retraction animation and remotely controlled, side-mounted FDSL 131 defensive gun turrets. Power was to be provided by a pair of DB 610 "power system" engines producing (2,950 PS/2,910 hp) each,Griehl and Dressel 1998, p. 224. delivering a performance with a top speed of approximately 750 km/h (470 mph) and a 4,000 km (2,500 mi) range with a 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) bomb load.
In August 1940, an initial review by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium rejected the P.1055 considering it to be too complex and risky. Lusser quickly offered four versions of the fighter with various wingspans and engine choices in order to balance performance and risk. He also offered the P.1056, a night fighter with four 20 mm cannon in the wings and fuselage. The RLM rejected all of these proposals on the same grounds in 1941. Heinkel was furious and fired Lusser on the spot.
About the same time as Lusser was designing the P.1055, Kammhuber had started looking for an aircraft for his rapidly growing night fighter force. Heinkel quickly re-designed the P.1055 for this role as the P.1060. This was similar in layout but somewhat smaller and powered by two DB 603 inverted V12 engines. As designed by Heinkel, these engines' nacelles had annular radiators. The early DB 603 subtypes had poor altitude performance, which was a problem for Heinkel's short-winged design, but Daimler had a new "G" subtype of the DB 603 powerplant meant to produce 1,400 kW (1,900 PS) take-off power apiece under development to remedy the problem. Heinkel was sure he had a winner and sent the design off to the RLM in January 1942, while he funded the first prototype himself. The RLM again rejected the He 219, in favour of new Ju 88- and Me 210-based designs.
Prototypes Construction of the prototype was started in February 1942; however, one month later, work was set back when Daimler reported that the intended DB 603G engine would not be ready in time and an alternative engine arrangement was necessary.Wagner and Nowarra 1971, p. 246. Even then, DB 603 engines did not arrive until August 1942, and the prototype didn't make its maiden flight until 6 November 1942.Green and Swanborough 1989, p. 12.Smith and Kay 1972, pp. 299-300. When Kammhuber saw the prototype on 19 November, he was so impressed that he immediately ordered it into production over Milch's objections. Milch, who had rejected the He 219 in January, was enraged.
During early January 1943, a series of competitive trials were flown between the second prototype of the He 219 and the Junkers Ju 188; these were inconclusive. One problem was that the He 219 possessed less stability than desired; to overcome this, Heinkel offered a cash prize to engineers to develop corrective measures. In March 1943, a more comprehensive series of tests were conducted in which the He 219 proved to be superior to both the Ju 188 and the Dornier Do 217. The same month, the He 219 programme was dealt a major blow when Heinkel's works at Rostock were struck by an RAF bombing raid which, amongst other things, destroyed three-quarters of the drawings; soon afterwards, the design office was transferred to Vienna.
During the development process several changes were made to the armament. The dorsal rear defensive guns mounted on top of the fuselage and firing directly rearward were removed due to their tendency to become detached from the fuselage when fired.Smith and Kay 1972, p. 300. The forward-firing armament was increased to two Mauser MG 151/20 20 mm autocannon in the wing roots, inboard of the propeller arcs and four more MG 151/20 autocannon mounted in the ventral fuselage tray. The A-0 model had a bulletproof shield which could be raised in the front cockpit, protecting the bottom portion of the windscreen. Production prototypes were then ordered as the He 219 A-0 and quickly progressed to the point where V7, V8 and V9 were handed over to operational units in June 1943 for testing.
The earlier prototypes, with four-blade propellersHe 219 V5 fifth prototype photo had blunt, compound-curvature noses, as used for production-series aircraft. The early examples of these had cutouts for the forward-projecting masts of the Matratze radar antennae of at least the first five prototypes, used with the early UHF-band Lichtenstein B/C or C-1 radar installation."Heinkel He 219." Livevehicles.com. Retrieved: 23 April 2015. These early He 219V-series prototypes also had cockpit canopies that did not smoothly taper on their upper surface, as on the later production aircraft, but instead ended in a nearly hemispherical enclosure."Heinkel He 219." falkeeins.blogspot.com, November 2010. Retrieved: 23 April 2015.Heinkel factory engineering department's He 219 fuselage development sideview drawing, showing Ju 88G-style rear-canopy gunmount, fuselage dorsal and ventral "steps" and blunt-ended rear on cockpit canopy In December 1943, Milch pushed for the He 219 programme to be cancelled in favour of the Junkers Ju 88G on the basis that the performance of the Ju 88G was sufficient to handle Allied bombers and that increasing production of the He 219 would disrupt manufacturing efforts.Smith and Kay 1972, p. 301. Milch also proposed that the Dornier Do 335 be favoured over the He 219. Milch repeatedly sought to have the programme cancelled;Smith and Kay 1972, pp. 301-302. these efforts reportedly led to Kammhuber being removed from office. On 25 May 1944, production of the He 219 was officially ended after Milch persuaded RLM officials to redirect resources to the Junkers Ju 388 and Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito programmes. Despite the programme being officially terminated, Heinkel continued low-rate production of the He 219.Smith and Kay 1972, p. 302.
Operational history The He 219 had an auspicious combat debut. On the night of 11–12 June 1943, Werner Streib flew the V9 and shot down five bombers between 01:05 and 02:22 hours, before crashing on landing.Chef für Ausz. und Disziplin Luftwaffen-Personalamt L.P. [A] V Films, Film C. 2027/I", Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv, Freiburg.Smith and Kay 1972, p. 298. Claims have been made that, "In the next ten days the three Heinkel He 219A-0 pre-production aircraft [shot] down a total of 20 RAF aircraft, including six of the previously "untouchable" de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bombers. Greatly encouraged, Kammhuber continued to press for immediate production.""Air International Magazine", Volume 9, No. 1, July 1975, p. 24, see also Wings of the Luftwaffe, Airlife, 1987. No record of corresponding Mosquito losses or any documentary evidence exists that He 219 pilots claimed six Mosquitos.Chorley 1997, .Chorley 2004, .Franks 2000, .Abschüsse auf He 219. Mitteilung 1/44 TAD/Se, dated 25.7.44, detailing all claims made on the He 219 to 17.7.44 List is reproduced with additions to November 1944 in Joachim Dressel and Manfred Griehl, "Heinkel He-219 Uhu". In the opinion of the accomplished test pilot Capt. Eric Brown - who flew several He 219 A-2s after the conflict - the He 219 was "decidedly underpowered" (his italics) and the "rate of climb was certainly unimpressive" and found it to be "short on performance to deal with the Mosquito".Brown 2017, pp. 161-162.
The first model to be produced in quantity was the He 219 A-0, although initially the pre-production series, it matured into a long running production series, due to numerous changes incorporated into the design, along with the cancellation of several planned variants. As a result of production difficulties, the A-0 did not reach Luftwaffe units until October 1943.Greenhous 1994, p. 705. The A-0 was typically armed with a pair of 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots and up to four 20 mm or 30 mm cannon in a ventral weapons bay. The first 10–15 aircraft were delivered with the 490 MHz UHF-band FuG 212 "Lichtenstein" C-1 radar with a 4 × 8-dipole element Matratze antenna array.Lepage 2009, pp. 61-62. In total, 104 He 219 A-0s were built until the summer of 1944, the majority of them at EHW (Ernst Heinkel Wien) or Heinkel-Süd in Wien-Schwechat.