Monthly Archives: March 2025

Nightfighter

Heinkel He 219A-7 Uhu, (Eagle Owl), I/NJG-1, (Dragon Models)

Gallery

TYPE: Night fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot and radar operator/Navigator

POWER PLANT: Two Daimler-Benz DB 603G liquid-cooled engines, rated at 1,776 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 420 mph at 23,000 ft

COMMENT: The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (“Eagle-Owl”) was 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 begun 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 FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 advanced VHF-band intercept radar (also used on the Junkers Ju 88G and Messerschmitt Bf 110G night fighters). The Heinkel He 219A 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 General J. Kammhuber, commander of the German night fighter forces, Ernst Heinkel, the manufacturer and Field Marshal E. Milch, responsible for aircraft construction in the RLM. Other aircraft programmes, such as the Junkers Ju 188, Donier Do 335 Pfeil 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 Daimler-Benz DB 610 V-12 inline engines that powered it. Nevertheless, the He 219 made its combat debut on 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.
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. Major E.-W. 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.
The last major production version was the Heinkel He  219A-7 with improved, unitized 1,776 hp Daimler-Benz DB 603E engines. The A-7 typically had two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the wing roots (inboard of the propeller arcs), two 20 mm MG 151/20 in the ventral weapons bay and two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108s as rear-fuselage dorsal mount, upwards-firing Schräge Musik offensive ordnance. Production of 210 aircraft was to start November/December 1944, but only six aicraft have been produced, one aircraft was delivered to the I/NJG 1 (Ref.: 24).

Heavy Bomber, Assemblyships

Consolidated B-24J Liberator, ‘Rage in Heaven’, 491st BG (H), 852nd BS, 8th USAAF (Airfix)

Gallery

TYPE: Heavy bomber, Formation ship

ACCOMMODATION:  Crew of five or six

POWER PLANT:  Four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-35 Twin Wasp turbo-supercharged radial engines, rated at 1,200 hp  each

PERFORMANCE: 297 mph at 25,000 ft

COMMENT: The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models designated as various LB-30s, in the Land Bomber design category.
The B-24 was used extensively in World War II where it served in every branch of the American armed forces, as well as several Allied air forces and navies. It saw use in every theater of operations. Along with the Boeing B-17, the B-24 was the mainstay of the US strategic bombing campaign in the Western European theater. Due to its range, it proved useful in bombing operations in the Pacific, including the bombing of Japan.
In February 1944, the 2nd Division authorized the use of “Assembly Ships” (or “Formation Ships”) specially fitted to aid the assembly of individual group formations. They were equipped with signal lighting, provision for quantity discharge of pyrotechnics, and were painted with distinctive group-specific high-contrast patterns of stripes, checkers or polka dots to enable easy recognition by their flock of bombers. The aircraft used in the first allocation were B-24Ds retired by the 44th, 93rd and 389th Groups. Arrangements for signal lighting varied from group to group, but generally consisted of white flashing lamps on both sides of the fuselage arranged to form the identification letter of the group. All armament and armor were removed and in some cases the tail turret. In the B-24Hs used for this purpose, the nose turret was removed and replaced by a “carpetbagger” type nose. Following incidents when flare guns were accidentally discharged inside the rear fuselage, some assembly (formation) ships had pyrotechnic guns fixed through the fuselage sides. As these aircraft normally returned to base once a formation had been established, a skeleton crew of two pilots, navigator, radio operator and one or two flare discharge operators were carried. In some groups an observer officer flew in the tail position to monitor the formation. These aircraft became known as Judas goats.
To help minimise the risk of collisions and help crews get their aircraft into the correct formation, during 1943 each Bomb Group was required to choose one of its older aircraft, normally a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress or Consilidated B-24 Liberator, to be modified to lead that group’s formation. Once the aircraft had been chosen it would be stripped of its armour and armament, fitted with extra navigations lights and repainted in a distinctive paint scheme tailored for each group. With a basic crew of five or six people, two pilots, navigator, wireless operator and either one or two crew members to discharge flares.
The aircraft would be the first to take-off, maintaining a steady speed and rate of climb they would then fly to the rendezvous point discharging flares and flashing their lights until the aircraft of the group they were leading had successfully formed up. Once this had been done they would then change course for the intended target until they formed up with the other bomber groups on the operation. Then, along with the other assembly ships, turned round and returned to base, while the bombers continued onto their target.
Rage in Heaven (USAAC Serial No. 44-40165), a later model B-24J Liberator, was Lead Assembly Ship for 491st Bombardment Group, operated by the 852nd Bombardment Squadron, and replacing the groups older assemblyship The Little Gramper.  This crashed, exploded and burned on 5 January 1945 after taking off in a blinding snowstorm to lead the assembly of the group. A second B-24 crashed minutes later because of the icy conditions and the mission was cancelled. Rage in Heaven was a combat veteran aircraft with the 852nd Bombardment Squadron of the 491st Bombardment Group, but she is best known for her bright green and yellow stripes as an assembly aircraft. In her original scheme, it appears she had dark green stripes over bare metal, but in this later photograph she sports her better known with more yellow and green stripes (Ref.:24).