HEINKEL HE 219 A-2

Heinkel He-219 Uhu (German eagle owl) is a German, twin-engine night fighter with a metal structure, with a pressurized cabin from the Second World War. Originally, Heinkel Flugzeugwerke designed the He-219 as a long-range reconnaissance aircraft, but due to the intervention of General Josef Kammhuber, the machine was redesigned as a night fighter. This fact was dictated by the more and more effective air raids by Allied bombers on Germany. The flight of the prototype took place on November 15, 1942, and the "combat spurs" were captured by the new machine on the night of June 11-12, 1943. From the very beginning, the aircraft was equipped with the FuG 212 Liechtenstein C-1 aircraft radar, later in the FuG 220 SN-2 version. The plane turned out to be extremely successful, including many air victories. However, in 1944 production was discontinued in favor of the Ju-88G and the designed Do-335. Overall, around 300 aircraft of this type were built at the plant in Schwecht. Interestingly, the plane used the "Schräge Musik" system - an installation consisting of cannons or machine guns firing upwards, enabling bomber firing from below. Technical data (version He-219A-7): length: 15.5 m, wingspan: 18.5 m, height: 4.4 m, maximum speed: 616 km / h, maximum range: 1540 km, maximum ceiling 9300 m, armament: fixed- 6 20mm MG151 cannons, 30mm 2 MK108 cannons in the "Schräge Musik" layout.