Vintage Revell 1/72 Heinkel He219 Owl night fighter

The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") was a night fighter serving in the later stages of World War II with the German Luftwaffe. The requirement for an advanced night fighter was issued in 1942 and the He 219 was the product of this program. It was a relatively sophisticated aircraft, possessing an excellent radar, the firepower of six 20 mm cannons, and was equipped with ejection seats. Had the Uhu been available in quantity, it might have had a significant effect upon the strategic bomber offensive of the Royal Air Force. With only 268 built, the He 219 had no appreciable impact upon the course of the war.

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. A claim consistently made is that, "In the next 10 days the three Heinkel He 219A-0 pre-production aircraft would shoot 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." No record of corresponding Mosquito losses or any documentary evidence exists, however, to suggest that He 219 pilots actually made claims for six Mosquitos during this time.

Production finally got underway with the He 219 A-2 model which included a longer engine nacelle containing an extra fuel tank and typically included the R1 kit with two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons installed as Schräge Musik. Production problems due to Allied bombing meant the A-2/R1 did not reach Luftwaffe units until October 1943. The first 10-15 aircraft were delivered with the 490 MHz UHF FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 radar sets.

Milch repeatedly tried to have the program killed and in the process, Kammhuber was removed from office. Production ceased for a time but was restarted because the new Junkers Ju 388s were taking too long to get into service. Only 206 He 219s had been produced in the previous 15 months. Soon the A-5 began production and was the first major production variant He 219 to enter production. The A-5 featured an updated, 90 MHz VHF Telefunken FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar system. It had less range than the C-1, but improved accuracy and resolution and was less vulnerable to chaff jamming.

The He 219 was a capable fighter aircraft, allowing the pilots a large degree of autonomy. Ground control simply got them into the right area and then the pilots took over and hunted down the bombers on their own; the SN-2 radar's 4 km (3 mi) range was greater than the distance between the bombers. While the performance of the A-5 was not extraordinary — approximately 580 km/h (360 mph) speed — it was enough of an advance over the Messerschmitt Bf 110s and Junkers Ju 88Gs to allow the aircraft to chase several bombers in one sortie.

In order to combat the Mosquito, the He 219 had all excess weight removed. With some weapon and radio systems deleted the aircraft was able to attain a speed of 650 km/h (400 mph). This version was given the designation A-6.

The last major production version was the A-7 with improved DB603E engines. The A-7 could be outfitted with two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108s in the wing roots, two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 cannons and two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons in a ventral tray and two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108s in a Schräge Musik installation. The MK 103s, however were not usually fitted due to weight considerations.

The follow-on series was to be the He 219B fitted with the new, but very troublesome, 1,864 kW (2,500 hp) Junkers Jumo 222A/B 24-cylinder engines, which would have allowed the He 219 to reach 700 km/h (440 mph). They were also to have had increased wing spans of 22.06 m (72.38 ft) for better high-altitude performance. The Jumo 222s did not reach production status however, and only a test machine or two were ever fitted for the engine; some additional airframes with the enlarged wing were slated to fly with high-altitude versions of the DB 603. But again, only one or two test machines ever flew in that configuration.

A further adaptation would have been the He 219C, also intended to use the big wing and Jumo 222 powerplants as well as an all-new fuselage of 17.15 m (56.27 ft) and a complete three-man Ju 388J cockpit section forward and a manned power tail turret aft. Day bomber and night fighter versions were proposed and metal was cut on the project, but without the Jumo engines, they never flew.

Paper projects include the very-high-altitude He 219E with a vastly increased wingspan of 28.5 m (93.5 ft) and DB 614 engines, which were apparently an uprated DB 603G capable of 1,491 kW (2,000 hp).

A more reasonable project was the Hütter Hü 211, a design created by Wolfgang Hütter, that took a standard He 219 fuselage and tail and added a long-span, high aspect ratio wing of 24.55 m (80.54 ft) to create a fast, high-altitude interceptor. Since this design was to be powered by the Jumo 222, it was fated to never fly, although work continued on two sets of wings until they were destroyed by Allied bombing.

The He 219 gained an almost mythical reputation. The aircraft was clearly underpowered, however and was not the "Mosquito killer" it is generally reputed to have been. High wing loading meant poor maneuverability, with a wider turning radius than the Junkers Ju 88G-6. Nevertheless, it is clear that the aircraft should have been allowed to continue to be produced and that a night fighter wing armed with this aircraft (instead of the Luftwaffe's motley collection of outdated heavy fighters and converted medium bombers) would have been considerably stronger opposition for the RAF.