Last year, I wrote a post on the Heinkel 11 (HE 111), an aircraft developed in Germany in the mid-1930s as a civilian transport machine. Given the prohibitions against rearmament placed on Germany after WW1, the designers of the aircraft did an end-run by creating an aircraft that could ultimately be used as a fast medium bomber during WW2.
You can read my original post for more information on the HE 111’s role in delivering spies over the shores of England. In this post, I want to share some videos I’ve come across that give a sense of the aircraft.
The last flying version of the HE 111, a CASA 2.111 developed by the Spanish under license, was owned by the Commemorative Air Force and crashed in Wyoming in 2003 killing both pilots.
Four actual HE 111’s (not CASA 2.111s) remain (none flyable): one in Spain, two in Norway and one in Hendon, England.
The first video – He 111 Heinkel Bomber Tour and Flight Demo – was filmed in 1997 and is of the last flying HE 111. If you read the comments below the video, you’ll find one from “justforever96” from about 2 years ago who has several complaints about the video. It’s very long but quite informative.
There is also a German propaganda film about an HE 111 engaging with a British fighter craft. The video has an annoying watermark but is interesting.
Finally, there is the Wings of the Luftwaffe – HE 111 – in my post from a year ago, the video was broken up into 3 sections. This new link is for one single 45 minute video.
(Header image – “avdpb_he111_03” by gvgoebel is marked with CC PDM 1.0)