Heinkel He 177
| Heinkel He 177
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| Description
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| Role | Heavy bomber
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| Crew | 5
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| First Flight | 1939
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| Entered Service |
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| Manufacturer | Heinkel, also built by Arado
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| Dimensions
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| Length | 20.5 m | 67ft 3in
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| Wingspan | 5.5 m | 18ft 2in
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| Height | 5.5 m | 18ft 2in
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| Wing Area | 101.5 m² | 1,092 ft²
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| Weights
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| Empty | 15,870 kg | 35,000 lbs
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| Loaded | 32,470 kg | 71,600 lbs
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| Maximum takeoff | kg | lbs
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| Powerplant
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| Engine | 2 × Daimler-Benz DB 606 units (each containing 2 DB 601)
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| Power (each unit) | 1,790 kW | 2,400 hp
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| Performance
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| Maximum speed | 434km/h @ 6,400m | 270mph @ 21,000ft
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| Combat range | 1,540 km | 960 miles
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| Ferry range | 1,770 km | 1,100 miles
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| Service ceiling | 9,300 m | 30,500 ft
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| Rate of climb | m/min | ft/min
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| Wing loading | 319.9 kg/m² | 65.6 lb/ft²
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| Power/Mass | 0.11 kW/kg | 0.067 hp/lb
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| Armament
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| Guns | Some variants had 75mm cannon
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| Bombs | 7,700 kg | 17,000 lbs
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Heinkel He 177 was a 4-engined long-range World War 2 bomber of the Luftwaffe. The troubled aircraft was the only heavy bomber built in large numbers by Germany during the war.
Aircrews nicknamed it the Reichsfeuerzeug (lighter of the Reich) due the engines' tendency to catch fire. An unusual feature of the airplane were the twin-engines in each nacelle that drove a single propeller. The twin-engines had first been introduced on the Heinkel He 119 to reduce drag where they worked trouble-free, but their tight installation in the He 177 led to considerable problems.
Beset by many other technical diffculties in development and service, the plane had a troubled life. This was in part due to overly optimistic design requirements which in addition to long-range, high-speed, and carry a large bomb-load, was to be capable of dive bombing. Other variants of plane, the Heinkel He 274 and Heinkel He 277, produced later in the war had separate engines in the more commonly seen fashion.
Production Numbers: 1000+
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