Specialty Press

Heinkel He-100 Record Breaker

by  Erwin Hood

Reviewed By  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: $29.95 ISBN 10: 1085780-260-8 ISBN 13: 978-1-85780-260-3 Paperback, 96 Pages, 150 b/w & color photos and artwork, Item # MC260 Specialty Press, 39966 Grand Ave., North Branch, MN 55056. (www.specialtypress.com) THE BOOK Specialty Press has issued a number of excellent publications on historical aircraft and general aviation subjects, and this little gem is no exception. It is concise, well-written, and excellently illustrated, and covers the topic as thoroughly as possible considering the time lapse between the events and the writing, and the rarity of documentation and personal accounts of the events in question. The author brings out some interesting points concerning the development of fighter aircraft in Nazi Germany, and the effect that the Nazi political system, if indeed one could really call it a system at all, on rational decision making in their aviation industry. The Heinkel establishment was locked into the production of multi-engine bombers and other specialized aircraft by the late thirties, and Messerschmitt had already established himself as the leading designer of fighters, so Heinkel was seen as somewhat of an intruder, even though Heinkel's products were comparable to the Bf-109. In 1937, Heinkel proposed a new fighter, which became the HE-100, based primarily on light weight and high performance. Part of this was due to a surface-evaporation cooling system which did away with the conventional radiator. The aircraft was produced only in limited numbers, and went through protracted design development, as Heinkel intended to use it to break the world absolute speed record, which it did in 1939. The book goes on to describe the export of a few examples to the Russians and the Japanese, although photos of the Russian aircraft show no distinguishing markings, and photos of the Japanese version apparently were not available. One subject covered in some detail is the use of the HE-100 as an intelligence ploy to convince the Allies that the plane was in squadron service. This ruse was successful, and Allied recognition manuals show that the aircraft was thought to be in service, and RAF pilots actually reported shooting them down during the Battle of Britain, even though the Luftwaffe never operated the fighter in its regular units. This is a fascinating book, and should be in the library of anyone interested in Luftwaffe operations during World War II. Modelers will find a wealth of information and high quality quarter scale drawings as well as color profiles of some of the major prototypes. The author goes into more detail than I have ever seen published on this type, and the bibliography and endnotes are examples of the depth of research that this work represents. There are a couple of 1/72 scale kits available of this aircraft, and presumably also in 1/48 scale, and if you are planning on doing any of them, this book is an essential reference. Get one while they are available. Highly recommended. Thanks to IPMS and Marie Norton at Specialty Press for the review copy.

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