Classic Publications

Heinkel He-177 Greif Heinkel's Strategic Bomber

by  J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek
Reviewed By  Fred Amos, IPMS# 6672

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MSRP: $58.95
Hardcover, 9 x 12 inches, 208 pages, 325 color and b/w photos, profiles and artwork.
ISBN: 9781903223932
Website: www.specialtypress.com

The He-177 was a formidable warplane with the potential to have been a lethal weapon for the Nazis. Unfortunately, it was ill-fated and suffered from serious problems such as an inherently poor engine design and 'knee-jerk' role diversification by the commanders in charge. Most aviation enthusiasts will know that the type was handicapped from the start by the use of the DB 606 engine, effectively two DB 601s joined by a gearbox, necessary to allow it to act as a dive bomber - engines which had an alarming tendency to burst into flames. The book contains ten chapters and here’s what’s covered:

Chapters 1-3: A review of strategic bombing and the development of the first prototypes and production A-1 series aircraft. A quick comparison to the Avro Manchester, also powered by coupled engines, is included.

Chapters 4-6: These cover the development and operational history. Many of the supply sorties flown were lost due to engine fires, demonstrating just how poor the design was at this stage. Other shortcomings comings are also listed. The guided missiles, the Fritz-X and Hs 293, are also described in some detail.

Chapter 7: This covers the fixes that the Luftwaffe tried for all the problems mentioned in the previous chapters

Chapters 8-10: These cover the late war history of the He 177. The book continues the high standard that this series is famous for and includes interesting photographs, parts of the He 177 manuals; several color photographs and side views are also included

Highly recommended reading for the modeler and aviation history buff. My thanks to Specialty Press for providing the review sample.