Name: A05009 HEINKEL He 177 Greiff
Brand: Airfix
Price: 19.99 EUR
Availability: OutOfStock

The Heinkel He 177 Greif (Griffin) was the only operational long-range bomber to be flown in combat by the Luftwaffe during World War II. In general terms, the He 177 had payload/range capability similar to strategic bombers in the USAAF and RAF, although it had much higher cruise and maximum speeds.

Designed to a 1936 requirement known as Bomber A, the aircraft was originally intended to be a purely strategic bomber intended to support a long-term bombing campaign against Soviet industry in the Urals. During the design phase, Luftwaffe doctrine came to stress the use of dive bombing in order to improve accuracy, and the design was extensively modified to allow shallow-angle "glide bombing". This change, along with the demand that it use only two fully nacelled "engines" to allegedly reduce drag for the initially-demanded "glide bombing" capability, created numerous problems for the aircraft. Luftwaffe aircrew nicknamed it the Luftwaffenfeuerzeug (Luftwaffe's lighter) or the "Flaming Coffin" due to the serious engine problems on initial versions. Many of these stemmed from the power plants' installation in their wing nacelles, which caused cooling problems which were never completely solved.

The type eventually matured into a usable design, but too late in the war to play an important role. It was built and used in some number, especially on the Eastern Front where its range was particularly useful. It is noted for its use in mass raids on Velikiye Luki in 1944, one of the few late-war heavy bombing efforts by the Luftwaffe. It saw considerably less use on the Western Front, although it played a role during the late-war Operation Steinbock, or "baby blitz" against the UK.

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