Heinkel He 113

The Heinkel He 113 was a fictitious German fighter aircraft of World War II, invented as a propaganda and possibly disinformation exercise.

In 1940, Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels publicised the fact that a new fighter was entering service with the Luftwaffe.

The plan involved taking pictures of Heinkel He 100 D-1s at different air bases around Germany, each time sporting a new paint job for various fictional fighter groups.

The aircraft also appeared in a series of "action shot" photographs in various magazines such as Der Adler, including claims that it had proven itself in combat in Denmark and Norway.

One source claims that the aircraft were on loan to the one Luftwaffe Staffel in Norway for a time, but this might be a case of the same misinformation working many years later[citation needed].

The fictitious He 113 (in reality an He 100 D-1) in a spurious night fighter unit
A Heinkel He 111 escorted by a He 113 on a postcard photo
He 113 illustrations from Air Publication AP1764 published March 1940
He 113 silhouette used by aircraft spotters in 1940