Heinkel He 277
)[2][3] Statements by Göring in August 1942 in response to Oberst Edgar Petersen's reports - in his capacity as the Kommandeur der Erprobungstellen ("commander of all Luftwaffe test stations"), at Erprobungsstelle Rechlin - on solving the serious problems with the original Heinkel He 177A's powerplants, seem to directly contradict elements of that narrative.
[9] The RLM as of late spring of 1943 anticipated that three He 277 V-series prototype aircraft, and construction of ten pre-production He 277A-0 series service test machines would come from Heinkel's Schwechat southern plant complex in Austria beginning in 1944.
[11] The considerable changes in the He 277's overall design philosophy evolved after the Amerikabomber requirement’s emergence in 1941, from the changes in the He 277's general arrangement proposal drawings during that time period, especially after Heinkel had worked out the earlier P.1064 project in 1942 for a six-engine strategic bomber.
The first development of the original He 177A to fly with four "individual" engines – using a quartet of He 219-style annular radiators to cool its likely-unitized Daimler-Benz DB 603 powerplants – was the second He 177B prototype, the He 177 V102, on December 20, 1943.
The general arrangement Typenblatt drawings that Heinkel's firm was developing for the He 277 by mid-1943[16] show an advanced design of heavy bomber, with a 133 square meter area (1,431.6 sq.
The main crew accommodation of the He 277 consisted of a heavily glazed and "greenhouse"-framed clear view "stepless" cockpit, a common feature of many late-war German bomber airframes and new designs.
[22] Provision was shown on the Heinkel Typenblatt general arrangement drawing for four underwing hardpoints, two per wing panel on either side outboard of the engines, potentially allowing external ordnance loads or drop tanks to extend the bomber's capabilities or range.
The lightest warload of six 500 kg (1,100 lb) SC 500 bombs for each bomb bay configuration, gave the tricycle-geared, 1.9 meter exterior width wider-fuselage version, considering a larger load (12,200 kg/26,895 lb) of fuel, a possible stated maximum range of 11,100 km (6,900 mi), equalling the potential range capability of the earlier-designed Me 261, an indicator of what could have been achieved had the 277 been in full consideration from its beginnings for the Amerikabomber design competition.
The gunner for the turret would lay prone, facing rearwards in a starboard-side offset position with a slightly protruding ventral blister-like gondola for the gun sight.
[27] Some sideview line drawing depictions of purported "He 277" aircraft, usually in the same aviation history volumes that purveyed the erroneous "He 177B/He 277" storyline, also show what could be an early He 177A-7-based depiction of the later Amerikabomber competitor bearing the He 177A's "Cabin 3" standard cockpit and a quartet of the He 219-derived Kraftei DB 603 inverted V12 engines actually used on the four He 177B-series prototypes (He 177 V101 through V104) for power, with the abandoned Bugstandlafette BL 131V quadmount remote turret as a "chin turret"[28] in place of the FDL 151Z system in the Heinkel firm's factory Typenblatt drawings — the BL 131V had been abandoned in 1943 as too heavy (reducing offensive bombload by a full tonne) and slowing the earlier He 177A airframe by some 30 km/h in top airspeed due to drag,[29] making even the chance of its proposed existence on any He 277 design proposals unlikely.
[30] With the US involvement in the European theater commencing in mid-August 1942, the Luftwaffe now found that it had a serious need for a well-armed, long-range bomber, which could not be achieved with the 1,120 kW (1,500 hp) class engines it had.
Such ongoing difficulties in developing high-output aviation powerplants of over 1,500 kW apiece, that could be used in combat with proven reliability — which excluded the DB 606 engines of the earlier He 177A variants, which themselves proved to be seriously troublesome from the start of the He 177A's combat service in 1942 — meant that six engines of the under-1,500 kW (2,000 PS) power output levels would be needed on a strategic bomber design to fly from Europe, attack the US and safely return to base, with an effective bombload to be effective, and adequate defensive firepower.
Data from Griehl, Manfred and Dressel[36]General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
