Heinkel He 177 | World War Photos

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: He 177A-3 NF-GB of the Flugzeugführerschule (B) 16 at Burg

: He 177A-5 of the 4/KG 40

: He 177A-5 Greif of the 4/KG 40 2

: Prototype He 177V-2 CB-RQ

: He 177 frontal view

: Bomber He 177A-5 Greif

: He 177A-5 Greif of the 4/KG 40 Bordeaux-Merignac

: He 177 of the KG 100 with Aufsatzkran

: He 177 of the IV/KG 1 Summer 1944

: Pilot inside the cockpit of a He 177 Greif

: He 177A-1 W.Nr 15266 VF-RP Bourges 1944

: Rear gunner climbs into the tail turret of a He 177 Greif

: He 177 6N-UK of the 2/KG 100

: He 177 A-5 of the II/KG 40 undercarriage 3

: Captured He 177 TS439 on test flight in England 1944

: He 177 Brandis 1944

: Heinkel He 177 Lechfeld 1945/1946 2

: Heinkel He 177 A-5 of the II/KG 40 undercarriage

: Captured He 177 TS439 on test flight in England 1944 2

: Heinkel He 177 in flight

: He 177 landing

: He 177A-5 V4-CP of the 6/KG 1 in flight Summer 1944

: He 177A-3 6N-SK of the KG 100

: Heinkel He 177A-02 DL-AQ

: He 177V-12 GI-BL with a pair of 30 mm MK 101 cannons

: Captured Heinkel He 177A-5 550256 France

: Heinkel He 177A-3 V4-AK of the KG 1 at Brandis

: Abandoned Heinkel He 177 France 25 November 1944

: He 177 coded F8+BS of the 8/KG 40

: He 177A-5 TM-IU 550229 with Schleppgerat

: He 177A-5 of the I/FKG 50 Zaporoze

: He 177V-12 GI-BL gondola with 30 mm MK 101 cannons

: He 177A-5 87

: He 177 of the 5/KG 100

: He177 4

: He 177 rear gunner

: He 177A-1 coded VF-RP of the KG 1 Bourges 44 2

: He 177 E8-G? of KG 50

: Wreck of He 177 1945

: Abandoned He 177 Gebielstadt Germany 16 May 1945

: He 177 tail gunner

: He 177 from Flugzeugführerschule (FFS) C 16

: He 177A-0 code E8-HK of 2/FKG 50

: He 177 35

: He 177A-3 of I/KG 100

: He 177A-3 2143 VD-XS Flugzeugführerschule (FFS) C 16, Burg

: He 177A-5 550060 of II/KG 40

: He 177A-3 of the I/KG 100 2

: He 177 1944

: He 177V-5 PM-OD in flight

: He 177 of the Flugzeugführerschule (FFS) C 16, Burg 1944

: He 177 of KG 1 in Konigsberg-Devau December 1943

: He 177A-1

: Captured He 177A-5 550050 France

: He 177 Lechfeld 1945/1946

: He 177A-5 of the II/KG 40 undercarriage 2

He 177 was a 4-engined long-range World War 2 bomber of the Luftwaffe. The troubled aircraft was the only heavy bomber built in large numbers by Germany during the war.
Aircrews nicknamed it the Reichsfeuerzeug (lighter of the Reich) due the engines’ tendency to catch fire in early versions of the type. An unusual feature of the airplane were the twin-engines in each nacelle that drove a single propeller. The twin-engines had first been introduced on the Heinkel He 119 to reduce drag where they worked trouble-free, but their tight installation in the He 177 led to considerable problems. Starting with He 177A-3 a modified engine nacelle with a new engine (DB610, each containing two DB605) was used to eliminate this tendency.
Beset by many other technical diffculties in development and service, the plane had a troubled life. This was in part due to overly optimistic design requirements which in addition to long-range, high-speed, and carry a large bomb-load, was to be capable of dive bombing. Though Goering forbade Heinkel to develop a four engine version, Heinkel did anyways, leading to the development of the Heinkel He 274 and the Heinkel He 277 which had separate engines in the more commonly seen fashion.
The use of the He 177 was ended by the Fighter Emergency Program (Jägernotprogramm) which cancelled bomber production and operations and gave priority to defensive fighters in the final stages of the war.