Heinkel He 177 Greif

what is it?

The Heinkel He 177 Greif (Griffin) was a long-range heavy bomber flown by the Luftwaffe during World War II. The introduction of the He 177 to combat operations was significantly delayed by problems both with the development of its engines and frequent changes to its intended role. Nevertheless, it was the only long-range, heavy bomber to become operational with the Luftwaffe during the conflict. The He 177 had a payload/range capability similar to that of four-engined heavy bombers used by the Allies in the European theatre.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 31.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 488 km/htop speed
• range 6,000 kmwithout refuelling
• size 32 tmax take-off weight
• built 1,169made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 87 years ago, in 1939.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 31.4 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 5 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 6,000 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1939-11

introduced

1942

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

1,169

role

long-range heavy bomber

makers

Heinkel

engines

2× Daimler-Benz DB 610 / Daimler-Benz DB 605

length

22 m

wingspan

31.4 m

height

6.7 m

max take-off weight

32 t

top speed

488 km/h

cruise speed

415 km/h

range

6,000 km

ceiling

8,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.