Heinkel He 277 (Amerika Bomber)

Four-Engine Heavy Bomber Aircraft Project [ 1943 ]

Like other multi-engine heavy bomber projects of the Germans during World War 2, little became of the proposed Heinkel He 277 design.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 02/28/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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There were many German aviation concerns lending their talents to the war effort of World War 2 (1939-1945) but only a few stood above the others - Heinkel, Messerschmitt, Focke-Wulf being some of the more notable ones. While Heinkel's contribution is largely through its He 111 medium bomber series, it also tried its hand at a larger, more advanced multi-engined platform in the ultimately-failed He 177 "Greif" ("Griffon"). A unique compound engine arrangement was featured which coupled a pair of Daimler-Benz DB605 inline engines (as the DB610) but these proved prone to catching fire and several prototypes were lost in development. Structural issues only served to limit the type in production as fewer than 1,000 examples were seen by war's end - manufacture was actually ended earlier in 1944.

Back in April of 1942, the RLM initiated the "Amerika Bomber" program which called for a new long-range bomber featuring inherent endurance to bomb targets along the American East Coast following the United States' entry into World War 2 (December 1941). The range in question was about 3,600 miles and various companies threw their hat into the ring, various designs being contemplated which ranged from the conventional to the more advanced/bizarre. One final quality of the large aircraft would be provision to deliver an atomic bomb under development by German scientists before the end of the war.

The companies called to further their more conventionally-minded/conventionally-powered designs became Focke-Wulf, Heinkel, Junkers and Messerschmitt. For Focke-Wulf this became the Fw 300 and Ta 400 entries and Heinkel followed with their He 277 based on the aforementioned He 177. Junkers worked on their Ju 390 concept and Messerschmitt poured its resources into the Me 264. No one offering made it into operational service and eight prototypes (five from Junkers and three from Messerschmitt) was all there was to show for the late-war effort.

The He 177B was selected to form the basis of the He 277 submission. This represented a more conventionally-arranged, four-engine form of their compound-engined He 177A model. Thus, the complexities and engine troubles of the A-model were done away with and control issues were to be remedied by way of a twin-finned tail unit. Four engine nacelles were split as two per wing unit. A manned and a remote-controlled dorsal turret - along with a tail gun position, nose position and ventral chin/aft-facing position - would defend the aircraft from interception. A tubular fuselage was employed with a glazed-over nose section (as in the He 177A). The same "tail dragger" undercarriage seen in the He 177 would be reused in the He 277.

Power would come from 4 x BMW 801E 14-cylinder twin-row radial piston engines developing 1,975 horsepower each to which performance estimates included a maximum speed of 355 miles per hour, a maximum range of 3,728 miles and a service ceiling of 29,530 feet. The bomb load was 6,615 pounds total for trans-Atlantic sorties where fuel and weight-savings were important to range. Otherwise the type was cleared for up to 12,345 pounds of stores for more local missions with a 2,700 mile radius.

Despite the promising specifications, Heinkel could do little about German fortunes as the war deteriorated from 1944 into 1945. No prototypes were completed with only a few components fabricated by war's end (the He 277 project itself was cancelled back in April of 1944). With the shift to jet-powered bombers, it is doubtful the He 277 would have become a frontrunner for the Luftwaffe's long-range bomber need - which became increasingly focused on turbojet-powered types before the end and furthermore placed an emphasis on fighters and interceptors to counter the Allied bomber threat.

The He 277 ended as another German paper airplane and nothing more though the He 274 served as an offshoot of the program. This addition was also featured before war's end but amounted to two incomplete airframes which were taken over, and completed, by French industry. First flight of an He 274 was in December of 1945.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1943

Origin

Nazi Germany

Status

CANCELLED
Development Ended.

Crew

7

Production

0
UNITS

Heinkel - Nazi Germany

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Nazi Germany

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Ground Attack (Bombing, Strafing)
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.

✓ X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.

Length

75.5 ft
(23.00 m)

Width/Span

131.2 ft
(40.00 m)

Height

19.7 ft
(6.00 m)

Empty Wgt

48,061 lb
(21,800 kg)

MTOW

98,106 lb
(44,500 kg)

Wgt Diff

+50,045 lb
(+22,700 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Heinkel He 277 (Amerika Bomber) production variant)

Installed: 4 x BMW 801E 14-cylinder (twin-row) radial piston engines developing 1,975 horsepower each.

Max Speed

354 mph
(570 kph | 308 kts)

Ceiling

29,528 ft
(9,000 m | 6 mi)

Range

3,728 mi
(6,000 km | 11,112 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Heinkel He 277 (Amerika Bomber) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

STANDARD:
2 x 20mm MG 151/20 cannons in remote-controlled chin turret.
2 x 20mm MG 151/20 cannons in remote-controlled forward dorsal turret.
2 x 20mm MG 151/20 cannons in remote-controlled aft dorsal turret.
2 x 20mm MG 151/20 cannons in remote-controlled ventral turret.
4 x 13mm MG 131 heavy machine guns in tail turret.

OPTIONAL:
Up to 19,000 lb of stores to be carried including 12,345 standard internal and 6,615 in disposable stores.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft heavy machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

He 277 - Base Series Designation

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Image of the Heinkel He 277 (Amerika Bomber)

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