F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible. Feel free to leave you questions below - I may not be able to answer all of them, but I will keep my eyes open :)
If I were an allied fighter pilot, I would concentrate all my fire on the middle engine just to see if one or both halves could still fly if it were cut in two.
Don't do that! Then you would have two bombers instead of only one. Or, you would have 500 Luftwaffe bombers if you could successfully blow all 250 of these things in half. Now, Eagle Eye friends, I'm wondering if you were flying a P-47 and shot out that No. 5 centerline engine splitting the Junkers in half, then you shot both halves down, would you get credit for 3 kills?
Great videos, Rex. Please keep them coming! The Me 321 Gigant was flown by Hanna Reitsch, who struggled to fly it due to the immense weight of the control surfaces, and suggested it needed two pilots just for the muscle power. I recall there's a brief mention of this in one of the episodes of the superlative and unsurpassed 1977 BBC series 'The Secret War'.
German general : "We need a bigger bomber" German engineer : "Yes, but there is a problem. We do not have time for designing one, we do not have the resources" German general : "Oh come on, just take two Henkels and join them together. Can't be that difficult" German engineer : "Oh... I see... alright then, as you wish"
The He11Z could have been quite a capable stop gap solution in the anti shipping role over the Atlantic ocean, replacing the Fw200 while the He 177 was still plagued with several developement problems. It was more than 50km/h faster than the Fw200 and had twice the defensive armament. With a 2 ton bomb load, range should have been about the same in both aircraft.
I wish there was an original he 111 still fly worthy I think there is only the one of Spanish version still working but I think it's not as asthetically pleasing as the original model with it's jumo engines
Brilliant? They used 2 airframes, 5 engines, and 7 crew to tow a glider. Probably cheaper an more effectively to just build a cargo plane from the get go.
The really amazing this is how this weirdo of a plane worked so well and was free of problems, when much simpler-looking aircraft were full of problems...
The Germans went from a ‘giant’ glider to a ‘giant’ 6 engined behemoth! But it was too slow and it became a target for fighters to practice on. But the hinged nose was a sign of things to come (allies would load Jeeps into C47s via the side doors) Gotta admit that the Giant looks very impressive and so was the Z1 I’m surprised the didn’t do something more exotic like strap a Fock Wolf Condor (or maybe 2!) to the top of the Giant to not only lift it but maybe go a little bit faster…. I’m not an engineer but the sight of a stack like that would be VERY impressive! Can you do a video of something that called (I think) the Short Mayo composite. It was a flying boat that would piggy back a smaller float plane out to sea then launch it in an attempt to give it the range to fly from the UK to the USA. That would be an interesting video.
In the latest phase of the war the Germans created the Mistel composite aircraft combinations of modified Ju 88 / B109 or Fw 190 planes. Also jet propelled combinations were proposed.
A beautiful model to built with two plastic models from Revell at 1/32 scale. A resin kit for propellers and midle wing part. At this scale, 1,10 meters wingspan appear monstrous.
All people see when they look at the Gigant is a big slow vulnerable slug that was easy prey for fighters. What you actually see is the first heavy-lift tactical/assault transport. This thing could carry a tank! Anyways, even if it were a C-5 or C-130, it still would be easy meat for fighters, if operating in an area where it's planes didn't enjoy air superiority. Good video on the Zwilling..... The logistics and complexity of these glider launches remind one of the huge crews and resources required to launch a single V-2 rocket.
The Gigant is probably my favorite WWII German aircraft, just because it was uniquely practical. If any of them had survived the war, they could have earned a measure of final glory during the Berlin Airlift.
I'm astounded that this thing reached production and so many were produced. I may have heard about it before, but wrote it off as one of those strange aeronautical experiments that wouldn't amount to a whole lot (not that it really did anyways) other than a crashed prototype and good video decades down the road. I suppose the concept isn't all that bad either considering large twin-fuselage planes have gained renewed popularity recently as motherships for launching spacecraft. I got really excited when this video popped up in my feed.
Oh wow! This plane is borderline comedic in terms of looks but what makes it funnier is the fact that it was literally came into existence because someone thought "hey why dont we make 2 of these at once as simese (if that's how you spell it) twins" Also "zwilling" means "twin if you didn't know already and it's pronounced more like "tsvilling" because german and because Ws are pronounced as Vs which there are (I think) a few other languages that share this
Before discovering this channel, I had no idea so many weird aircraft had been built. I was watching Virgin Orbit's twin fuselage plane being tested the other day and thought that looked weird enough, but this one beats it by 80 years! Mind you, a big fat glider with rockets just about beats everything...
Survivors: In my vast collection of parts and aircraft, I have one midsection from a He111Z, including the Jumo engine, albeit missing several parts after it was cannibalized in the late days of the war. I have no idea if this was a spare part, an incomplete aircraft or the remains of a flying Z.
While unconventional, I bet there was fun to be had in flying one of these when not towing anything. Being designed as a tugboat, that means it has a boatload of power to play with when not hauling anything around. (never be sorry for your puns) I mean, test pilots said it was decent enough to fly. So while I don't think of it as being some purpose built aerobatic plane, good handling with all those engines must have been fun.
Simply stunning! The courage and innovation of these designs is astounding. And then to manufacture during a war economy - unbelievable. Major props to the test pilots who flew these designs.
I've a model of the Zwilling, Gigantic, and the motor version in 1/72 scale, its when you look at the size if the crew, you realise just how massive these planes actually were.
The Me 321 and Me 323 are dear to my heart, as worked in and live near Neutraubling, a city founded on the site of the Messerschmitt plant where these Giants were built. The main road follows the path of the plants main runway.
I own this kit and it is pretty accurate, the only problem is raised panel lines. This is easily removed by sanding. And it is a quite impressive piece in a display :)
Gotta say, this channel is up there with Mark Felton's for novelty, depth and diligence. Congrats on another beautiful production. (I loved the one on the Junkers G38 also, btw.) Thx.
You should see the Bf-109Z-3; Two coupled Bf-109 F-4's with a single pilot and fuel tank where the other cockpit used to be. Equipped with the Jumo 213E - rated 40% stronger than the original Daimler-Benz DB605 - it would have been fast and armed with five 30mm canon it would have a bite. It probably would have given the P-38 a run for its money. Of course with the obsession of the German High Command for bombers the Z-2 and Z-4 variants were to be bombers but in an interceptor ("zerstörer") role I think the Z-3 might have been excellent. "Fortunately" the prototype was destroyed in a bombardment and the project was abandoned...... another "what-if".
Very well researched. The first records I found when researching the motivations for the Dieppe Raid were of course to capture spare jet engines for the experimental 262, but surprisingly I came across references to a He111 multi engine long range bomber.
The redesigned centre section did not mount where the original wing fitted to the fuselage, it mounted where the outer wing panel of the existing bomber would have fitted. From the engine nacelle inward, the airframe was fundamentally unchanged. Of course, control runs had to be modified so that both rudders and elevators could be operated from one cockpit.
@@Mishn0 I have that kit iny stash too. 1/72. Haven't built it, and haven't seen it in years. Don't remember the brand. I thought of a goofy project: A Ju88 with a warhead instead of the cockpit over the He111Z and an FW190D on stilts over the Ju88. So the He111Z would get the Ju88 flying bomb in range, and then the top two planes detach, and the piloted FW190 guides it to just over the target, then escapes. Only for special missions like dropping in on # 10 Downing Street.
In case you didn't know but want to know: "Gigant" ("giant", quite obviously) is stressed on the 2nd syllable ("Gi'gunnt"). German "w" is pronounced like "v" so "Zwilling" ("twin", quite obviously) is pronounced "tsvilling". The German diphthong "ei" is pronounced like English "i" so the "Hein" in "Heinkel" rhymes with "fine". 🍻
I do know about this aircraft but it was interesting to see it again. I do know that one or two of the early flights using the Bf 110 got a bit hairy because of engine problems. At takeoff when the engines were straining a maximum power the last thing you needed was an engine failure. But that did happen. So the offending aircraft would have to release its cable in order to save itself. The problem now was that there was only two aircraft trying to drag the Gigant into the air and and I am sure you can imagine the numerous problems this led to. Also the booster rockets did not always work. One such failure in 1941 resulted in a collision of the Me 321 and the tow-planes which resulted with 129 deaths from the three Bf 110s and the Gigant. At the time this was the deadliest air accident in history.
It may often be scoffed at but the idea was quite inspired, considering the task it was asked to perform. This huge Messerschmitt glider needed something to get it into the air (later, they fitted it with engines and it was no longer a glider). The "twin He 111" was much easier to build, than to design and build a dedicated glider tug as it used mostly bits that were already in large scale production with minimal re-engineering. The problem was that these were a short run of aircraft built to a (almost) specific purpose of towing and launching another relatively short run of gliders. They would have been sitting ducks if re-purposed as bombers and proved woefully inadequate when forced into the transport role. Had they been available earlier in the war, they might have been more of a threat (and more robust) than the FW Condor in the maritime recon role. In truth, it proved to be a wrong turn and waste of resources in the end but I like the idea. There is (!!!) a 1/48 kit of this beast available. I have one.
Photoshop? Nein! Love the pithy commentary, Rex and Company. Obviously and craft Goring and Hitler loved: It huge and intimidating. The fact that was useless makes it beautiful.
Years ago I read the memoirs of the British pilot who shot down the Zwilling over France, sadly I cannot remember his name. Pilots were under orders not to waste time and ammo shooting out engines in an attempt to spare bomber crews, but to aim for the cockpit which was quicker. When he encountered the Zwilling it was a sitting duck, he could not bring himself to do it. He was a airman, not a murderer. So he disobeyed orders, shot out one engine, then a second, then a third at which point the crew all bailed out. Respect to him.
Star Wars fans: oh come on, ships like the Cloud Car, Tie Bomber, etc are totally unrealistic, I hate them. It's just the same ship stuck alongside a copy of itself! Who would ever believe a ship/plane like that? WWII geeks: hold my beer
The Me 323 will always be memorable to me due to Call of Duty Big Red One, which has a mission where you're a liberator crewman and your bomber steam encounters a fleet of 323s trying to resupply the Africa Korp.
Do you think you might add the B-50 Super(duper)fortress to the list of aircraft you'd cover? The last piston-engined bomber for the USA. A temporary solution for what ended up a long-term problem (waiting for the B-47 to get into service). Not to mention, the first aircraft to fly around the planet nonstop. Maybe mention the XB-39 and B-54 with it?
~Hans n' Franz, busily fighting over who gets to fly it.... ~Or fly it next... ~Or whos the more competent pilot...;) ~Who gets the take off & landing.... ~Or who gets to nap/lie down....(Navigator/Bombardier for the !WIN!;)
@@Rockstar-vs1nbThe base model HE-111 had space for 2000kg of bombs internally, but could also carry external bomb loads. Hence why a lot of people see footage and photos of them with external armament
Just wondering if they considered joining the tail wings similar to the smaller Lockheed P38, do you think that would have put less stress on the front main wing given that any g-forces could have subjected it to twisting forces?
"Having three planes tow the glider has too high a risk of them crashing into each other." "What if we connected the towing planes together with a metal strut so that they can't?"
As a historian and a war thunder player the one thing that is always upset me about German aircraft during world war II is that virtually none of them ever had ball turrets on their belly. This would have been the perfect aircraft to just load up with extra armament yet they chose to make it a freaking Frontline bomber with virtually no defense or heavy hitting offensive cannons.
Hi Rex, I've drawn both the Me. 321 glider, a few 6 engined Me.323 transports and the He.111z, the downfall as far as allied fighter pilots were concerned these massive aircraft were easier to hit then a barn door! I do very much enjoy your videos however and so I look forward to your uploading more.
Conjoined planes are so fascinating and interesting looking. This and the twin Mustang are the only ones I know of (barring the by-design Virgin Spaceship) - I wonder if there are any others.
To be fair towards Stalingrad operations, the Axis front wanted 1500 tons per day by air for operations. They told command they could get by with 800 tons a day to hold the lines and command gave them 300 tons per day and struggled to average 150 tons with available aircraft and horribly over-extended, under staffed and equipped supply lines.
P-51 Mustang pilot to his wingman, "Look, two HE-111s. I'll take the right one. You take the left one." Wingman, " It looks like a single one to me." Other pilot, "Have you developed a case of double vision?"
I saw a old Fokker bomber design draft that consisted of 2 fuselages and a twin boom tail and contra-rotating propellor(2engines behind eachother) in the middle
I would be willing to bet that excepting accidents, the ones destroyed on the ground were most likely destroyed by strafing fighters rather than in bombing raids.
If you shoot one down does it count as one or two planes? Is this one plane powered by five engines or two planes powered by two and a half engines? Do you double park it? Does it have four or three wings? Since it towed several other aircraft does that make it a plane train? Was one of them part of a psychological attack using fallen soldiers? A plane train that rained slain Danes on Mainz if you will.
I really like your intro. Did you record yourself. If I shut my eyes, it's like I'm right there. Very impressive. Oh, I like your videos very much. You cover all the bases-video, research, narration etc.
It really bugs me that they didn't join the tail P-38 style. It's also annoying that they didn't bring the two booms closer and delete the middle engine.
![A Domestic Failure That Became An International Success | Curtiss P-36 Hawk [Aircraft Overview #33]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lTgY8za-2Xw/mqdefault.jpg)
![A Domestic Failure That Became An International Success | Curtiss P-36 Hawk [Aircraft Overview #33]](/img/tr.png)
![The British Bomber That Looked Utterly Ridiculous | Handley Page Heyford [Aircraft Overview #91]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A4tr_INSnjk/mqdefault.jpg)
F.A.Q Section
Q: Do you take aircraft requests?
A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:)
Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others?
A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both.
Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos?
A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :)
Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators?
A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible.
Feel free to leave you questions below - I may not be able to answer all of them, but I will keep my eyes open :)
Could you do a video on the Heinkel He 219?
@@ridleymain9234 I second this idea
Could we see a video overview of military gliders?
@@ridleymain9234 its on my list :)
@@brendonbewersdorf986 yup! Its on of my planned "long" videos. But these will take some time to finish
"An overweight sleigh towed by three explosive reindeer..."
That. Is. Brilliant. Best description of an aerial arrangement EVER..
if it took 3 bf 110
how many 109 needed to tow it
@@Project_1143M Probably 7 or 8.
@@robertoroberto9798"Rudolph the Swirl Nose Emil" 💀
Why are you Brits always compliment each others choice of words ? Exactly the same in Drachinifel comments.
If I were an allied fighter pilot, I would concentrate all my fire on the middle engine just to see if one or both halves could still fly if it were cut in two.
..that's not nice? ;-)
@@dallesamllhals9161 It's for science!
@@peddler931 Oh!? In that case - blast away ;-)
Don't do that! Then you would have two bombers instead of only one.
Or, you would have 500 Luftwaffe bombers if you could successfully blow all 250 of these things in half. Now, Eagle Eye friends, I'm wondering if you were flying a P-47 and shot out that No. 5 centerline engine splitting the Junkers in half, then you shot both halves down, would you get credit for 3 kills?
@@dragonmeddler2152 We're talking theoretical science now, right?
Hmm, 500 1½ wing He 111s in 1943 is that even scary? ;-)
3 planes towing the titanic, then the double bomber ... brave pilots wow ! Ty for sharing
germanium balls
If three planes towed the Titanic, do you think they would have spotted the iceberg sooner?
iirc they had gnarly accidents
"Our crazy towing/rocket setup for our giant glider is ready!"
"What if we just put engines on the glider?"
"Nonsense!!
...yeah, ok."
It's a shame that none of these survived, it would be amazing to see it in person
I like your sleigh and explosive reindeer analogy. :)
Great videos, Rex. Please keep them coming! The Me 321 Gigant was flown by Hanna Reitsch, who struggled to fly it due to the immense weight of the control surfaces, and suggested it needed two pilots just for the muscle power. I recall there's a brief mention of this in one of the episodes of the superlative and unsurpassed 1977 BBC series 'The Secret War'.
German general : "We need a bigger bomber"
German engineer : "Yes, but there is a problem. We do not have time for designing one, we do not have the resources"
German general : "Oh come on, just take two Henkels and join them together. Can't be that difficult"
German engineer : "Oh... I see... alright then, as you wish"
Didn't they also put together 2 Bf-109's later and called it a day?
@@KomradIosif well its quite a good heavy fighter design...and the americans build a P-82
Problem is, the Z wasn't a bomber after all. It was designed to tow gliders. There was a bomber variant planned (Z2, Z3) but those never happened.
You think ur funny?
@@nemiw4429 why u
The He11Z could have been quite a capable stop gap solution in the anti shipping role over the Atlantic ocean, replacing the
Fw200 while the He 177 was still plagued with several developement problems.
It was more than 50km/h faster than the Fw200 and had twice the defensive armament. With a 2 ton bomb load, range should have been about the same in both aircraft.
Honestly if I had a chance to fly with one of these and have a static or airworthy zwilling I would, I totally want one.
I wish there was an original he 111 still fly worthy I think there is only the one of Spanish version still working but I think it's not as asthetically pleasing as the original model with it's jumo engines
@@brendonbewersdorf986 ..pretty sure the last (Spanish) one crashed in 2003.
@@dallesamllhals9161 shame :/
Apparently only flown by specially trained telepathic twins
@@frederickbowdler8169 Considering the amount of occult in germany at the time, this is disturbingly not out of the question.
Bonkers, but brilliant. I'd love to see one in the air today.
ua-cam.com/video/WGt-iuM6pFw/v-deo.html
Brilliant? They used 2 airframes, 5 engines, and 7 crew to tow a glider. Probably cheaper an more effectively to just build a cargo plane from the get go.
A surprisingly simple solution to a weird problem.
The really amazing this is how this weirdo of a plane worked so well and was free of problems, when much simpler-looking aircraft were full of problems...
The Germans went from a ‘giant’ glider to a ‘giant’ 6 engined behemoth!
But it was too slow and it became a target for fighters to practice on.
But the hinged nose was a sign of things to come (allies would load Jeeps into C47s via the side doors)
Gotta admit that the Giant looks very impressive and so was the Z1
I’m surprised the didn’t do something more exotic like strap a Fock Wolf Condor (or maybe 2!) to the top of the Giant to not only lift it but maybe go a little bit faster….
I’m not an engineer but the sight of a stack like that would be VERY impressive!
Can you do a video of something that called (I think) the Short Mayo composite. It was a flying boat that would piggy back a smaller float plane out to sea then launch it in an attempt to give it the range to fly from the UK to the USA. That would be an interesting video.
The smaller float plane was designed to fly ahead with the priority mail.
Fighters? Some of them were shot down by B-26 BOMBERS!
In the latest phase of the war the Germans created the Mistel composite aircraft combinations of modified Ju 88 / B109 or Fw 190 planes. Also jet propelled combinations were proposed.
@@oxcart4172 the B-26 Marauder had fighter like maneuverability so...
@@michaelmckinnon7314
I guess you would need real turning capability to knock down a giant transport plane!
A beautiful model to built with two plastic models from Revell at 1/32 scale. A resin kit for propellers and midle wing part.
At this scale, 1,10 meters wingspan appear monstrous.
All people see when they look at the Gigant is a big slow vulnerable slug that was easy prey for fighters. What you actually see is the first heavy-lift tactical/assault transport. This thing could carry a tank! Anyways, even if it were a C-5 or C-130, it still would be easy meat for fighters, if operating in an area where it's planes didn't enjoy air superiority. Good video on the Zwilling..... The logistics and complexity of these glider launches remind one of the huge crews and resources required to launch a single V-2 rocket.
The Gigant is probably my favorite WWII German aircraft, just because it was uniquely practical. If any of them had survived the war, they could have earned a measure of final glory during the Berlin Airlift.
I'm astounded that this thing reached production and so many were produced. I may have heard about it before, but wrote it off as one of those strange aeronautical experiments that wouldn't amount to a whole lot (not that it really did anyways) other than a crashed prototype and good video decades down the road. I suppose the concept isn't all that bad either considering large twin-fuselage planes have gained renewed popularity recently as motherships for launching spacecraft. I got really excited when this video popped up in my feed.
I mean it did its job fairy well and relatively simple to design and produce because of the battle proven platform
I never would have believed this was real unless I had just seen a video about it. I'd heard of the twin-mustang, but this is just nuts
Love the odd planes histories.
Oh wow! This plane is borderline comedic in terms of looks but what makes it funnier is the fact that it was literally came into existence because someone thought "hey why dont we make 2 of these at once as simese (if that's how you spell it) twins"
Also "zwilling" means "twin if you didn't know already and it's pronounced more like "tsvilling" because german and because Ws are pronounced as Vs which there are (I think) a few other languages that share this
So a Twin Mustang would be borderline comedic too?
and Rechlin is not a CH sound its more of a famous german guggly sound
Zwilling in Afrikaans (South_Africa), is called a " Tweeling " .
@@dallesamllhals9161 No, that was and looks sensible. It's mainly because the wing is the only thing holding the He-111Z together.
it worked
Truly enjoyed all the additionally funny comments in this episode, possibly one of my favorites thus far! Very well done Rex!
Before discovering this channel, I had no idea so many weird aircraft had been built. I was watching Virgin Orbit's twin fuselage plane being tested the other day and thought that looked weird enough, but this one beats it by 80 years! Mind you, a big fat glider with rockets just about beats everything...
The North American F-82 Twin Mustang is probably the best known twin-fuselage aircraft.
Survivors: In my vast collection of parts and aircraft, I have one midsection from a He111Z, including the Jumo engine, albeit missing several parts after it was cannibalized in the late days of the war. I have no idea if this was a spare part, an incomplete aircraft or the remains of a flying Z.
Thank you for gathering information and shedding light on this fascinating and unusual airplane. Well edited, well narrated. Great job!
While unconventional, I bet there was fun to be had in flying one of these when not towing anything. Being designed as a tugboat, that means it has a boatload of power to play with when not hauling anything around. (never be sorry for your puns)
I mean, test pilots said it was decent enough to fly. So while I don't think of it as being some purpose built aerobatic plane, good handling with all those engines must have been fun.
Simply stunning! The courage and innovation of these designs is astounding. And then to manufacture during a war economy - unbelievable. Major props to the test pilots who flew these designs.
I've a model of the Zwilling, Gigantic, and the motor version in 1/72 scale, its when you look at the size if the crew, you realise just how massive these planes actually were.
The Me 321 and Me 323 are dear to my heart, as worked in and live near Neutraubling, a city founded on the site of the Messerschmitt plant where these Giants were built. The main road follows the path of the plants main runway.
For those who want one there is always the 1/72 scale Italeri #119 model kit.
I own this kit and it is pretty accurate, the only problem is raised panel lines. This is easily removed by sanding.
And it is a quite impressive piece in a display :)
Can't imagine 10 hours of energetic OOHHHHMMMMMMOOOOHHHHHMMM from 5 Jumo 211's!
You forgot the most important advantage of the proposal: it would look awesome.
Always had a weird love for this aircraft as it has a fun and interesting target in Il-2 Sturmovik 46
Very well made short documentary! Well done!
Just found this channel, this is gold. Thank you for you amazing work.
Outstanding video and presentation.
Gotta say, this channel is up there with Mark Felton's for novelty, depth and diligence. Congrats on another beautiful production. (I loved the one on the Junkers G38 also, btw.)
Thx.
Postwar Heinkel cutlery bears the logo of two conjoined stick figures. The factory is still willing to go on shilling for the Zwilling.
and here I thought that the F82s were weird double aircraft…these take the cake!
You should see the Bf-109Z-3; Two coupled Bf-109 F-4's with a single pilot and fuel tank where the other cockpit used to be. Equipped with the Jumo 213E - rated 40% stronger than the original Daimler-Benz DB605 - it would have been fast and armed with five 30mm canon it would have a bite. It probably would have given the P-38 a run for its money.
Of course with the obsession of the German High Command for bombers the Z-2 and Z-4 variants were to be bombers but in an interceptor ("zerstörer") role I think the Z-3 might have been excellent.
"Fortunately" the prototype was destroyed in a bombardment and the project was abandoned...... another "what-if".
Very well researched. The first records I found when researching the motivations for the Dieppe Raid were of course to capture spare jet engines for the experimental 262, but surprisingly I came across references to a He111 multi engine long range bomber.
The redesigned centre section did not mount where the original wing fitted to the fuselage, it mounted where the outer wing panel of the existing bomber would have fitted. From the engine nacelle inward, the airframe was fundamentally unchanged. Of course, control runs had to be modified so that both rudders and elevators could be operated from one cockpit.
Another grand video Rex - my missus is ex RAF and she liked it too!
I remember building this as a Revell plastic model 40 years ago.
1:72? I.build it in the 90s... wish we had internet back then to look up the history. I rember it looked very impressive
I've got that kit in the stash. I think it was originally an Italeri kit, maybe even old enough to be an Italaerei from before their name change.
@@Mishn0 I have that kit iny stash too. 1/72. Haven't built it, and haven't seen it in years. Don't remember the brand. I thought of a goofy project: A Ju88 with a warhead instead of the cockpit over the He111Z and an FW190D on stilts over the Ju88.
So the He111Z would get the Ju88 flying bomb in range, and then the top two planes detach, and the piloted FW190 guides it to just over the target, then escapes. Only for special missions like dropping in on # 10 Downing Street.
Me too - that took up a lot of space on the modelling table back in 1984.
Jealous
In case you didn't know but want to know: "Gigant" ("giant", quite obviously) is stressed on the 2nd syllable ("Gi'gunnt"). German "w" is pronounced like "v" so "Zwilling" ("twin", quite obviously) is pronounced "tsvilling". The German diphthong "ei" is pronounced like English "i" so the "Hein" in "Heinkel" rhymes with "fine". 🍻
I do know about this aircraft but it was interesting to see it again. I do know that one or two of the early flights using the Bf 110 got a bit hairy because of engine problems. At takeoff when the engines were straining a maximum power the last thing you needed was an engine failure. But that did happen. So the offending aircraft would have to release its cable in order to save itself. The problem now was that there was only two aircraft trying to drag the Gigant into the air and and I am sure you can imagine the numerous problems this led to.
Also the booster rockets did not always work. One such failure in 1941 resulted in a collision of the Me 321 and the tow-planes which resulted with 129 deaths from the three Bf 110s and the Gigant. At the time this was the deadliest air accident in history.
Basically, the Luftwaffe was composed of a dozen versions of the same airplane.
It may often be scoffed at but the idea was quite inspired, considering the task it was asked to perform. This huge Messerschmitt glider needed something to get it into the air (later, they fitted it with engines and it was no longer a glider). The "twin He 111" was much easier to build, than to design and build a dedicated glider tug as it used mostly bits that were already in large scale production with minimal re-engineering. The problem was that these were a short run of aircraft built to a (almost) specific purpose of towing and launching another relatively short run of gliders. They would have been sitting ducks if re-purposed as bombers and proved woefully inadequate when forced into the transport role. Had they been available earlier in the war, they might have been more of a threat (and more robust) than the FW Condor in the maritime recon role. In truth, it proved to be a wrong turn and waste of resources in the end but I like the idea. There is (!!!) a 1/48 kit of this beast available. I have one.
Photoshop? Nein! Love the pithy commentary, Rex and Company.
Obviously and craft Goring and Hitler loved: It huge and intimidating. The fact that was useless makes it beautiful.
It was 'cheap and cheerful' to build and created no new 'spares requirements' issues (extremely unusual for German equipment).
Amazing research and excellent editing. -- Thanks for the great upload. ---
Didn't know also a long range bomber / reconaissance version was proposed. Thanks for the research, and all the photo's !
Years ago I read the memoirs of the British pilot who shot down the Zwilling over France, sadly I cannot remember his name. Pilots were under orders not to waste time and ammo shooting out engines in an attempt to spare bomber crews, but to aim for the cockpit which was quicker. When he encountered the Zwilling it was a sitting duck, he could not bring himself to do it. He was a airman, not a murderer. So he disobeyed orders, shot out one engine, then a second, then a third at which point the crew all bailed out. Respect to him.
I dub you , The Drachinfel of Aircraft
Star Wars fans: oh come on, ships like the Cloud Car, Tie Bomber, etc are totally unrealistic, I hate them. It's just the same ship stuck alongside a copy of itself! Who would ever believe a ship/plane like that? WWII geeks: hold my beer
Very very cool!!
(And we enjoy the dry humor as well!)😊
The Me 323 will always be memorable to me due to Call of Duty Big Red One, which has a mission where you're a liberator crewman and your bomber steam encounters a fleet of 323s trying to resupply the Africa Korp.
Do you think you might add the B-50 Super(duper)fortress to the list of aircraft you'd cover?
The last piston-engined bomber for the USA.
A temporary solution for what ended up a long-term problem (waiting for the B-47 to get into service).
Not to mention, the first aircraft to fly around the planet nonstop.
Maybe mention the XB-39 and B-54 with it?
~Hans n' Franz, busily fighting over who gets to fly it....
~Or fly it next...
~Or whos the more competent pilot...;)
~Who gets the take off & landing....
~Or who gets to nap/lie down....(Navigator/Bombardier for the !WIN!;)
If only one of these made into a museum in the USA.
When a crazy design asks for an even more crazy design... 😁
Struggling to tow a fully loaded Gigant with two conjoined He-111's? Here's a third one and a hacksaw, you know what to do.
More outstanding work by Rex! Greetings from a fan, a fellow commonwealth dweller here in Canada!
@Rex's Hangar....as a suggestion: How about the Brewster Buccaneer or (and!) the Hispano Ha 200?
My grandfather told me about it he saw this monster in Russia in WWII😮
No fuel tanks in the bomb bays? I would have thought that would be the most obvious place to add tanks.
Wouldn't bombs go there?
@@squeaksquawk4255 you wouldnt do bombing runs whit the Zwilling
I do not believe the base model he-111 h-6 had internal bomb bays
@@Rockstar-vs1nbThe base model HE-111 had space for 2000kg of bombs internally, but could also carry external bomb loads.
Hence why a lot of people see footage and photos of them with external armament
It's not a bad looking aircraft, really...
Don't you think ?
Ah yes, Hostile bears can be a problem :)
The bomber version sounds like something befitting "Wings Over the World" from "Things to Come." Futuristic and daunting in its over-and-above look.
Have you considered the other German double fuselage aircraft? I'm speaking of the Bf 109 Zwilling and the proposed Dornier Do 635 twin.
Great videos - not sure how I hadn't found this channel before now! Keep up the great work!
A Great Little Video... Thanks for Sharing
This is my favorite German aircraft from WW2! I first saw it on a children's book on unconventional configuration aircraft.
It was called the Twinkel.
Zwilling is german for "twin".
Your dialogue is fantastic! The Santa analogy, brilliant. Not sure why you're stuck on 36.7K subs! Stick with it
Just wondering if they considered joining the tail wings similar to the smaller Lockheed P38, do you think that would have put less stress on the front main wing given that any g-forces could have subjected it to twisting forces?
"Having three planes tow the glider has too high a risk of them crashing into each other."
"What if we connected the towing planes together with a metal strut so that they can't?"
Awesome content!
I would love to have the He-111z to go along with my Bf-109Z in warthunder lol
The powered Me321 glider was designated the Me 323, not the Me 333 as you appear to say when discussing the reasons for the cancellation of Zwilling.
I spent a few minutes to work out your pronunciation of the word "Zwilling". Pronounced "Tswilling".
Very fine videos! Many thanks!
As a historian and a war thunder player the one thing that is always upset me about German aircraft during world war II is that virtually none of them ever had ball turrets on their belly. This would have been the perfect aircraft to just load up with extra armament yet they chose to make it a freaking Frontline bomber with virtually no defense or heavy hitting offensive cannons.
Oh my poor sick child... why do you play war thunder..........
@@wetube6513 because we're poor sick child.
Teams Meeting while working from home?naa,skip that.Rex just uploaded a new video!
Now *this* is podracing!
Hi Rex, I've drawn both the Me. 321 glider, a few 6 engined Me.323 transports and the He.111z, the downfall as far as allied fighter pilots were concerned these massive aircraft were easier to hit then a barn door! I do very much enjoy your videos however and so I look forward to your uploading more.
Didn't the US field a twin Mustang?
Yes, during the Korean War: the F-82 Twin Mustang.
Conjoined planes are so fascinating and interesting looking. This and the twin Mustang are the only ones I know of (barring the by-design Virgin Spaceship) - I wonder if there are any others.
There was a twin 109 as well.
@@kyle857 Cannot remember if I've come across that one before.
There was a bi/tri plane twin fuselage bomber in the 20's. You can see it on one of the hush kit videos.
Thank you for the great work
To be fair towards Stalingrad operations, the Axis front wanted 1500 tons per day by air for operations. They told command they could get by with 800 tons a day to hold the lines and command gave them 300 tons per day and struggled to average 150 tons with available aircraft and horribly over-extended, under staffed and equipped supply lines.
P-51 Mustang pilot to his wingman, "Look, two HE-111s. I'll take the right one. You take the left one." Wingman, " It looks like a single one to me." Other pilot, "Have you developed a case of double vision?"
I saw a old Fokker bomber design draft that consisted of 2 fuselages and a twin boom tail and contra-rotating propellor(2engines behind eachother) in the middle
I would be willing to bet that excepting accidents, the ones destroyed on the ground were most likely destroyed by strafing fighters rather than in bombing raids.
If you shoot one down does it count as one or two planes? Is this one plane powered by five engines or two planes powered by two and a half engines? Do you double park it? Does it have four or three wings? Since it towed several other aircraft does that make it a plane train? Was one of them part of a psychological attack using fallen soldiers? A plane train that rained slain Danes on Mainz if you will.
Gotha is pronounced Gerta. Nice video
I really like your intro. Did you record yourself. If I shut my eyes, it's like I'm right there. Very impressive. Oh, I like your videos very much. You cover all the bases-video, research, narration etc.
Ah yes! When we were in flight school back in the good ol' days, this is what the flight instructors used to train us!😂
Another amazing video . It amazes me the type of word and strange aircraft tgat were created especially during tge 2nd WW
It really bugs me that they didn't join the tail P-38 style. It's also annoying that they didn't bring the two booms closer and delete the middle engine.
Great channel! Just discovered you a couple of weeks ago.
Bf-109 Z is the little baby that comes out when two Heinkel 111s are stuck together.
This plane would be great to be seen in War Thunder since it could carry bombs (we can see them n some pictures you've found) :o