HE-112 chosen?

What if the He-112 was chosen, despite it being heavier and slower than the Bf-109? It was popular among many of the leaders of the Luftwaffe, before the weight problem was realized.
 
What if the He-112 was chosen, despite it being heavier and slower than the Bf-109? It was popular among many of the leaders of the Luftwaffe, before the weight problem was realized.

If the original He-112A that competed against the Bf-109 was selected, it would have been one of the best pieces of luck the allies could have imagined. Instead of entering WW2 with an excellent modern fighter that was amenable to gradual modification to keep it in the first tier of fighters until 1945, the Luftwaffe would have been saddled with an obsolescent, overly complex, and overweight fighter that would be inferior to both the Hurricane or Spitfire, and about the same as the French MS-406. It would also be no better than the LaGG-3 and P-40. This could have some very interestinrg ramifications on the early German campaigns.

As soon as the RLM saw the Spitfire and realized its error, the Germans might try, in 1939-40,to phase out the He-112A and accelerate development of the Fw-190 or return to Messerschmitt AG for another fighter.

IN OTL, after the failure of the He-112A, Heinkel developed the He-112B, which was essentially an entirely new design that was similar to the Bf-109 in performance and might have been a pretty good fighter in Luftwaffe service. But in a TL where Heinkel won the fighter competition with the He-112A, I don't see them redesigning the plane that much. It's quite possible that Heinkel's name might be tarnished when it became apparent in 1938-1939 that the He-112A was not the fighter the Luftwaffe needed to keep pace with development abroad. In OTL, Heinkel had the He-100 in development, which definitely could have been an effective early war fighter, but the RLM might just decide to cut bait with Heinkel and go with Focke-Wulf or Messerschmitt for the follow-on fighter.
 

NothingNow

Banned
It wasn't that bad, and honestly, the He112 was the better dogfighter and general performer, even with the Kestrel engine. Of course, since the Germans wouldn't loose as many experienced pilots in conversion thanks to the wider track, they'd be able to better operate the aircraft as well. Of course, any issues it had could easily be fixed by improving the wing and installing the DB601.
 
The wider track landing gear might save some non combat fatalities and attrition of aircraft. Would it be enough to make a difference? Even if the plane isn't as good as a 109 could training and tactics make them just as effective?
 
It wasn't that bad, and honestly, the He112 was the better dogfighter and general performer, even with the Kestrel engine. Of course, since the Germans wouldn't loose as many experienced pilots in conversion thanks to the wider track, they'd be able to better operate the aircraft as well. Of course, any issues it had could easily be fixed by improving the wing and installing the DB601.

I'd be interested in seeing where you got your information. I have read in multiple sources that the only area where test pilots rated the He-112A clearly better than the Bf-109 was in ground hadling, thanks to its wide-track undercarriage. Oh, they also liked the the large comfortable cockpit without a canopy. In all flight aspects it was either inferior or barely equal to the Bf-109. Both fighters under test flew with the Kestrel engine, I believe. The real problem with the He-112 was its heavy and complex basic structure, that would require a complete redesign to fix. In OTL, Heinkel did fix this with the He-112B, which was basically a completely new plane. In TL with the He-112A being chosen, its highly unlikely that Heinkel would immediately set out to "fix" it.
 
The wider track landing gear might save some non combat fatalities and attrition of aircraft. Would it be enough to make a difference? Even if the plane isn't as good as a 109 could training and tactics make them just as effective?

I doubt it. The He-112A might do fine against outnumbered Polish PZL-11s in 1939 and poorly flown Soviet I-16's, I-15's and I-153s in 1940-41. But against British and French pilots in 1940, its inferiority to the best the allies had would become totally apparent - and the Gemans would have nothing else to turn to until the Fw-190 or other some hypothetical new Heinkel or Messerschmit replacement fighter was ready. The Bf-109 was one of the great fighters of all time...extremely advanced when first introduced and still potent with relatively minimal and only incremental modification in 1945. In this regard it is matched only by the Spitfire, the greatest fighter of all time.
 
Wasn't it faster than the 109? The He-112 with a 700hp Jumo engine could reach 317mph, while a similarly powered Me 109 only had a top speed of 292mph IIRC. And the He 112 had a longer range, which would have helped a lot in the Battle of Britain.
 
Wasn't it faster than the 109? The He-112 with a 700hp Jumo engine could reach 317mph, while a similarly powered Me 109 only had a top speed of 292mph IIRC. And the He 112 had a longer range, which would have helped a lot in the Battle of Britain.

Range wouldn't help that much... too much pilot fatigue and targets farther north involve very lengthy penetrations of hostile airspace, which given British radar and ground control would lead to early interceptions and disruption anyway... an ME-109 could fight for 10 minutes at full throttle over london... that was plenty; any more than that and the fellow would have a high chance of flaking out from exhaustion
 
Range wouldn't help that much... too much pilot fatigue and targets farther north involve very lengthy penetrations of hostile airspace, which given British radar and ground control would lead to early interceptions and disruption anyway... an ME-109 could fight for 10 minutes at full throttle over london... that was plenty; any more than that and the fellow would have a high chance of flaking out from exhaustion

You make Japanese and American fighter pilots seem like supermen. Extra range would always be nice, but the Me-109 was superior in more aspects which were part of the basic fighter doctrine such as climb, dive, speed and agility. It's production requirements were also vastly cheaper/ easier/faster.
 
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