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He 111 Layout
Heinkel He 111 H3x from KGr 100 (6N + EK) in August 1940.
Clearly visible are its 3 antennas. One is for radio telephony and the other two are part of the X-Gerat equipment. One of the antennas was tuned to the main approach beam and the other to the cross beam (as close to 90 degrees as possible).
The bomber had two fuel tanks and one oil tank in each wing. All the tanks were self-sealing (when they were holed by machine gun fire, the gasoline escaping from the orifice reacted with the rubber layer which swelled and plugged the hole).
The fuel tanks were in the same line as the center of lift to minimize trim changes as the fuel was consumed.
The bombs were placed in bins installed in the bomb bay (see inset). Eight bins (4 on each side) were available. Each one of them could hold an SC 250 (250 kg) bomb or a number of smaller bombs.
The center of gravity of the bomb bay was as close as possible to the center of lift to reduce trim changes when the bombs were released (and prevent a dangerous nose-up or nose-down change of attitude).
This bomber usually had a crew of four: a pilot, an observer (doing navigator/bomb-aimer functions), a wireless operator (controlling comm and nav radios), and a flight mechanic. The last three also manned one machine gun each for defensive purposes (frontal, dorsal, and ventral).
Armor plates were installed to protect the crew (see the black plates).
During daylight missions, a fifth crew member (a gunner) was added to protect against beam attacks, but KGr 100 only operated at night, so it was usually not included.
Some sources indicate that as the efficiency of the RAF night fighters increased in 1941, some bombers started to add this gunner at night too.
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Clearly visible are its 3 antennas. One is for radio telephony and the other two are part of the X-Gerat equipment. One of the antennas was tuned to the main approach beam and the other to the cross beam (as close to 90 degrees as possible).
The bomber had two fuel tanks and one oil tank in each wing. All the tanks were self-sealing (when they were holed by machine gun fire, the gasoline escaping from the orifice reacted with the rubber layer which swelled and plugged the hole).
The fuel tanks were in the same line as the center of lift to minimize trim changes as the fuel was consumed.
The bombs were placed in bins installed in the bomb bay (see inset). Eight bins (4 on each side) were available. Each one of them could hold an SC 250 (250 kg) bomb or a number of smaller bombs.
The center of gravity of the bomb bay was as close as possible to the center of lift to reduce trim changes when the bombs were released (and prevent a dangerous nose-up or nose-down change of attitude).
This bomber usually had a crew of four: a pilot, an observer (doing navigator/bomb-aimer functions), a wireless operator (controlling comm and nav radios), and a flight mechanic. The last three also manned one machine gun each for defensive purposes (frontal, dorsal, and ventral).
Armor plates were installed to protect the crew (see the black plates).
During daylight missions, a fifth crew member (a gunner) was added to protect against beam attacks, but KGr 100 only operated at night, so it was usually not included.
Some sources indicate that as the efficiency of the RAF night fighters increased in 1941, some bombers started to add this gunner at night too.
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