Customer Reviews

Black Cross Volume 4: Heinkel He 111

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"Heinkel He 111" is one of the best books available on this workhorse of the German World War II bomber fleet. Regnat's piece is meticulously researched, focusing mostly on the technical developments of the bomber. He begins his book by describing the preceding Heinkel designs (particularly the single-engined He 70) that led to the development of the He 111 prototypes and first C and G airliner versions. Regnant then goes on to discuss the early bomber versions, beginning with the He 111A before moving on to the He 111B, D, E, F, J, and P versions. As can be expected, most of the later discussion focuses on the mass-produced H model. The author goes beyond other comparable books by providing highly detailed performance charts and technical descriptions for each sub variant, in addition to interesting photographs and line drawings.

What makes Regnant's work unique besides the organized nature and comprehensiveness of his research are his detailed look at the He 111H's structure, from engines and landing gear, to airframe and fuel system, to machine guns and bomb load. The book ends with a photographic visual display of the He 111 in combat service, and a short section of advice for modelers.

The only potential drawback to this book is that it focuses exclusively on the technical developments of the He 111, largely ignoring the aircraft's operational history. Arguably, however, this is not a serious flaw as the operational history of the He 111 has been adequately covered by other authors in other works.