He 111 H-16

Description

The He 111 H-16 was one of the many variants built from the He 111. At the beginning, He 111s were powered by Daimler-Benz engines, specifically the DB 600. However, the He 111 E introduced the Junkers Jumo 211 engine, which was a direct competitor to the DB 600. The main difference was the increase in power, but it was relatively the same as the DB 600. Many variants after the He 111 E continued to use the Jumo 211, but there were some exceptions that were powered by the DB 601.

The original He 111 H was fitted with the Junkers Jumo 211 A-1, which produced just under 1,000 hp. The H-16 mainly differed in having more armament and the Jumo 211 F-2 engines. The F-2 engines provided a significant power boost of around 34% compared to the original Jumo 211. Some of the armament changes included the addition of a 20 mm cannon in the nose as well as a 13 mm MG 131 machine gun. Other than the previously stated changes, it was largely the same as the other He 111 H variants.

The He 111 H-16 has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to update 1.27. It is arguably the most powerful He 111 in-game due to its defensive armament updates and strong bomb load. Although it lacks the Fritz-X radio-controlled bomb found on the He 111 H-6, it has access to the SC2500 bomb, which is a 2,400 kg bomb with a 2,720 kg TNT equivalent warhead. The 20 mm MG FF/M cannon is mounted in the nose of the aircraft, which provides good defense against incoming threats. As for performance, although the H-16 received improved engines, it can very quickly overheat on WEP. Players should be wary of overusing WEP. 

General info

Flight performance

Details

Survivability and armour

The pilot's seat is set farther back than normal, reducing but not eliminating the chance of a knock-out.

• 5 mm Steel plate under nose gunner
• 10 mm Steel plate behind the pilot
• 8 mm Steel plate in front of the dorsal gunner
• 6 mm Steel plate under ventral gunner
• 8-8.5 mm Steel plates around beam gunner
• 8 mm steel on top of engines

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Suspended armament

The He 111 H-16 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 32 x 50 kg SC50JA bombs (1,600 kg total)
• 8 x 250 kg SC250JA bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 2 x 1,000 kg SC1000L2 bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 2 x 1,000 kg SC1000L2 bombs + 1 x 250 kg SC250JA bomb (2,250 kg total)
• 1 x 2,500 kg SC2500 bomb (2,500 kg total)
• 8 x Flam C 250 incendiary bombs

Defensive armament

The He 111 H-16 is defended by:

• 1 x 20 mm MG FF/M cannon, nose turret (120 rpg)
• 1 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun, dorsal turret (1,000 rpg)
• 2 x 7.92 mm MG 81 machine guns, ventral turret (1,000 + 850 rpg = 1,850 total)
• 1 x 7.92 mm MG 81 machine gun, 2 x beam turrets (500 rpg)

Usage in battles

In Arcade, try to maximize altitude upon spawning; this will make it harder for most fighters to reach you in the early moments (only for ground strike). However, this leaves your poorly defended underbelly open to most attacks, so a fighter with a decent engine could easily catch up and take you down. When engaging this bomber, don't worry about the gunners, as they have a very restricted field of, allowing an attack from these angles: 10-2 o'clock high or even 8 o'clock high/5 o'clock high, as well as 9-3 o'clock low or 10 o'clock low/2 o'clock low, as the gunners, cannot reach you there.

In Realistic, as mid-air reload is unavailable, the He 111 can be used as a pseudo-dive bomber to quickly deliver its payload before retreating. The plane can sustain a shallow dive near the redline speed of around 500 km/h, though you should keep an eye on the IAS to prevent from overspeeding and ripping the airframe in the process. The payload of 8 x 250 kg bombs or 2 x 1,000 kg bombs is enough to destroy two bases in normal matches and one in uptier matches. While the single 2,500 kg bomb is certainly very powerful, it can only destroy a single base and wastes potential TNT damage in doing so, thus it should be saved for airfield bombing instead.

In mixed battles, the He 111 H-16 can be played like a miniature Pe-8. While the SC2500 bomb is nowhere close to the infamous FAB-5000 bomb, the SC2500 has a massive filler of 2,720 kg of TNT equivalent and a huge destructive radius of 84 m ("only" 21 m less than the FAB-5000) which is still huge enough to destroy multiple ground vehicles and sink any ship within its blast radius. With its smaller and less distinctive airframe, the H-16 can be played more aggressively than its Soviet counterpart, with an option of shallow dive bombing for a more precise drop.

Manual Engine Control

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent bomb load (can carry up to 32 x 50 kg bombs stock) and up to 2,500 kg total
  • Stock payload is highly efficient at carpet bombing tanks, armoured cars, anti-aircraft artillery, etc
  • Access to the massive SC2500 bomb with a very high destructive power in mixed battles
• Very good defensive guns (a significant improvement over predecessors)
  • 20 mm nose turret can be a nasty surprise to head-on attackers, allows for bomber hunting, and can take out lightly armoured ground targets
• Decent flight characteristics for a bomber
  • Good roll rate by bomber standards
  • Relatively good performance at higher altitudes
• Surprisingly sturdy airframe clad with some armour offers more chance of survival

Cons:

• While more well-protected than the previous variants, the H-16 still has several blind spots
  • Gunner placements restrict effective defence to the horizontal plane only, with gaps at 2 and 10 o'clock
  • Top gunner is limited in effectiveness due to the vertical stabilizer location
  • Bottom gunner can't shoot directly behind the plane, more like at a 20-30 degree angle downwards
• Glazed nose exposes the pilot from flak battery and head-on attacks
• As with most bombers (and German planes), the H-16 suffers from poor turning radius which doesn't aid the gunners at all when attacked
• Stock payload is not so effective against bases
• Very vulnerable when being attacked by multiple fighters, due to lack of defensive weapons

History

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the He 111 H-16 from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Tupolev SB
• Martin 167-A3 Maryland
• Mitsubishi Ki-21-Ia
• Martin B-10B
• Martin 139WC
• Fiat BR.20 DR

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance