HEINKEL He 219 81
108 Compressed air cylinders
109 Maintenance platform
110 Ventral antenna
111 FuG 25A (IFF) aerial
112 Service entry hatch
113 Walkway
114 Main electrical compartment
115 Crew escape dinghy
116 D/F loop (homing approach)
117 BlO 30/U fuselage heating and tailplane
de-icing unit
118 Heating ducts
119 Fuselageframe (No 31)
120 Tail unit control linkage
121 Intake
122 Tailplane construction
123 Aerials
124 Tailfin construction
125 Starboard rudder
126 Rudder tab
127 Rudder control hinge
128 Elevator construction
129 Elevator trim tab
130 Flettner auxiliary tab
131 FuG 220 tail-warning antenna
132 Trailing-aerial tube
133 Tail navigation light
134 Perspex tail cone
135 Tail bumper
136 Fuselage frame (No33)/tailplane attachment
137 Port elevator
138 Rudder tab hinge fairing
139 Port rudder
140 Built-in aerial (port tailfin leading-edge)
141 Tailfin skinning
142 Ventral weaponstray
143 Fuselage frame (No 20)
144 Ventral maintenance hatch
145 Main junction boxes
146 Weapons access hatches
147 Ammunition feed chutes
148 Rear (inboard) 20mm MG151 cannon
149 Forward (outboard) 20mm MG151 cannon
150 Blast tubes
151 Gun sighting/correction hatch
152 Cannon portsHeinkel He 219
Above: This He 291 was an early A-1 variant assigned to NJG 1. The Uhu took on a very unique external
appearance and became one of the more distinct Luftwaffe aircraft of the war. Its two-man pressurised
cockpit was situated at the extreme forward end of the fuselage allowing for excellent vision of the
oncoming terrain. The pilot and his radar operator sat in tandem, though they were interestingly
seated in a back-to-back arrangement.
T
he Heinkel He 219 Uhu (eagle owl)
has been described as the best night
fighter of World War 2. The He 219 was
fast, manoeuvrable, and carried devastating
firepower. It was the only piston-engined
Luftwaffe night fighter that could meet the
fast de Havilland Mosquito on equal terms,
but it never played a significant role in the
war because the industry failed to make it
available in sufficient numbers.
Development and production of the Heinkel
He 219 was protracted and tortuous, owing to
political rivalries between Josef Kammhuber,
commander of the German night fighter forces,
Ernst Heinkel, the manufacturer and Erhard
Milch, responsible for aircraft construction
in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM – the
German Aviation Ministry). The aircraft that
was to become the He 219 began life in
1940 as a high-speed, high-altitude bomber
project under the designation of P1055.
It was to have ejection seats for the crew