Nazi Germany's "Flying Coffin" Griffin Heavy Bomber Was A Flying Mistake

Robert Beckhusen

Security,

Both too heavy and too big.

Key point: A drain of Nazi Germany's resources.

Put yourself in the shoes of a German pilot during World War II. It’d be more than just a bit concerning if your assignment was to fly the “Flaming Coffin,” a.k.a. the “One Way Bomber” or “Volcano.”

But the hot, flammable He 177 Greif, or Griffin, was Nazi Germany’s only long-range heavy bomber produced in appreciable numbers. The 35-ton machine — when fully loaded — was a mistake, and more importantly, contributed to the German defeat by sucking up valuable resources into an ineffective and compromised aircraft.

The all-metal He 177 was both interesting from an engineering standpoint and fundamentally flawed for the same reason. In 1937, soon after manufacturer Heinkel Flugzeugwerke delivered its first prototype, the military ordered the company to modify the Greif into also being capable of dive bombing, a tactical focus bordering on obsession within the Luftwaffe.

Yes, dive bombing in a heavy bomber.

Except dive bombers tended to be on the smaller size given the intense stress and high Gs caused by pulling up after a dive. Because of the stress, dive bombers such as the Ju-87 Stuka needed to be tough and therefore heavy.

But not too heavy, and not too big.

The He 177 was too heavy and too big, however, and could not do a proper, near-vertical dive without plunging into the ground. It could do a shallower dive, or glide, but not very well.

Light aircraft such as fighters could dive-bomb, too, but this was extremely risky as they could dive too fast to pull up in time, or risk breaking up during the descent. And dive bombers needed to get close to be accurate.

Air brakes, of course, could slow a dive. But balancing size, weight and sturdiness was always key factor in determining a dive bomber’s success.

Another obvious problem for the He 177 was the aircraft’s size, which made it an easy target from the ground. A payload of more than 13,000 pounds of bombs and a range of more than 3,000 miles means it guzzled fuel, and Heinkel kept adding on weight to strengthen the Greif’s structure.

So as the plane “improved,” it became even thirstier for fuel … just as Allied bombers began devastating Germany’s oil supplies. A constellation of machine guns rounded out the He 177, but the precise configuration of its defensive armament changed over time.