According to German reports I had read, the He 219’s engines had surplus power for take-off, which allowed the aircraft to safely get off the ground and climb even if one of the two power units failed. One pilot allegedly took off on one engine and climbed away with the landing flaps and undercarriage lowered! If there had been a grain of truth in that report, it must have related to a rocket-assisted take-off, on a very long runway.
It is my opinion that the He 219, especially the A-2 variant, was woefully underpowered. The failure of one engine, especially on take-off at night, must have been a particularly nasty surprise, for at 220 kph the aircraft could barely fly level, let alone gain altitude. When you take into account the tendency to stall as the undercarriage is retracted whilst climbing - a not uncommon thing in practically all types of aircraft - passing through the 15 to 90 metres of altitude level must surely have been a hairy experience for He 219 pilots. The aircraft would heave off the ground at 170 kph, and it was only at 15 metres that the pilot could attempt to raise the landing gear, this manoeuvre being too dangerous below that height due to the aforementioned tendency to stall. When the aircraft reached 250 kph and 150 metres of altitude, flaps could be retracted; during that manoeuvre the aircraft again was prone to stalling. Climbing could be commenced in earnest at 300 kph, with the engines at 2,600 rpm and 1.3 ata of boost. Only then could the He 219’s excellent stability in the air be observed. Optimum climb rate was achieved at 300 kph, which dropped to 280 kph as the aircraft gained altitude. Once at 10,000 metres, it was practically impossible to climb any higher. Upon reaching the desired altitude the radiator flaps had to be closed and the engines kept at 2,300 rpm and 1.3 ata of boost. In order to extend the aircraft’s range the pilot could reduce the engine revolutions to 2,000 rpm with 1.05 ata of boost. Above 6,100 metres the aircraft reacted markedly more sluggishly to full throttle. The maximum speed attained during the tests was 608 kph, which was lower than indicated by the German manuals. For the fuel system to function properly, it was necessary to use up half of the fuel stored in tank Nos. 2 and 3 (which left a total of 1,000 litres of gasoline in them), then switch to tank no 1 and empty it.
The cockpit heating and de-icing system was very efficient. The automatic pilot was easy to use and trustworthy. The He 219 was certainly a superb all-weather fighter. The landing procedure was markedly simple: close the radiator flaps, set the pitch control at the 12 o’clock position, at 300 kph lower the landing flaps, and at 270 kph drop the landing gear. The upwind turn while coming down to land could be made at 250 kph. At that point the landing flaps were fully extended, and the fuel pumps switched off. The aircraft would steadily lose altitude at 225 kph, and once above the runway, the pilot would throttle back to 200 kph. The prescribed touchdown speed was 160 kph.
The landing was very easy. However, it was not advised to keep the front wheel in the air for long, since the initial phase of the landing run was performed at high speed, and the aircraft had to be slowed down through resolute use of the brakes. Thus, it was important to check, prior to landing, the pressure in the brakes, which had to be not less than 60 kg/cm2. If the value was not as required, a pilot was expected to press a button located next to the brake pressure gauge, until the desired reading was obtained. A landing run in windless weather was about 650 metres long. Windy conditions affected the He 219’s lateral stability on touchdown.
In my opinion, derived from my personal experience in flying the He 219 A-2, the aircraft did not measure up to its acclaimed reputation. It was a good night fighter, but one with the serious flaw of underpowered engines, an unforgiving fault in a twin-engined aircraft. Losing one engine in a He 219 on takeoff was very dangerous, as it was on landing since the other engine did not provide enough power for another circuit. Overall, the He 219’s mediocre performance made it hardly suitable for the role it was designed for, which was fighting the British Mosquito. However, it was a deadly adversary against four-engined bombers. One can only wonder what effect the He 219 would have had on the night air war over Germany, had the Luftwaffe’s Director General of Equipment not been so opposed to its development and operational use, and had Ernst Heinkel delivered his fighter to frontline units in sufficient numbers”.
Design and development
The first six months of the war against Great Britain, which broke out on 3rd September 1939, made the Luftwaffe high command realize that it was in dire need of a modern, fast, long-range reconnaissance aircraft, capable of reconnoitring over British territory. The aircraft hitherto used to perform that role were modified Heinkel He 111s and Junkers Ju 88s, the Luftwaffe’s standard bombers pressed into service as scouts. Their dedicated crews, manning aircraft so vulnerable to interception, could only hope that their luck would hold out. Their mounts were too slow to outrun Hurricanes or Spitfires, and their defensive armament was too weak to keep fighters at bay.
