Henschel Hs 132

[lippischh]

A russian Henschel Hs132A with winter paint is having a hard time flying above snowy mountains back from a mission, the pilot on the comfortable prone position spot at his 3 a strange and silent flying object heading towards him. He rolls and step on the gas no time to ask questions.

This render was shot a year ago, exactly 8/10/2012 the tga file was on my hard drive and i totally forgot about it. It was a nice surprise to find so i put it into postprocessing. The ufo is from rOEN911 png resources and stock the background is my first matte painting.

Hope you like it!

 

[Jemiba]

What the hell was a russian aircraft doing over Neuschwabenland/Antarctica ?

 

[lippischh]

just googled Neuschwabenland ufo and i was overwhelmed by conspiracy nonsense, intresting tho

 

[Jan den Das]

Nowarra writes about the production Hs.132
A series divebomber, only bomb
B series divebomber/groundattack, bomb but also 2 x 20 mm guns
C series divebomber/groundattack, bomb but also 2 x 20 mm and 2 x 30 mm guns
D series dive bomber, only bomb but wingspan now 9,10 m
Any ideas abou the place of the guns?
details of to 9,10 span version?
Jan

 

[lippischh]

Hi Jan den Das,

about the different versions, wiki has some more details :
Hs 132A Dive bomber : BMW 003 turbojet engine, 1 × 500 kg (1,100 lb) bomb
Hs 132B Dive bomber/Anti-tank plane : Jumo 004 turbojet engine, 1 × 500 kg (1,102 lb) bomb, 2 × 20 mm MG 151 cannon, and/or six or eight Panzerblitz anti-tank rockets
Hs 132C Dive bomber : He S 011 turbojet engine, 1 × 500 kg (1,100 lb) bomb, 2 × 20 mm MG 151 cannon and 2 × 30 mm (1.2 in) MK 103 cannon
Hs 132D : Increased wingspan variant and additional infos from my buddy Stargazer : HeS 011 turbojet with 1300 kg of thrust, 16sqm of wing area. the D is a ground attack version so i assume it would have cannons.

Here's an intresting 3-view of the B version which gives an idea about the guns place, and a screenshot of what the D version would have looked like.

Hope this helps!

 

[Stargazer]

It's still unclear whether the "D" version (also called the V4 in other sources) would have had an enlarged empennage or not.

 

[lippischh]

We need an expert opinion on this Stargazer, but i think they would be more excentred.

 

[Jemiba]

In "Typenkompass Henschel" by Manfred Griehl, the D-version is described to have been ordered especially
as an anti-tank aircraft, armed with guns and "Panzerblitz" rocket projectiles. Other information from that source:
The V1 and V2 were destroyed by the Germans, the V3 was captured by the advancing Soviet army, whereas
the fuselages of what probably (!) were the V4 and V5 were only discovered accidentally during construction works
in 1946, hidden in a bricked up cellar. All parts were closely examined by ZAGI, maybe the attached 3-view with
russian captions was a result of those investigations

 

[lippischh]

Thanks Jemiba for the valuable infos, the 3-views you attached are those with which i worked in the modelling and are the most precise.

In fact i'm wondering if the V1 to V4 is related to versions from A to D in this case what are the V5 and V6.

Another question, would the rocket launcher be similar to this one used in an Me262 ?

Thanks again, regards.

 

[Stargazer]

In "Typenkompass Henschel" by Manfred Griehl, the D-version is described to have been ordered especially
as an anti-tank aircraft, armed with guns and "Panzerblitz" rocket projectiles. Other information from that source:
The V1 and V2 were destroyed by the Germans, the V3 was captured by the advancing Soviet army, whereas
the fuselages of what probably (!) were the V4 and V5 were only discovered accidentally during construction works
in 1946, hidden in a bricked up cellar. All parts were closely examined by ZAGI, maybe the attached 3-view with
russian captions was a result of those investigations

Very interesting. Thanks!

 

[Stargazer]

Tony Butler's Luftwaffe Secret Projects - Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft states the following, which seems to be a different version of the facts:

The Hs 132 V1, in process of completion in the spring of 1945, was expected to commence flight trials in May 1945. At the collapse, however, it was almost 95% complete, the V2 being 80% and the V3 being 75% complete, with the V4 to V6 prototypes in final assembly before being captured by the advancing Soviet troops.

and

The prototype was not fully completed when the Henschel plant was overrun by Soviet troops.

It clearly makes it sound as if all six aircraft already started were found by the Soviets. No mention of the first two being destroyed prior to that in an air raid. However, if the Soviets had found three aircraft as advanced in construction as V1 and V2 were supposed to be, they would no doubt have completed and test-flown them and some evidence would remain of these tests...

 

[Jemiba]

I think, the book was written by Dieter Herwig and Heinz Rode. Not sure, but to me the passage is still
open to interpretation. To be captured not necessarily means to be intact, maybe only a heap of scrap
was captured and was the only, what remained of the Hs 132, until the Soviets discovered the V4 to V6 ?

 

[Stargazer]

I think, the book was written by Dieter Herwig and Heinz Rode. Not sure, but to me the passage is still
open to interpretation. To be captured not necessarily means to be intact, maybe only a heap of scrap
was captured and was the only, what remained of the Hs 132, until the Soviets discovered the V4 to V6 ?

J.R. Smith and A.L. Kay's Putnam book German Aircraft of the Second World War gives a story that coincides with Tony Butler's...

Three Hs 132 prototypes were ordered, construction began in March 1945 at Henschel's Schönefeld factory, and at the end of the war the Hs 132 V1, prototype for the A-series, was nearing completion. It was scheduled to fly in June 1945, but together with the well-advanced V2 and V3, was captured by Soviet forces and it is not known whether the type ever flew.

They rightly say that the V1 to V3 prototypes served as prototypes for the Hs 132 A to C versions, but their claim that only these three prototypes were ordered is not consistent with Tony Butler's more recent (and possibly better documented) account. Another source I'm still looking for clearly stated that V4 was to be the prototype of the Hs 132 D version, a ground attack version with enlarged wings.

One last thing: if V1 and V2 had been destroyed as claimed by Herwig and Rode, how could a photo of V1 have been taken? The way it seems retouched looks pretty much like what a Soviet source could do...

 

[Avimimus]

Another question, would the rocket launcher be similar to this one used in an Me262 ?

That is a good question - a number of more advanced launchers were being developed at the end of the war so...?