The Heinkel He 177 Greif
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
A Detailed Guide to the Luftwaffe’s Troubled Strategic Bomber
Airframe Album 20
Author: Richard A. Franks
Publisher: Valiant Wings Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-912932-38-2
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 192
When it comes to Luftwaffe bombers during the Second World War, most think of the Junkers Ju 88 or Heinkel He 111. That is understandable, as those two carried the lion’s share of the Luftwaffe’s bombing requirements. Those were more of a medium bomber, though, so there was a need for a larger strategic bomber on par with the Allied types like the B-17 or Lancaster. To answer this need, Heinkel developed the He 177 Greif, but like many projects developed at the brink of a war, it suffered from conflicting requirements and changing technology. What could have been a strong contender in the strategic bomber role ended up being an ineffective aircraft that was passed around from mission to mission, finding some successes but ultimately not having a significant impact to the war.
This new title in the Valiant Airframe Album series provides an excellent review of the Heinkel He 177 in their usual typical fashion, with plenty of historical photos showing the He 177 in service and in detail. Balancing these detail photos are lots of illustrations and information from flight manuals and parts catalogs that are a great reference for model builders. Rounding out the history section is a series of drawings that document the differences between the He 177 variants, of which there were quite a few.
The second half of the book covers the colors & markings of the He 177, which, thanks to its eclectic operational history, resulted in quite a variety of schemes. In addition to photographs, this section includes several high-quality color profile illustrations that offer up some of the more interesting schemes worn by the He 177. The book finishes with modeling the He 177, with a comprehensive step-by-step build review of the Revell 1/72 Heinkel He 177A-5 done by Libor Jekl and a comprehensive list of available kits and aftermarket accessories.
This is another great addition to the Airframe Album series, and a particularly useful book to have for anyone wanting to build a model of this famous Heinkel. My thanks to Valiant Wings for the review copy.