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Heinkel HeS 011

From Alfawiki
Heinkel-Hirth
IndustryAerospace, Aircraft engines
Founded1930s
FounderErnst Heinkel
Headquarters
Germany
ProductsJet engines (including HeS 011)

Template:Infobox aero engine

The Heinkel HeS 011, also known as the Heinkel-Hirth 109-011 (HeS standing for Heinkel Strahltriebwerke), was a sophisticated World War II era jet engine developed by Heinkel-Hirth. Its compressor design was distinctive, beginning with a low-pressure impeller at the intake, followed by a "diagonal" stage resembling a centrifugal compressor, and concluding with a three-stage axial compressor. Although many late-war German jet aircraft designs planned to utilize the HeS 011, the engine did not reach production readiness before the conflict in Europe ended, and only a limited number of prototypes were manufactured.

Design and development

Starting in 1936, Junkers initiated jet engine research under Wagner and MüllerTemplate:Who, focusing on axial compressor concepts. By 1940, they had developed a partially functional prototype that still required external compressed air to operate, lacking autonomous startup capability.

Concurrently, Hans Mauch, responsible for engine development at the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, mandated that all engine projects be conducted within established engine manufacturers. Following this directive, Junkers was compelled to disband its internal engine division. Subsequently, Müller and half of his team joined forces with Ernst Heinkel, who had been involved in German jet development since founding a laboratory for Hans von Ohain in 1937. Both groups continued their work independently: von Ohain's team produced the HeS 8 (109-001), while Müller's group developed the HeS 30 (109-006). Later, these efforts were consolidated under Hirth Motoren.

Helmut Schelp, who succeeded Mauch, anticipated that the production of both the BMW 003 and Junkers Jumo 004 engines would achieve similar thrust levels well before either Heinkel project matured. Consequently, he terminated both Heinkel projects and introduced a new development framework categorizing engines into three classes: "Class I" engines like the 003 and 004 delivering under 1000 kg thrust suited primarily for twin-engine fighters; "Class II" engines producing between 1000–2000 kg thrust designed to power single-engine fighters; and larger classes beyond that. Schelp was particularly interested in advancing "Class II" engines incorporating his favored diagonal compressor technology. Initially, he had encouraged Heinkel to pursue a twin-compressor single-turbine turboprop design but later shifted focus to his diagonal compressor concept as an alternative.

File:Riedelanlasser.jpg
A Riedel two-stroke APU motor installed atop the intake duct of the HeS 011 for turbojet startup

The HeS 011 effectively merged elements from both teams' designs: it combined Müller's three-stage axial compressor with von Ohain's single-stage centrifugal compressor, powered by a single two-stage turbine. This configuration achieved higher thrust levels—approximately 12 kN (2,700 lbf)—compared to roughly 7.8–8.8 kN (1,800–2,000 lbf) from the BMW 003 and Jumo 004 engines. Similar to the Jumo 004, the HeS 011 incorporated an onboard Riedel two-stroke engine serving as an auxiliary power unit (APU) to initiate shaft rotation during startup. However, unlike the Jumo 004 where this starter was housed inside the intake diverter, the HeS 011’s Riedel unit was positioned above the intake within a prefabricated sheet-metal duct engineered by Heinkel. Additionally, it featured a variable geometry exhaust nozzle with a movable aerodynamic body differing from the Jumo's Zwiebel ("onion") design, enabling thrust modulation by moving fore and aft within the nozzle.[1] Plans also existed for a turboprop variant named the HeS 021, but due to heavy workload at Heinkel, this project was transferred to Daimler-Benz for completion.

Prototypes emerged in 1944 and were flight-tested using a Heinkel He 111 bomber with engines mounted externally beneath the fuselage hardpoints. Over the following year, nearly all German aircraft designers based their projects on the HeS 011, mirroring earlier trends where piston-engined designs such as those in the twin-engine Bomber B program relied heavily on experimental powerplants like the complex Junkers Jumo 222 twenty-four cylinder engine. Throughout World War II, German efforts to develop high-output piston engines (>1,500 kW) or advanced turbojets faced significant challenges achieving combat-ready reliability. Consequently, like the roughly three hundred experimental Jumo 222 units produced, only nineteen HeS 011 turbojets were completed before production ceased. Notably, one prototype powered a Messerschmitt Me P.1101 aircraft that was later transported to the United States and influenced designs such as the Bell X-5.

In total, nineteen units of the HeS 011 were finished.[2] Two examples are preserved in American museums: one displayed at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, and another at the EAA Aviation Museum located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Additionally, in Spain, the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI) secured a patent in 1951 for a similar concept (ES197663),[3] with an exhibit housed at Madrid’s Cuatro Vientos Air Museum.

Variants

109-011 V1
The initial prototype model, producing 10.9 kN (2,459 lbf) of thrust at 9,920 RPM.
109-011 A-0
Pre-production version designed to generate 12.7 kN (2,866.5 lbf) of thrust at 11,000 RPM.
109-011 B
Enhanced model planned to deliver 14.7 kN (3,307 lbf) thrust; this variant was never constructed.
109-011 C
Further improved version aimed to provide 16.7 kN (3,748 lbf) thrust; also not produced.
109-021
Turboprop derivative concept subcontracted to Daimler-Benz, intended to develop 2,427 kW (3,300 hp) for the Focke Wulf Fw 281; this design remained unbuilt.

Applications

Aircraft projects intended to utilize the HeS 011 engine:

Specifications (109-011 A-0)

Template:Jetspecs

See also

Template:Aircontent

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ↑ Christopher, p. 74
  3. ↑ ES197663 www.oepm.es

Bibliography

  • Bingham, Victor. Major Piston Aero Engines of World War II. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1998. ISBN 1-84037-012-2.
  • Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes: Britain's 1945 Mission to Capture Secret Luftwaffe Technology. Stroud, UK: History Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-7524-6457-2.
  • Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines: From the Pioneers to the Present Day. 5th ed. Stroud, UK: Sutton, 2006. ISBN 0-7509-4479-X.
  • Kay, Anthony L. German Jet Engine and Gas Turbine Development 1930–1945. The Crowood Press, 2002. ISBN 1-84037-294-X.
  • Kay, Antony. Junkers Aircraft & Engines 1913–1945. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 2004. ISBN 0-85177-985-9.
  • Kay, Anthony L. Turbojet History and Development 1930–1960. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press, 2007, vol. 1. ISBN 978-1-86126-912-6.
  • Radinger, Willy & Schick, Walter. Secret Messerschmitt Projects. Schiffer Publishing, 1996. ISBN 0-88740-926-1.

External links

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