Alternate History Combat Aircraft

Did Reinhard Heydrich take his leave on the Russian front flying fighters until Hitler stopped him?
Say what you will about Heydrich, but the man was not a coward.
"Heydrich's time in the SS was a mixture of rapid promotions, reserve commissions in the regular armed forces, and front-line combat service. During his 11 years with the SS Heydrich "rose from the ranks" and was appointed to every rank from private to full general. He was also a major in the Luftwaffe, flying nearly 100 combat missions until 22 July 1941, when his plane was hit by Soviet anti-aircraft fire. After this Hitler personally ordered Heydrich to return to Berlin to resume his SS duties.[164]"

"Heydrich began training as a pilot in 1935, and undertook fighter pilot training at the flight school at Werneuchen in 1939. Himmler initially forbade Heydrich from flying combat missions, but later relented, allowing him to join Jagdgeschwader 77 in Norway, where he was stationed from 15 April 1940 during Operation Weserübung. He returned to Berlin on 14 May after having crashed his plane on takeoff at Stavanger the previous day.[167][168]"

"On 20 July 1941, without seeking authorisation from Himmler, Heydrich rejoined Jagdgeschwader 77 during Operation Barbarossa, arriving at Yampil, Vinnytsia Oblast in a borrowed Bf 109. His aircraft was hit by Russian flak in action near the Dniester on 22 July, and he had to land the plane in enemy territory. He avoided capture and returned to Berlin after being rescued by a patrol.[170] It was his final combat mission.[168]"
 
Imagine that if Heydrich survived, it would request Himmler to form an JG of the SS, maybe something similar to both the Luftwaffe 1946 or the Wunderwaffen comics
 
Say what you will about Heydrich, but the man was not a coward.
"Heydrich's time in the SS was a mixture of rapid promotions, reserve commissions in the regular armed forces, and front-line combat service. During his 11 years with the SS Heydrich "rose from the ranks" and was appointed to every rank from private to full general. He was also a major in the Luftwaffe, flying nearly 100 combat missions until 22 July 1941, when his plane was hit by Soviet anti-aircraft fire. After this Hitler personally ordered Heydrich to return to Berlin to resume his SS duties.[164]"

"Heydrich began training as a pilot in 1935, and undertook fighter pilot training at the flight school at Werneuchen in 1939. Himmler initially forbade Heydrich from flying combat missions, but later relented, allowing him to join Jagdgeschwader 77 in Norway, where he was stationed from 15 April 1940 during Operation Weserübung. He returned to Berlin on 14 May after having crashed his plane on takeoff at Stavanger the previous day.[167][168]"

"On 20 July 1941, without seeking authorisation from Himmler, Heydrich rejoined Jagdgeschwader 77 during Operation Barbarossa, arriving at Yampil, Vinnytsia Oblast in a borrowed Bf 109. His aircraft was hit by Russian flak in action near the Dniester on 22 July, and he had to land the plane in enemy territory. He avoided capture and returned to Berlin after being rescued by a patrol.[170] It was his final combat mission.[168]"
Did Heydrich get any confirmed kills?
 
Did Heydrich get any confirmed kills?
AFAIK, no kills.
Below is some info in regard to his Luftwaffe service.
"Heydrich, in the uniform of a Luftwaffe Hauptmann, joined 6. Staffel/JG 77 at Kristiansand-Kjevik in South Norway in mid-April 1940 for a month’s stay after completing fighter training at Jagdfliegerschule 1 Werneuchen. Those who flew with him say he was a highly motivated, aggressive pilot and a very friendly and jovial personality off duty. Heydrich wrecked his Bf 109E-1 while taking off from Stavanger-Sola on 13 May. He was not injured. For his month of service in Norway, where he saw little or no action, Heydrich received the EK II and the silberne Frontflugspange.
(Source: Prien, Jochen; Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 77, 4 Bände (Teile 1 – 4) (Eutin, c. 1992-93). See Band 1 pages 209, 220, 221 and 223. Account based on statements of two 6. Staffel pilots who flew nearly every mission with Heydrich: Frank-Werner Rott, 28 April 1990 and Berthold Jung, 4 November 1989. There are also several photos of Heydrich with his plane.)
In mid-July 1941, Heydrich once again donned his Luftwaffe uniform, but now as a “Major”, and rejoined II./JG 77, now based at Balti-East in Moldavia. Heydrich arrived with his “own” Bf 109, which he claimed had been given to him personally by Generaloberst Ernst Udet for favors rendered. He flew for several days, but did not score. On 22 July he was shot down between the lines by Russian AA fire, belly landing his Bf 109E-7 (Werknummer 3765) near the village of Olshanka. He was rescued unscathed within a few hours by a patrol from a nearby German infantry division and returned to Berlin the next day. Heydrich received the EK I for his brief, week-long stay with II. Gruppe.
(Source: Prien – op cit, Band 2 pages 704, 709, 710, 711, 729 and 873. Account based on JG 77 Kriegstagebuch (war diary) and the January 1990 statement of Georg Schirmböck, who flew with Heydrich during his week at the front)."
 
The guy is an overachiever and very very dangerous.
Extremely intelligent, a very good pianist, an Olympic-class swordsman, and a functional sociopath.
Considered (with reason) the most dangerous guy in Nazi Germany.
 
Upcoming in my Paths TL

Hughes Thunder Bird HB-10 (numeric designation may change)
View attachment 847168
In 1936 the Confederate Army Air Corps (1) issued requirements for a new light bomber to support its attack aircraft in the ground support role. The new bomber would need to be able to carry a minimum of 1,200 pounds of bombs have a range of 1,100 miles and reach a speed of at least 200 mph. The Hughes Aircraft Company based out of Fort Worth Texas submitted the Hughes Model 358 a three engine twin boom bomber, that carried 2,000 pound's of bombs in its internal bomb bays one in each boom plus an additional 1,000 pounds of bombs if the external centerline hard points were used for bombs (this cut the base range down to 1,200 miles) , with a range of 2,400 miles and reach a speed of 325 mph. The range could be lengthened to 3,500 mile if two external fuel tanks were mounted on the centerline hardpoints. In June of 1937 the CSAAC would place an order for a production run of 500 aircraft. Once the second great war had begun the CSAAC would place and additional order for 2,500 of the bomber. The Confederate States Air Force would also place an order of 1,000 aircraft to supplement its strategic bombing squadrons while more heavy bombers were built.

The HB-10 would prove to be a very agile bomber and could dog fight with with some fighters. This would lead to a heavy fighter version of the plane that had a solid nose that was armed with 2 37mm rotary cannon, and eight 0.8 caliber machine guns


(1) In this time line the Confederate States Army keeps its own Aviation arm the Confederate States Army Air Corps that focused on ground support, as well as maintaining a few fighter squadrons.
update for this plane
Hughes HB-11 Thunderbird.gif
 
I hope they remember pusher engines have different cooling needs from puller engines.
A big dorsal or ventral scoop (or both) may help some with that (though it would mar the aerodynamics a bit :) ), but I think overheating tended to be an issue with most air-cooled pusher designs... maybe a Focke-Wulf-style cooling fan mounted at the "back" (in this case, facing forward) might help, to draw more air through the scoop(s)?
 
A big dorsal or ventral scoop (or both) may help some with that (though it would mar the aerodynamics a bit :) ), but I think overheating tended to be an issue with most air-cooled pusher designs... maybe a Focke-Wulf-style cooling fan mounted at the "back" (in this case, facing forward) might help, to draw more air through the scoop(s)?
So inline engines would work better for the pusher engine?
 
So inline engines would work better for the pusher engine?
The Dutch Fokker D.XXIII had inverted-vee aircooled engines (which can be tricky to cool evenly anyway), and it had overheating probs with the pusher engine...
With a liquid-cooled inline, you just have to figure out where to put the radiator(s) and intake scoops for them... which can be done a number of creative ways, but there can be technical difficulties :)
 
There's also the need to make sure that parts which normally rely on the engine "pre-heating" the cooling air at altitude are repositioned so that still happens - see also the carburettor on the Pratt & Whitney R-4360, which had issues with the air coming directly from the intakes causing ice buildup (which in turn led to air starvation of the engines, and from there to engine fires when the super-rich fuel mixture started depositing unburnt fuel into the exhaust).
 
They probably do but I don't how so?

Well we can use an artifact of the manipulation as the third (rear engine) has a set of very obvious "cowling flaps" which would normally be facing into the trailing slipstream but here are facing forward so...

"To relieve ground overheating the Thunder Bird pusher engine has operable cooling flaps that can be opened completely to allow air circulation into the engine bay supplemented by an engine mounted fan that helps draw in the air. These are automatically and progressively closed and opened as needed and can be overridden by the crew in flight"

As always feel free

And as always, (like everyone else :) ) my CSU thanks you for the effort :)

Randy
 
Here she is with a water Cooled V-12 engine in the rear, Radiator is built into the leading edge of the wing
Big thing I'd suggest would be to unify engine types - ie., if you're going to go for liquid-cooled V-12 in the rear, you might as well swap the boom engines as well. Mostly because doing otherwise increases complexity and logistical overhead for not much gain, AFAIK.
 
Top