Heinkel He 177 Greif

The Heinkel He 177 Greif, meaning Griffin, was a German long-range heavy bomber and the only heavy bomber of its kind to become operational with the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Work began after a 1936 requirement for a purely strategic bomber, and the specification asked for a very wide wing but only two very powerful engines. The Daimler-Benz power system chosen to deliver that output suffered cooling and maintenance problems and was infamous for catching fire in flight, which earned the aircraft nicknames such as Reichsfeuerzeug, the Reich's lighter. The first prototype flew on 9 November 1939. The type matured too late to play a major role, but it was used in numbers on the Eastern Front, including mass raids on Velikiye Luki in 1944, and in Operation Steinbock against Britain.