So it wasnt intended to replace the He-111? Rubish.
The only reason the He-111 was kept in production was due to the problems Daimler Benz, Heinkel and the Luftwaffe had with the aircraft which delayed its deployment in force, by the time the He-177 was finally ready all bomber production was cancelled so the He-177 did not replace the 111 in the porduction line, which does not mean it was not its intended replacement.
Bullpoop. The He177 was designed in 1936 and mocked up in 1937 originally for the "Bomber A" requirement. In Nov 1937 it was given its RLM type number 8-177. Prototypes flew in 1939, when the Do17 was being replaced by the He-111.
You want to know what was to replace the He-111, though not explicitly designed to? The Ju-88. And it did, for the most part. The Ju-188, 288, and 388, were being pursued as the primary successors to all Luftwaffe bombing (with minor exceptions in the jet family, grossly mismanaged by Hitler).
The He177 wasn't designed or intended to "replace" anything.
However, in mid 1944, even at the end, the loss rates due to engine problems were still quite present.
Quick wiki copy, but you can find it in several books as well:
"As the war progressed, He 177 operations became increasingly desultory. Fuel and personnel shortages presented difficulties, and He 177s were sitting on airfields all over Europe awaiting new engines or engine related modifications. During Operation Steinbock, of the 14 He 177 sent out, one suffered a burst tire, 8 returned with overheating or burning engines and of the 4 that reached London one was lost to night fighters. These aircraft were brand new [...]"
That's only 13, though. What wiki doesn't say is another turned back before it even left French airspace, due to mechanical difficulties!
8 out of 14? That's over 50% engine loss rates in one mission alone! In Jan-May 1944! With the "fixed" problems! Those are "new" craft in 1944, that means A-5s. Just because they weren't bursting into flames ALL the time doesn't mean they weren't bursting into piles of scrap metal. They had a very complicated gearbox mechanism and designs like this (side by side engines) on any side during the war had a high failure rate.
Gixxer comments he has both the J Richard Smith & Eddit J Creeks book and the Manfred Griehl & Joachim Dressel book and both seem to agree that even after the "cure" was established with the A-5, they both talk about fires continuing to plague the aircraft. A different reference to Griehl/Dressel says: "In the Griehl/Dressel book on the He177 for the period March to August 1944 there are some 36 177 losses for KG 1 most down to technical reasons."
Even KG1's efforts against Soviet targets from German airfields yielded well above normal rates of engine failures late in the war, with A-3s and A-5s.
Quick google search for He177 Order of Battle:
"LW OoB May 31 1944 - He 177A
Stab/KG 1 2/1 (on hand/servicable)
I/KG 1 30/11
II/KG 1 29/0
III/KG 1 30/12
II/KG 100 30/0
part I/KG 40 30(20)/21(11)
II/KG 40 30/26
3./KG 40 10/10
That is 181 'on hand' but ONLY 71 'sevicable' > 39%. A good indication that all was not well with the He177."
Even when "fixed" it was still a terrible plane.
Folks see this plane on paper and want it because of the "potentially" high bomb loads. It's misleading. It never flew with the max loads unless you count it carrying 2 or 4 guided glider bombs or missiles, each of which could weigh 2000+ pounds. These were also exclusively anti-shipping. When actual bombs were carried, most flew with 4000kg or less.
Otherwise they wouldn't have the operational range to reach London (during the black of night) and come back. In the East, they wouldn't use more than 1000kg, because they had to fly at extreme ranges into Soviet territory and back. They flew so high no VVS fighters were there to stop them. Sometimes they set up racetracks and orbited over targets for hours and bombed in waves. That takes a LOT of fuel, which means they were carrying very FEW bombs. In short, people want it added to this game out of reasons of ignorance. They want a "German B17" (quoted because that kind of term is used in most of the requests for the He-177).
