The Heinkel He 177 Greif (Griffin) was the only operational long-range heavy bomber deployed by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War — and one of the most technically troubled aircraft of the entire conflict. This collection brings together 11 original German-language primary source documents covering the He 177 A variants, including aircraft handbooks, flight operating instructions, illustrated parts catalogs, and a rare technical instruction for rear gun turret modification.

Definitive Collection with Free Lifetime Updates: This is a living collection that we continuously expand and refine. As we acquire additional He 177 documentation, technical bulletins, or variant-specific materials, we update this collection and provide free lifetime updates to all purchasers. Your one-time purchase guarantees access to all future additions and improvements to this collection.

Historical Note

Conceived in the mid-1930s as Germany's strategic bomber, the He 177's development was plagued from the outset by contradictory RLM specifications — most infamously, the requirement that this massive aircraft perform medium-degree diving attacks. This single mandate drove a continuous cycle of aerodynamic reinforcement, structural redesign, and weight increase that the airframe never fully escaped.

The aircraft's most notorious feature was its coupled powerplant arrangement. To reduce frontal drag and enable the dive-bombing requirement, Heinkel paired two Daimler-Benz V-12 engines into a single unit — first the DB 606, later the DB 610 — each driving a single massive four-bladed propeller. The result was an engine nacelle packed so tightly that the inner banks were starved of ventilation. Under high g-loads or adverse flight attitudes, raw fuel and oil dripped directly onto white-hot exhaust manifolds, triggering catastrophic, unquenchable engine fires in mid-flight. Crews nicknamed the aircraft the Luftwaffe's Lighter and the Flaming Coffin.

Aerodynamic problems compounded the engine failures. Rechlin test centre reports documented severe aileron and tail surface flutter during high-speed manoeuvres — flutter that contributed to the mid-air structural failure of the second prototype. Wing strength was measured at one-third below Heinkel's initial calculations, and the large Fowler flaps caused severe twisting under aerodynamic load. Starting with late A-3 production and standardised on the A-5, the outboard Fowler flaps were entirely deactivated and removed. Early evaporative wing-surface cooling — intended to reduce drag — was abandoned in favour of traditional armoured mechanical radiators.

Test pilot Dipl. Ing. Franke's initial flights immediately isolated insufficient yaw and pitch stability, leading to enlarged tail surfaces on subsequent prototypes. Despite these difficulties, the He 177 A-5 demonstrated impressive performance on paper: a maximum speed of 488–510 km/h at altitude, a service ceiling of 8,000 metres, and an operational range of up to 5,500 km. Maximum bomb load reached 6,000–7,000 kg, with provisions for the FX 1400 Fritz X guided bomb and the Hs 293 anti-ship missile — weapons that gave the He 177 its most operationally significant moments, including attacks on Allied shipping in the Bay of Biscay.

Recognising the fundamental failure of the coupled engine layout, engineering bulletins eventually authorised a transition to a conventional four-engine configuration — the He 177 B series. By the time B-series testing began in 1943, however, fuel shortages and the Emergency Fighter Programme had effectively ended any prospect of mass production. Approximately 1,169 He 177s were built in total; surviving examples are exceptionally rare.

Manuals Included in This Collection

Variant A — Aircraft Handbooks (4 documents)

• He 177 A-0 Aircraft Handbook — Flugzeug-Handbuch, Parts 2–4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 12B — 1941 (German Language)
• He 177 A-1 Aircraft Handbook — Flugzeug-Handbuch, Parts 0–10, 12A, 12B, 12G (German Language)
• He 177 A-3 Aircraft Handbook — Flugzeug-Handbuch (German Language)
• He 177 A-3 Short Description — Kurzbeschreibung (German Language)

Variant A — Flight Manuals (4 documents)

• He 177 A-0 Flight Operating Instructions — Bedienungsvorschrift Fl (German Language)
• He 177 A-3 Flight Operating Instructions — Bedienungsvorschrift Fl (German Language)
• He 177 A-3 Flight Operating Instructions (Alternate Cover) — Bedienungsvorschrift Fl (German Language)
• He 177 A Exercise Chart for Pilots — Exerzier-Karte (German Language)

Variant A — Spare Parts Lists (2 documents)

• He 177 A-3 Illustrated Parts Catalog Volume 2 — Ersatzteil-Liste He 177 A-3 Band 2 (German Language)
• He 177 A-5 Illustrated Parts Catalog — Ersatzteilliste — 1944 (German Language)

Non-Variant — Technical Reports & Certificates (1 document)

• He 177 Technical Instruction for Rear Gun Turret Modification — Technische Anweisungen des Generalluftzeugmeisters — Betrifft: He 177 Hecklafette 131 (German Language)

This collection spans the He 177's primary operational variants from the A-0 through A-5, covering the aircraft's full production arc from 1941 to 1944 and providing an unparalleled primary-source archive of Germany's only operational strategic bomber.

Engineering Norms and Standards

The He 177 was developed under RLM specifications that imposed contradictory demands on a single airframe: strategic range, heavy bomb load, and medium-angle dive-bombing capability. The coupled DB 606 and DB 610 powerplants each produced approximately 2,950 hp, but the tightly packaged nacelle design created chronic overheating and fire risk that no field modification fully resolved. Performance specifications for the A-5 called for a maximum speed of 488–510 km/h at altitude, a service ceiling of 8,000 metres, and a combat range of up to 5,500 km depending on payload configuration. Structural standards were repeatedly revised: wing strength was found to be one-third below initial calculations, leading to progressive reinforcement of the outer wing panels and the elimination of the outboard Fowler flaps from late A-3 production onward. Armament standardisation included the Hecklafette 131 rear gun turret, with the modification instruction for this system included in this collection. The He 177 B engineering bulletins, authorising a conventional four-engine layout, were issued in 1943 but never reached production scale.

Format and Delivery

All documents are delivered as high-resolution PDF files, optimised for both screen reading and printing. Files are organised by variant and document type for straightforward navigation. Instant download upon purchase — no shipping, no waiting.

Disclaimer

All documents in this collection are historical primary sources provided for research, archival, and educational reference only. These materials reflect engineering and operational standards of their era and should not be used as guidance for any current aviation activity. Trade names, designations, and markings are used for historical identification purposes only. Copyright © Sicuro Publishing.