This is another semi-fictional build, but not too far-fetched; it’s how the He 219 could have turned out if a few things had gone differently.

In 1937, Heinkel’s He 119 project was intended mainly to test out modern ideas about aerodynamics. It featured a glass nose like the He 111, but mounted the prop directly in front of the nose, the drive shaft bisecting the cockpit. Powered by twin DB 601 engines mounted in the fuselage, it set a record in 1937, flying 1000 km at 505 km/h with a payload of 1000 kg. Heinkel hoped to sell a recon/light bomber version of the 119 to the luftwaffe, but at the time, DB 601’s were unobtainable.

The He 119 was also used to test a true monster engine –or rather, a “power system” as they called it; the DB 613, essentially two side-by-side coupled DB 603’s, providing some 3500 HP. Based on this configuration, Heinkel proposed the P.1055 as a high speed, high altitude recon plane featuring the latest in aviation technology. The luftwaffe saw some potential in the idea, but had no need for a dedicated recon plane. The P.1055 would be considered as a multirole plane; recon, “zerstörer”, bomber escort and fast bomber. Heinkel drafted a version with remote-controlled machine gun turrets, autocannons mounted in the wings, retractable “schräge musik” cannons for bomber-hunting, and the ability to carry up to 1800 kg of bombs internally and externally… and all this at speeds of well over 700 km/h, or so Heinkel promised.

The DB 613 however never went into production, and Heinkel had to make do with standard DB 603’s –still formidable engines. The project was redesigned, resulting in a somewhat more conservative two-engined plane… the He-219 “Uhu”.

Still, it’s fun to play around with Heinkel’s original idea, even though the He-219 is probably a more efficient plane than the P.1055 would have been. For one, the 219’s pilots had an excellent all-round field of vision from their cockpit, the P.1055’s would have been terrible.

Anyway… I cooked up a “would-be He 219” based on the P.1055, featuring;

• Ventral and dorsal rear gun turrets with twin MG’s
• Two wing-mounted MG 151 20mm’s, suitable for air & ground targets
• Two dorsal, retractable MG 151 20mm’s, forward-firing under an (adjustable) angle… the so-called “schräge musik” setup.
• 2x 12 underwing R4M rockets (for ground targets, or for showering down on bomber formations)
• Just for fun: four Ruhrstahl X-4 (wire)guided air-to-air missiles. These were never really used operationally, but they were developed in WW2 and they did work -in a way. The operator of course had to guide them to target, which would be akin to playing a videogame… in a noisy, vibrating, cramped plane, with bad visibility and bullets flying. I’m guessing they wouldn’t hit much.
• Two SC250 bombs

Controls are simple and straightforward;

• AG1 : In normal operation, VTOL controls flaps and Trim is, well, trim. With AG1 activated, the “schräge musik” pops up and VTOL/Trim are used to control that and the MG turrets (just cycle through the camera views).
• AG2 : navigation lights
• AG3 : unlock tail wheel steering (only to taxi)

Just spawn some lumbering 4-engine bombers and have fun!