Heinkel 111H

Heinkel 111H (Luftwaffe)
First flown in 1935 and combat tested in the Spanish Civil War, the He 111 was an elegant aircraft that was as fast as many pre-WWII fighters, and capable of carrying two tons of bombs. Like other bomber designs of the early '30s, its speed made defensive armament seem almost unnecessary, and its early successes lulled German planners into committing it to daylight operations over Britain in 1940. But there reality set in, as modern Hurricane and Spitfire fighters mauled the relatively slow-moving Heinkels. The 111 could take a lot of punishment, particularly from the rifle-caliber machine guns of the British fighters, and many made it home peppered with bullet holes. Night operations extended the usefulness of the He 111 and Do 17 bombers; while both were mostly supplanted by the faster Ju 88, the 111 continued to serve in various capacities until the end of the war. After the war it remained in production in Spain--ironically using Rolls-Royce Merlin engines--until 1956.