'Captured Heinkel' (Heinkel He 111H-20)

Plastic kit for a captured Heinkel He 111H-20

• Scale 1:48
• Dimensions (assembled): Length 344 mm / Wingspan 471 mm
• 291 parts
• USAAF markings during various periods
• Not built, not painted
• Paint and glue not included

One of the He 111H-20s has a remarkable history. It was built as a transport variant of one of the Luftwaffe's most-produced bombers and was manufactured in 1944 under the factory number 701152. In the final days of World War II in Europe, American forces captured it and transported it to Cherbourg. The pilots of the USAAF's 56th Fighter Group, to whom the aircraft was assigned, painted it in their unit's signature deep purple livery. In September 1945, when it was time to return to the USA, the American pilots were faced with abandoning the aircraft. Unwilling to abandon it, the crew made a daring decision: Without authorization from higher command, they flew their He 111 to the British airfield at North Weald, where they were discovered the next morning by astonished British pilots on their airfield. This courageous action ensured the aircraft's survival. It was subsequently displayed at the German Air Force Exhibition at RAE Farnborough before finding its permanent home in 1978 at the Royal Air Force Museum in London, where it remains today.