Hungarian Heinkel He 100D-2

In June of 1938, a Hungarian "civilian" delegation visited the Heinkel Flugzeugwerke factory.  On this occasion, Örnagy (Major) Barkász and two other pilots were allowed to fly the He 112 V9.  It was during this visit that they first saw the He 100, though they were not permitted to fly it at this time.  The delegation formed a highly favorable impression of the He 112 and their reports prompted the Hungarian Hadügyminisztérium (Ministry of War Affairs) to place an order for thirty-six He 112Bs in late September of 1938.  At that time, however, there were no aircraft ready for delivery.  Japan and Spain were on the waiting list, and all aircraft were on back order.  All pleas for priority consideration by the Hungarians proved futile, the RLM would not approve the He 112s for quick delivery.  The Germans deliberately delayed the fulfillment of the order using it as political extortion against the Magyars and their rivals, the Romanians.  On 14 January 1939, Major Barkász pressed once more for the delivery of the thirty-six He 112s on order, but again his efforts proved futile.  In fact, the order was impossible to fill from the moment the order was placed.  The He 112 line was already shutting down, and Heinkel was switching over to production of the He 100 to meet Luftwaffe orders.  All extant orders for the He 112 would either be replaced by another type or left unfilled.  For the Hungarians, it would be a combination of the two, with an emphasis on the latter.

Another Hungarian delegation led by Major Barkász arrived at Heinkel works on 10 March 1939 to inquire about the status of their He 112 order.  They soon determined that it would never be completed as there we no longer any He 112s being produced, but they were permitted to test fly one of the He 100s at this time.  The Hadügyminisztérium requested their order of He 112s be switched for He 100s, but also realized that this order could be delayed indefinitely as well, so decided to inquire about license production of the He 100.  In May of 1939, the license documents were handed over to the Hungarians.  Only three He 100D-2s of the thirty-six ordered were delivered.  These fighters received the typical Hungarian camouflage scheme of Dark Green, Dark Brown, Terra Cotta uppersurfaces and over German Light Gray undersurfaces.  They were coded V.301, V.302, and V.303 (V for vadász, or fighter) and the forward pointed triangular chevron national marking was applied to the wings and tail.  All three Heinkels were assigned to the Repülö Kísérleti Intézet, where they participated in comparison tests against various aircraft in MKHL service.  They were evaluated against the new Reggiane Re-2000 Héja I, which was to become the standard fighter of the Hungarian air force during the early stages of the war.  The Commander-in-Chief of the MKHL, Ezredes (Colonel) László Háry, a veteran pilot of the First World War, recommended the Heinkel He 100 as the standard Hungarian fighter.