He-111

Two weeks ago, I started learning about bombers... And not about any bomber, but He-111.
My friend, Liviu, was a little bit disappointed by this news and he asked me why do I need to fly bombers, because, to him, air glory cannot come from anywhere else but from a fighter plane, not from a... bomber, and he was talking about bombers like one would talk about lepers.
I simply answered him that it couldn't hurt to learn more, even about bombers. And I have the patience to fly a bomber, because flying this plane will need tons of patience...
And I had another reason. I really love Ion Profir's (WW2 Romanian Top Bomber Pilot) book - 'Flying Solo in the Sky Above Stalingrad'.
In the JO Introductory Bomber School, we learn flying the He-111 H-6, which, besides bombs, can launch torpedoes. I like this plane very much, especially that feeling of flying a monster tank. Not to mention that take-offs and landings are a real challenge.
Flying a bomber can become boring, but when you approach your target, when you are attacked by enemy fighters or flak, your workload increases in a crazy manner (bombsight aiming, defending against enemy fighters, avoiding enemy AAA etc.), enough to make you old.
Ion Profir said that flying a bomber in formation isn't boring at all, because the pilot has to correct his position all the time, in relation with the other bombers, and he liked the bombers' slow dance, caused by the small variations in height, like they were all joining the same dance.
Above all, flying a bomber can teach you patience and resistance to meet all challenges (flying with one engine, flying with damaged aircraft, crash-landings etc).
Nothing seems impossible to a real bomber pilot, and I remember Ion Profir's unique way of dealing with attacking enemy fighters, i.e. flying towards them, like in a crazy ramming maneuvre, forcing the attackers to avoid collision and disengage.
Wikipedia says that 'Romania received 10 E-3s, 32 H-3s and 10 H-6s' from Germany.
Ion Profir only flew the H-3 variant, and, for a short period of time, the Me-110. From 22 July 1941 to 4 January 1943, cpt. av. Ion Profir fought in the 5th Bomber Group. From 1943 to June 1944 he flew with the 51st Night Fighter Squadron. He was awarded the Mihai Viteazul Order 3rd class and the Virtutea Aeronautica Order Knight class.
Here is one of the He-111 H-3 that cpt. av. Ion Profir flew (number 18):

And a great link containing photos of the 5th bomber group, including two with Ion Profir (the guy with the moustache):

http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1149&hl=