The CASA 2.111 story dates back as far as 1937.
At the end of that year, in the midst of the civil war, the Spanish Air Ministry signed a contract with Heinkel for licence production of the He 111. However, it was not to bear fruit for some years. While Heinkel-built machines served in Spain with the German-manned Legion Condor, the Spanish nationalist air arm and then the post-civil war Ejército del Aire, not until September 1941 was a contract agreed with local concern CASA. It covered the manufacturing of 200 examples. These were supposed to be He 111P models, but ended up being He 111H-16s, and production was much delayed. Only in 1944 were sufficient components to build 10 aircraft received, transported from Germany by rail. With them came a complete, dismantled He 111 to use as a pattern.
