Heinkel Flugzeugwerke
7 types · 0 airframes
Pre-1950 Narrative
It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with the pioneering examples of a successful liquid-fueled rocket and a turbojet-powered aircraft in aviation history, with both Heinkel designs' first flights occurring shortly before the outbreak of World War II in Europe. By 1929, the firm's compressed air-powered catapults were in use on the German Norddeutscher Lloyd ocean-liners SS Bremen and Europa to launch short-range mail planes from the liners' decks. The company's first post-World War I aircraft design success was the design of the all-metal, single-engined Heinkel He 70 Blitz high-speed mail plane and airliner for Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1932, which broke a number of air speed records for its class. It was followed by the two-engine Heinkel He 111 Doppel-Blitz, which became a mainstay of the Luftwaffe during World War II as a bomber. The Heinkel company is most closely associated with aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. The 30-meter (100 ft) class wingspan design was to be built to be able to perform moderate-angle dive bombing attacks from the moment of its approval by the RLM in early November 1937, until this was rescinded in September 1942.
Aircraft Types
Heinkel He 100
Heinkel's bid to build a fighter faster than the Messerschmitt Bf 109 the Luftwaffe had already chosen. First flown in January 1938, the He 100 used a tightly cowled Daimler-Benz DB 601 and evaporative cooling to reach exceptional speed, and on 30 March 1939 Hans Dieterle set the world speed record in one at 746.66 km/h. The Luftwaffe never ordered it into production. Six prototypes were sold to the Soviet Union and three pre-production aircraft to Japan; the twelve production aircraft stayed at Heinkel's works and were used to publicise an imaginary service fighter, the "He 113". No original survives; a full-scale replica is on display at the Planes of Fame Air Museum.
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German twin-engined medium bomber, designed in 1934 by Siegfried and Walter Günter and first flown in February 1935. Presented to the world as a fast civil airliner, it became the Luftwaffe's most numerous bomber in the early war years and served on every European front as a bomber, torpedo bomber and transport. Daylight operations over Britain in 1940 exposed its weak defences and it shifted largely to night work, yet it stayed in German production until 1944, and Spanish licence-built versions remained in service until 1973.
Heinkel He 162 Salamander
A single-seat jet fighter built by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke under the Volksjäger ("People's Fighter") emergency programme, the He 162 went from contract to first flight in 74 days in late 1944. Built largely of wood to save strategic materials, it reached one Luftwaffe fighter wing in token numbers in 1945, was never certified ready for combat, and had no effect on the outcome of the war.
Heinkel He 178
A small Heinkel testbed built around Hans von Ohain's HeS 3 turbojet, the He 178 made the world's first turbojet-powered flight on 27 August 1939. Demonstrated to the German Air Ministry, it was rejected as impractical and never entered service.
Heinkel He 219 Uhu
A night fighter built by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke, the He 219 Uhu was one of only two aircraft of the Second World War designed from the outset for night fighting. First flown in November 1942, it combined intercept radar with heavy cannon armament, but its programme was cancelled in May 1944 and production continued only in small numbers: NASM counts 294 constructed and 268 put into service. The sole complete survivor, an A-2 captured in Denmark in 1945, is on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center.
Heinkel He 46
The Heinkel He 46 was a two-seat parasol-wing monoplane built for short-range reconnaissance and army co-operation, first flown in late 1931 as a biplane and redesigned when its small lower wing blocked the crew's view downward. It equipped the Luftwaffe's short-range reconnaissance squadrons through the mid-1930s, served in Spain and with Hungary and Bulgaria, and was being replaced by the Henschel Hs 126 from 1938, yet small numbers fought over Poland in 1939 and the type returned for night harassment missions on the Eastern Front in 1943.
Heinkel He 70 Blitz
The Heinkel He 70 Blitz was a German single-engined monoplane designed as a fast four-seat airliner for Deutsche Lufthansa and first flown on 1 December 1932. Its elliptical wing, smooth flush-riveted skin and retractable landing gear made it one of the fastest airliners of its day; the prototypes set eight international speed records and Heinkel built 324 in all. The Luftwaffe adapted it as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, it served in Spain with the Condor Legion, and a licence-engined variant, the He 170, served Hungary. Its wing and streamlined form fed into the later He 111, but no example of the type survives today.