Blohm & Voss Ha 139
| Blohm & Voss Ha 139 | |
|---|---|
 Ha 139 north wind |
|
| Type: | Transport plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
1936 |
| Commissioning: |
1937 |
| Production time: |
1936-1938 |
| Number of pieces: |
3 |
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The Blohm & Voss Ha 139 was a German transatlantic mail plane from the 1930s. It was used for military purposes during World War II .
history
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In 1935, Lufthansa needed a suitable ocean-going and catapult- capable transocean aircraft for a new airmail service to be set up across the North Atlantic . It should be able to transport 500 kg of cargo over a distance of 5,000 km at 250 km / h during catapult launch.
Thereupon Richard Vogt , chief designer of the Hamburger Flugzeugbau Gesellschaft, subsidiary of the shipyard Blohm & Voss , designed the first two aircraft Ha 139 V1 "Nordmeer" (first flight October 1936) and Ha 139 V2 "Nordwind" , which were delivered to Lufthansa in the summer of 1937 . They should be used on the Horta ( Azores ) - New York City line . The 14 Atlantic flights took place from the two mother ships Schwabenland in Horta and Friesenland in New York between August 15 and November 18, 1937. After evaluating them, the tail units were changed slightly and the radiators moved under the wings.
In 1938 the first test flights were carried out with the Nordwind on the South Atlantic in the postal service. On May 13th she started in Bathurst from the water with the crew Joachim Blankenburg , Friedrich Ludwig , Paul Dierberg , Wilhelm Küppers and a passenger to Natal . The return flight took place on May 20 in a catapult launch from the Friesenland in Recife . A total of three return flights were carried out according to this model up to June 10th, with four second pilots being deployed, including the Technical Director of Lufthansa, Freiherr von Gablenz , to Natal on June 3rd.
From July 21, test flights were carried out again on the North Atlantic between the Azores and New York. There were a total of 13 return flights. In addition to the machines from the previous year, a third and final Ha 139B “Nordstern” machine was used. It had a larger wingspan and wing area, as well as lowered engines . Also used on the Horta – New York City route, it covered the route six times from September 12 to October 19, 1938.
On October 28, 1937, the machines began to be used regularly on the airmail route across the South Atlantic between Bathurst and Natal or Recife. The use of the Ha 139 meant that the Dornier Wal flying boats were finally withdrawn, and the Dornier Do 18 alone was still operated by the Zyklon occasionally. From April 1938, the first Dornier Do 26s came into use on the postal line. Usually two machines were used alternately and replaced by another machine during the major overhauls. From the Ha 139 the V1 "Nordmeer" came on eight return flights in the postal service between October 28, 1938 and April 22, 1939, the V3 "Nordstern" on eleven return flights between November 11, 1938 and July 7, 1939 and finally the V2 "Nordwind" , which had already carried out the first tests in the South Atlantic in the spring, to a further fourteen return flights between December 2, 1938 and August 31, 1939. With the first test flights In the postal service, the Ha 139 flew 36 times there and back across the South Atlantic.
Because of the danger of war, the last-named flight was the last German flight from Brazil without post from Natal to Bolama , where the air base ship Ostmark had moved after the last scheduled water start of the Do 26 Seefalke on August 25th. The sea falcon had already flown from Brazil to Bolama by post the day before. Both machines then flew on to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , where the Do 26 V1 Seeadler was also located, which was about to be used again. On September 19, the Spaniards allowed the Germans to repatriate the machines, which in the following days carried out their individual return flights via Spain and northern Italy to southern Germany. The East Mark could also reach Las Palmas; she later moved to southern France.
After the beginning of the Second World War , the V1 and V2 were used as transporters, including during the occupation of Norway . The third machine received an elongated, glass bow and enlarged horizontal stabilizers and was called Ha 139 V3 / U1 or Ha 139 B / 217 as a reconnaissance aircraft, later as a mine sweeper with a so-called " Mausi-Ring ", among other things with the registration P5 + GH used. The land-based further development of the Ha 139 was developed in 1938 and named BV 142 .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data (Ha 139 V1 / V2) | Data (Ha 139 B (V3)) | Ha 139 B / U-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| crew | 4-5 | ||
| span | 27.0 m | 29.50 m | |
| length | 19.50 m | 19.60 m | 20.07 m |
| height | 4.50 m | 4.80 m | |
| Wing area | 117 m² | 130 m² | |
| Empty mass | 10,360 kg | 10,410 kg | 10,340 kg |
| Preparation mass | 10,890 kg | 10,940 kg | |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 17,500 kg (spin start) 16,000 kg (water start) |
17,550 kg (spin start) 16,050 kg (water start) |
19,000 kg |
| Engine | four liquid-cooled six-cylinder - two-stroke - diesel engines Jumo 205C | ||
| Starting power continuous power |
600 PS (441 kW) each at 2200 rpm 510 PS (375 kW) each at 2000 rpm |
||
| Top speed | 315 km / h | 325 km / h | 290 km / h at an altitude of 3,000 m |
| Cruising speed | 260 km / h with 420 hp engine power each | 270 km / h | 240 km / h at an altitude of 2,000 m |
| Landing speed | 105 km / h | 95 km / h | |
| Climb performance | 6.9 m / s | 2.8 m / s | |
| Range | normal 5,000 km maximum 5,300 km |
normal 5,200 km maximum 5,900 km |
normal 4,600 km maximum 4,950 km |
| Summit height | 6,600 m | ||
| Armament | - | four 7.92 mm MG 15 | |
See also
literature
- Jörg-M. Hormann: Flight book Atlantic German catapult flights 1927-1939 . DeliusKlasing, Bielefeld 2007, ISBN 978-3-7688-1973-2 .
- Manfred Griehl: Dornier flying boats in World War II - Thu 18 - Thu 24 - Thu 26 . In: arsenal of weapons . tape 171 . Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim 1998, ISBN 3-7909-0628-X .
- Siegfried Graf Schack von Wittenau: Pioneering flights by a Lufthansa captain 1926–1945 . Motorbuch, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-87943-764-5 .
- Wilhelm Küppers: Start free - Atlantic, longing - conquest - mastery . Hoffmann & Campe, 1955.
- James W. Graue / John Duggan: Deutsche Lufthansa South Atlantic Airmail Service 1934–1939 . Zeppelin Study Group, Ickenham 2000, ISBN 0-9514114-5-4 .
- HW Laumanns: Typenkompass German airliners since 1919 , Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-613-02975-0 , pp. 74-75
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The contract between Portugal and Lufthansa was recognized internationally. On August 13, 1937, the London Times reported eight approved flight experiments. The French and Italians are also interested in this route.
- ↑ a b c Herbert Ringlstetter: Blohm & Voss Ha 139. In: Flugzeug Classic Spezial No. 15, Geramond, Munich 2016, ISSN 1617-0725, p. 27