Heinkel HE 4

Heinkel HE 4
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Type:	Maritime patrol
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Heinkel , Svenska Aero
First flight:	1926
Commissioning:	1926
Production time:	1926/1927
Number of pieces:	7th

The Heinkel HE 4 is a reconnaissance aircraft developed by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in Warnemünde from the 1920s.

development

The HE 4 was developed as the three-seater successor to the SI and S.II types used by the Swedish naval forces . The flight tests of the prototype with the serial number 246 took place in January 1926. In the same month an offer was made to the Swedish Navy via Svenska Aero , which was accepted on February 3. The HE 4 arrived in Sweden in June and was put into service with the naval aviators with board number 27 , where it was designated as S 4 or Hansa Type 47 . The following year she was handed over to the Air Force and flown there from February 1927 to October 1931 with the number 247. When she was subsequently deleted from the inventory, she had completed more than 910 flight hours.

A small series of six aircraft were built under license at Svenska Aero in 1926/1927. These S 4 with the serial numbers 30, 31 and 40 to 43 were not intended for the Swedish army, but were sold to the Latvian naval aviators. The deliveries were made in pairs; the first in November 1926, the following in August and November of the next year. In Latvia they were given the tactical license plates 10, 11, 16 and 18 to 20. The last examples were still in use in 1940 when Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union.

construction

The HE 4 is a semi-cantilever low-wing -Schwimmerflugzeug in composite construction .

hull

The fuselage is made up of four longitudinal spars and wooden frames. It has a square cross-section with an arched back of the trunk and ends in a vertical edge with a keel fin. The engine mount consists of a tubular steel frame and is designed for easy dismantling of the engine. After the firewall, the three separate, open crew cabins follow, manned in the order by the pilot, radio operator and observer. The planking is made of plywood.

Structure

The wings consist of a fabric-covered wooden frame made of two box spars with inner struts made of steel tubes. They are attached to the lower edge of the fuselage with pin joints and aimed at the floating mechanism with N-shaped supports. The fuel tanks are housed in them on both sides.

Tail unit

The tail unit is formed from the horizontal stabilizer with rudder and the overlapping rudder that rests on the fuselage and is adjustable in flight. All control surfaces are aerodynamically balanced, made of tubular steel and covered with fabric. The horizontal stabilizer has a plywood planking.

Floating mechanism

The HE 4 has two parallel wooden floats covered with plywood. In the front area, these are provided with a flat underside, which is detached in the second third by a step with an adjoining keel. The floating mechanism is connected to each other and to the hull by tubular steel struts.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	3
span	18.0 m
length	12.5 m
height	3.85 m
Wing area	52.5 m²
Wing loading	47.6 kg / m²
Empty mass	1750 kg
Payload	750 kg
Takeoff mass	2500 kg
drive	a liquid-cooled twelve-cylinder - four cycle - V-type engine with a fixed two-blade Holzluftschraube
Type	Rolls-Royce Eagle IX
Take-off power Combat and climb power Rated power Continuous power	340 PS (250 kW) 340 PS (250 kW) on the ground 300 PS (221 kW) on the ground 280 PS (206 kW) on the ground
Top speed	180 km / h near the ground
Landing speed	87 km / h
Rate of climb	3.7 m / s
Rise time	4.30 min at 1000 m
Range	660 km
Service ceiling	3800 m

literature

• Volker Koos: Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke 1922–1932 . Heel, Königswinter 2006, ISBN 3-89880-502-6 , p. 21/22 .
• Hans-Jürgen Becker: Seaplanes - flying boats, amphibians, float planes . In: German aviation . tape 21 . Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 1994, ISBN 3-7637-6106-3 , pp. 141 and 146 .

Web links

• Heinkel HE.4. Retrieved March 18, 2018 (Russian, dates and photos). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Helmut Stützer: The German military aircraft 1919–1934 . E. S. Mittler & Sohn, Herford 1984, ISBN 3-8132-0184-8 , p. 185 and 233 .