Heinkel He 50

Heinkel He 50
He 66, the export version of the He 50
Type:	Dive fighter
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Heinkel
First flight:	1931
Commissioning:	1935
Number of pieces:	93

The Heinkel He 50 ( HD 50 ) was a single-engine marine reconnaissance and dive fighter aircraft produced by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke .

technical description

The He 50 was a two-seat biplane with braced wings. The wings were partially covered with light metal, otherwise covered with fabric. The hull was made of welded steel tubes; the front part up to the two seats was covered with light metal, the remaining part covered with fabric. It could be equipped with double floats or a landing gear with a fixed spur.

history

The first prototypes produced on behalf of the Navy were still equipped with Junkers L-5 engines, but these turned out to be too weak. The He 50 was then equipped with an air-cooled Siemens “Jupiter” engine. Series production took place in 1935 at Heinkel (a total of 60 He 50s), then in 1936 at Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (15 aircraft) and Focke-Wulf (18 aircraft).

Series production began even during testing. A copy called the He 66 was delivered to Japan in December 1933 and, after installing a local engine, was built in series as the Aichi D1A . At least 24 pieces of the export version He 66 were made for China in 1934 and 1935. As part of the testing, an He 50 was used in the Condor Legion .

The machines were used as diving school machines and for experiments as possible carrier aircraft for the Graf Zeppelin . In the first half of 1939, extensive brake landing attempts for the carrier operation took place in Travemünde. A deployment did not take place, the extensive tests remained. The 37 He 50 T1s , which had been modified for carrier flight operations, were parked in the Pillau sea air base and were intended for scrapping. Instead, these were assigned to the "Buschmann Staffel" by NSGr 11 on April 2, 1943 as initial equipment. The mission took place in the northern section of the Eastern Front, the He 50 were flown by Estonian volunteers.

Technical specifications

Parameter	He 50a (prototype float version)	He 50a (V-1, prototype wheel version)	He 50 A-2
Construction year	1931	1932	1933
crew	2
length	10.02 m	9.60 m
span	11.50 m
height	4.5 m	4.13 m	4.06 m
Wing area	34.80 m²
Preparation mass	1760 kg	1535 kg	1600 kg
Takeoff mass	2210 kg	2335 kg	2620 kg
Top speed	185 km / h near the ground	246 km / h at an altitude of 1000 m	230 km / h near the ground
Marching speed	170 km / h	220 km / h	190 km / h at an altitude of 800 m
Landing speed		82 km / h	95 km / h
Rise time			3.0 min at 1000 m altitude 6.5 min at 2000 m altitude 16.0 min at 4000 m altitude
Service ceiling		5400 m	6400 m
Range		650 km
Engine	1 × Junkers L 5 G	1 × Siemens "Jupiter VI 5.3"	1 × Siemens & Halske SAM 322B
Starting power	380 hp (279 kW)	490 PS (360 kW)	600 hp (441 kW)

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• Heinkel . Chronicle and data sheets from Heinkel-Flugzeugbau. 3. Edition. Aviatic, Oberhaching 1996, ISBN 3-925505-08-3 .
• Volker Koos: Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke 1922–1932 . Heel, Königswinter 2006, ISBN 3-89880-502-6 .
• Volker Koos: Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke 1933–1945 . Heel, Königswinter 2003, ISBN 3-89880-217-5 .
• Helmut Stützer: The German military aircraft 1919–1934 . E. S. Mittler & Sohn, Herford 1984, ISBN 3-8132-0184-8 .

Web links

Commons : Heinkel He 50  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Manfred Griehl: Typenkompass Heinkel. Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-613-03424-2
2. ^ ^{A b} Volker Koos: Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke 1933–1945. Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2003, pp. 20–22