Heinkel He 74

Heinkel He 74
	; Model of the He 74b, second prototype
Type:	Practice aircraft for aerobatics and makeshift fighters
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke
First flight:	1933
Number of pieces:	8th

The Heinkel He 74 was an advanced training aircraft and makeshift fighter made by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in the 1930s.

history

The design of the He 74 goes back to Walter Günter, the twin brother of the Heinkel designer Siegfried Günter , who in 1933 designed an aerodynamically high-quality double - decker as an aerobatic advanced training aircraft for fighter pilot training. At the same time, according to the air armament plans of the Reichswehr, the draft was intended as a so-called homeland security fighter, for which the short range and the only weak possibility of arming with a MG was considered sufficient.

Other participants in the tender were the Focke-Wulf Fw 56 , the Henschel Hs 121 and the Arado Ar 76 . Although the flight characteristics were in some cases better than those of the competitors, the evaluation included the fact that the C-Office saw the future in monoplane. The winner of the tender was the Fw 56 with the Ar 76 as an alternative solution.

The He 74a was primarily used to test various wing profiles. A total of only three prototypes with slightly different dimensions and five He 74b series machines were produced. According to another source, only one copy of the He 74a and He 74b is said to have been produced.

construction

The He 74 was a single-handled cocked biplane with staggered wings, the lower surface being significantly smaller. The wings had two wooden spars and plywood planking. Ailerons were only available in the upper wing. The two I-legs were just as aerodynamically clad as the fixed tail wheel chassis with self-supporting struts.

The fuselage frame was a welded tubular steel construction, which was brought to an oval cross-section by means of a shaped frame and was covered with fabric. The pilot sat in an open cockpit behind the upper wing trailing edge.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data (Heinkel He 74a)
crew	1
span	8.15 m above, 7.00 m below
length	6.45 m
height	2.20 m
Empty mass	700 kg
Max. Takeoff mass	1017 kg
Top speed	280 km / h
Cruising speed	240 km / h
Range	700 km
Service ceiling	4800 m
drive	an Argus As 10 C, 240 PS (177 kW)

Web links

Commons : Heinkel He 74 - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ H. Dieter Köhler: Ernst Heinkel - pioneer of the high-speed aircraft. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1983, p. 134.
^ Heinkel He 74. Retrieved on December 31, 2012 .
^ Heinz J. Nowarra: The German Air Armament 1933-1945. Volume 2, Bernard & Graefe, 1993, p. 184.

[1] H. Dieter Köhler: Ernst Heinkel - pioneer of the high-speed aircraft. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1983, p. 134.

[2] Heinkel He 74. Retrieved on December 31, 2012 .

[3] Heinz J. Nowarra: The German Air Armament 1933-1945. Volume 2, Bernard & Graefe, 1993, p. 184.