The He.50 was the result of a dive bomber program adopted back in 1933. The first aircraft was ready in the summer of 1931 as a two-float seaplane with a Junkers L-5 six-cylinder engine, which developed 390 hp at takeoff. with., which is clearly not enough.

The second prototype He.50аL (D-2471) was made on a wheeled chassis and received a Bristol-Jupiter-VI engine with a takeoff power of 490 hp. from. The propeller was a four-blade wooden, fixed pitch. Flight characteristics and dive bombing tests were carried out in a single-seat version - the second cockpit was sealed with a fairing. At the same time, the plane could lift a 500 kg bomb.

In 1932, the aircraft was successfully shown in Rechlin to officials and, according to its results, three experimental aircraft were ordered, which were ready at the end of the summer of 1932.

After testing in Rechlin, Heinkel received an order for the He.50a series. They were supplied to German military schools from the end of 1933. By this time, the aircraft was already considered as a temporary dive bomber and mainly served to train the pilots of the future "stukashtaffel".

He.50 was a very durable two-post biplane with a wooden two-spar wing with fabric sheathing. The fuselage was welded from steel pipes and sheathed up to the cockpit with sheets of light alloy, and then with cloth. The program for the expansion of aircraft production, adopted on January 1, 1934, provided for the supply of 51 He.50 dive bombers, including 25 machines not yet delivered under the previous contract and 35 under license.

Combat use. With the formation on October 1, 1935, of the first part of dive bombers in the lutwaffe - the Schwerin air group - He.50 and obsolete Ar.65 were sent to it for initial equipment. The air group was later renamed the 1st group of the 162nd dive bomber squadron. At the same time, two more groups were formed - I / St.G.165 in Kitzengen and II / St.G.162 in Lubeck, three squadrons each. All nine squadrons received three He.50s as a temporary dive bomber, and they were brought up to full staff at the expense of the Ar.65 and He.51 received from fighter groups. As the Hs. 123 and Ju. 87 entered, Heinkels were sent to flight schools. There He.50 were used until 1943, when they were sent to night assault groups on the Eastern Front. Archaic biplanes "Heinkel" were assembled as part of two squadrons of the newly formed 11th group of night attack aircraft. Crews of Estonian fascists flew on them. On December 1, 1943. 1. and 2./NSGr.11 in the 1st Air Fleet had 12 He.50a each, of which 10 and 9 vehicles were combat-ready, respectively. The squadrons were still in use until September 1944, when they were disbanded due to lack of fuel and spare parts.

Photo	Description
	Drawing He 50a

Bibliography

• Aircraft of the battlefield / A&K, Vladimir Perov, Oleg Rastrenin /
• Luftwaffe Aviation / V.N. Shunkov /
• Luftwaffe Combat Aircraft / Edited by David Donald /
• Wings of the Luftwaffe (combat aircraft of the Third Reich) / William Greene. /
• Encyclopedia of Military Technology / Aerospace Publising /