Aviation of World War II
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Aviation of World War II |
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He 59
At the beginning of 1935, the first 14 production He-59V-1 entered the German commercial aviation school on List Island (List auf Sylt). It was, in fact, a military flight school, which soon came under the control of the naval command of flight schools. To increase the rate of production of seaplanes, the Ministry organized licensed production of He-59 at the plant of the German company Arado Flugzeugwerke GmbH; over time, the entire production of He-59 was concentrated precisely at this plant. After the first serial He-59V-1, they began to produce the He-59V-2, which differed from the previous one in a modified composition of on-board equipment, and the He-59V-3, with additional fuel tanks and enhanced weapons. Before the start of the war, another modification went into series - C It was intended for long-range reconnaissance and rescue operations at sea. Structurally, the He-59 was a twin-engine four-seater float multi-purpose biplane seaplane of a mixed design. The seaplane crew consisted of a pilot - crew commander, navigator-scorer, gunner-radio operator and gunner. The power plant of the aircraft consisted of two 12-cylinder V-shaped water-cooled engines BMW 6.0 ZU with a take-off power of 660 hp. at 1650 rpm and 630 hp at 1530 rpm at an altitude of 2000 meters. The mass of each engine is 542 kg, length 1711 mm, width 859 mm and height 1103 mm. They were installed between the upper and lower wing. The motor mount, assembled from steel pipes, rested on five support posts, fixed, in turn, on the front and rear spars of the lower wing. Four struts connected the engine mount to the fuselage and upper wing. |
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* when installing additional tanks for 2,500 liters, the flight range increased to 1,500 km. Small arms consisted of three 7.92 mm Rheinmetall-Borsig MG15 machine guns - each had a mass of 8.1 kg and a length of 1090 mm; machine gun rate of fire - 1250 rds / min. The machine guns in the cockpits of the navigator and gunner-radio operator were mounted on type "A" turrets and had 975 rounds of ammunition (in 13 discs, 75 each). The machine gun in the cockpit of the lower gunner was mounted on a D 15 type pivot and had 600 rounds of ammunition. On Non-59V-1 aircraft used in the AS / 88 squadron of the Condor Legion, an aircraft 20-mm cannon Rheinmetall - Borsig (Oerlikon) MG-FF with a reserve of 75 shells was installed in the navigator's cockpit. On non-59V-3 seaplanes, small arms were limited to two machine guns in the cockpits of the navigator and gunner-radio operator. Offensive weapons (weighing up to 1000 kg) were located in the fuselage bomb bay or on removable bomb racks under the fuselage. Bomb armament - 20x50-kg SC 50 bombs, 4x250-kg SC 250 or 2x500-kg SC 500 bombs. Instead of He-59 bombs, he could take two LMA-type mines weighing 500 kg each or one LMB mine weighing 1000 kg. Mines could be equipped with contact or magnetic fuses. Non-59V-1 aircraft could also be armed with a 533-mm LF 5f aircraft torpedo weighing 743 kg.
In DetailHe-60
Shortly after the start of work on the prototype He.59, the Ministry of Defense proposed to Ernst Heinkel Flygzeugwerke to develop a new two-seat reconnaissance seaplane. The specifications for it were prepared by the Air Staff and the Reichsmarine. The aircraft was to be launched from a catapult and used on the high seas. As a result, the Heinkel created a single-column polutoraplan of a mixed design with a liquid-cooled BMW-VI 6.0ZU engine, with a power of 660 hp at takeoff. The aircraft received the designation He.60. The first experimental He.60a (D-2325) entered flight tests in early 1933. and showed excellent data in the air and on the water. The biggest problem was the heavy weight of the airframe, which, with this engine, did not allow to raise any significant combat load. As a result, the second experimental He.60b (D-IHOH) was equipped with a 750-horsepower BMW-VI 7.3, but the flight data changed so little that the air staff decided to put the previous version of the engine on the serial He.60a. In Warnemünde, the assembly of 14 pre-production aircraft has already begun. With the exception of the engine, He.60b differed from the first aircraft in several other details. The ailerons on the upper and lower wings were enlarged and additional struts were removed behind the main N-shaped ones. The enlarged ailerons were retained on the third experimental He.60c (D-IROL) and pre-production He.60a, however, an additional rack was again installed in the wing box. The He.60c was the first to be equipped with catapult launch devices. It was delivered for military trials in Travemünde in the late spring of 1933. Almost immediately, it was followed by the first two pre-production seaplanes of the A series. The first Luftwaffe construction program called for the delivery of 81 He.60s from January 1934. to September 30, 1935 By March 1, 1934. German commercial flying schools received 10 He.60a. By the beginning of 1935. their number increased to 27. By this time, a coastal aviation training squadron and a naval aviation school had already been created. During 1934 He.60a was replaced in production by He.60b, which had some design changes. He, like the previous model, did not go beyond the installation batch and, in turn, was replaced in production by the He.60c, also with only minor differences. The first and second He.60c (D-ILRO and D-IXES) began testing in late autumn 1934. The aircraft was produced under license from next year on the Arado, and then on the Weser Flygzeugbau. The He.60c retained the BMW-VI 6.0ZU engine with a wooden two-bladed Schwartz fixed-pitch propeller. The 680-liter fuel tank was located under the cockpit. The oval fuselage was welded from steel pipes and carried a fabric covering. The wing is wooden two-spar, also sheathed with fabric. One-way floats of all-metal construction were attached to the fuselage by parallel struts and V-shaped struts to the wing. Both crew members were placed in open cockpits. In the rear, the installation of one MG-15 machine gun with 11 stores of 75 rounds was provided.
In DetailHe-114
In the summer of 1935 "Ernst Heinkel Flygzeugwerke" began the development of a two-seater seaplane designed to replace the He.60 float biplanes in squadrons of shipborne aircraft and short-range reconnaissance in coastal aviation groups. After the adoption of the project, the aircraft received the designation He.114. The production of five experimental and 10 pre-production aircraft was started. In addition to good aerodynamics and all-metal construction, the He.114 was also notable for its unusual half-plane design with a small semi-elliptical lower wing with a wingspan of 6m. The wide upper wing of a rectangular shape had two spars and consisted of three sections. The center section was attached above the fuselage on N-shaped racks. The biplane box struts were Y-shaped. The wing folded back. The fuselage is of circular cross-section monocoque design. The crew consisted of two people - the pilot, placed under the cutout in the upper wing, and an observer behind him. Two all-metal single-row floats had water rudders. The power plant was determined by the Technical Department - BMW-132Dc (development of the licensed Hornet) - 9-cylinder, air-cooled. But the unavailability of this engine required the installation of the Daimler-Benz DB-600A - a 12-cylinder, liquid-cooled 960hp power. The 8th experimental He.114-V2 received the Junkers Jumo-210Ea with a power of 680hp. These two aircraft were ready almost simultaneously in the spring of 1936. 
Initial flight and sea trials were disappointing. The hydrodynamic performance was too poor, the aircraft was unstable on the water, raising a cascade of spray even when taxiing at low speed. In light seas, the floats tended to burrow into the water, so that the aircraft wobbled a lot at speed. Flight data was only marginally better. They managed to raise several of them on the third experimental He.114-VЗ (D-IOGD), which received the ВМW-132D engine with a takeoff power of 850hp. The cockpit was covered with a sliding canopy. The keel was redesigned, the contours of the floats were changed. The V4 (D-IDWC) has been further modified. The wingtips were trimmed, the span was reduced from 13.8 to 13.6m, and the area from 41.4 to 41 sq.m. A 960-horsepower VMW-132K was installed. The contours of the floats received a concave bottom with a slope inward to divert spray from the aircraft. Simultaneously with the same purpose, He.114-V1 was equipped with heavily keeled floats. The flat bottom of the floats was effective when taking off in calm water, but it was completely unsuitable for taking off in waves. During landing in heavy seas, the floats experienced too strong lateral loads, which led to an aircraft crash. Official tests in Travemünde gave such poor results that the Technical Department was forced to issue a new task to the Arado and Focke-Wulf - they feared that the Heinkel would not be able to correct the aircraft's shortcomings. However, at the end of 1936. He.114-V5 was released on the model of V3 with trimmed tips and a BMW-132Dc engine. In the winter of 1936-37, the first production He.114a-0 was also produced. The first four serial aircraft received the numbers "querzuh". V6 and V7 differed in different float contours, and V8 (D-IDEG) was already considered a prototype for the He.114a-1. He received an improved VMW-132K with a three-blade variable pitch VDM propeller. The He.114-V8 no longer had a catapult-launch mount, as tests at Travemünde revealed that the aircraft was not strong enough. The fourth A-0 had changes in the design of the fuselage, taking into account the new principles of strength calculation. It was He.114-V9 (D-IHDG). The remaining six pre-production vehicles were also delivered to Travemünde for testing. In the meantime, the Weser Flygzeugbau began production of serial He.114a-1s, and the V2, which still had the Jumo-210Ea, was handed over to the Kriegsmarine for testing from the catapult. The aircraft still retained a tendency to wobble immediately after hitting the water. They tried to eliminate this drawback by increasing the keel, the floats received two-keel contours. With these changes, he was put on the new battleship "Gneisenau". New floats did not show any advantages over conventional ones and were soon replaced. The He.114-V2 was replaced by the He.114a and returned to the Heinkel for the installation of the BMW engine. A total of 33 He.114a-1s were made on the Weser, which had BMW-132N engines with a take-off power of 865hp, some received two-bladed, and the rest three-bladed propellers. The first aircraft was delivered to the Naval Aviation School in June 1937. Following the A-1, the He.114a-2 variant began to be produced with a reinforced fuselage modeled on the He.114-V9 and mounts for launching from a catapult. The A-1 and A-2 had a wider keel to improve course stability, a new cockpit canopy, and a lower canopy to reduce drag. After testing the He.114a-2 with the VMW-132N, a more powerful VMW-132K with a three-bladed automatic propeller with a diameter of 3.3m was installed on it.
Defensive armament consisted of one MG-15 machine gun on an Arado mount at the rear of the cab with eight 75-round magazines. Under the lower wing were holders for two 50kg bombs. The floats had seven watertight compartments that could be used as fuel tanks. The normal supply of gasoline was 640 liters, and with filled tanks in floats - 1100 liters. Pilots still didn't like the behavior of the He.114 on the water and in the air, and numerous improvements did not lead to a solution to these problems. In the summer of 1937 the first experimental Ar.196 flew, which turned out to be a successful aircraft. As a result, the RLM, disappointed in the He.114, decided to keep the He.60 until the Arado seaplane entered service, and Heinkel was asked to try to sell the He.114 abroad. The He.114a-2 was assigned to one of the coastal aviation squadrons in order to impress potential buyers of its practical suitability. Aircraft in 1938 received in 1./Ku.Fl.Gr.506, but the very next year they were returned to the Weser to be prepared for export. The export version of the He.114a-2 was designated He.114b and was quite tempting due to its low price and delivery time. Soon the Swedes signed a contract for 12 He.114b-1 delivered in 1939-40. They were used in "flotilla-2" under the designation S-17BS. The Romanian government also ordered 12 He.114b-2s and another 12 aircraft with two MG-17 synchronous machine guns. Aircraft converted from He.114a-2 according to Romanian requirements received the designation He.114c-1. But before they were delivered to the Romanians, the Luftwaffe shortly before the invasion of the Soviet Union included them in 1./SAGr.125. They were used along with the He.60 along the Baltic coast and in the Gulf of Finland. By the end of the year, 1./SAGr.125 was renamed and re-equipped, and He.114c-1 were transferred to Romania. They served in the Black Sea with the 101st and 102nd coastal reconnaissance squadrons until they were replaced by the Ar.196a-3 at the end of 1943. Denmark April 1, 1940 ordered four He.114s for delivery in June-August, but the contract never took place due to the occupation of the country by the Germans. He.114 had a chance to serve in Spain, where during the Second World War three or four aircraft were delivered to replace obsolete He.60s on ships.
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