Trainer aircraft First flight: 1933 Heinkel

The biplane He 72 Kadett was offered in 1933 as a simple training aircraft for initial flight training. The aircraft was of a mixed (metal and wood) construction with canvas skin, open cockpits, a single-pillar biplane box with offset planes, braced tail and fixed landing gear with a tail spike.

The first production model was the He 72A variant with an inverted Argus As 8B inline engine with a power of 140 hp. (104 kW), later replaced by a 150 hp As 8R engine. (112 kW). The He 72B variant was the main one in the serial production of the machine. His Powerplant included a 160 hp BMW-Bramo (Siemens) Sh.14A radial engine. (119 kW). The He 72B was built in two military versions, the He 72B-1 airplane with wheeled landing gear and the He 72BW Seekadett twin-float floatplane. A civilian development was the He 72B-3 Edelkadett variant for tourism and training.

The latest version of the aircraft was the He 72C, which was a variant of the He 72B-2 with an upgraded landing gear and improved cockpit equipment. At least 12 copies of the aircraft were produced.

The aircraft was produced in a large series for the German Air Force, but data on the total production is now lost. These machines saw extensive use in World War II in their original training and communications role, and also saw service in Slovakia as a light attack aircraft with a small number of light bombs.

The He 172 project, which appeared only as a prototype in 1934, was basically a modification of the He 72B variant with a long-chord NACA-type hood mounted on its engine.

30 He.72B-1 aircraft were produced for the Slovak Air Force under the designation He.72D. Some of these aircraft were also used after the war by the air forces of Czechoslovakia and Poland.

Description
	Drawing Heinkel He 72 B-2

• He 72A first production version.
• He 72V main production version with 160 hp Siemens Sh 14A engine.
• He 72V-1 military flying school variant.
• He He 72B-2 is a light version of the He 72B-1.
• He-72V-3 Edelkadet civil aircraft.
• He 72BW floatplane.
• He 72C variant with upgraded landing gear and improved cockpit equipment.
• He 72D variant of the He 72B-1 for the Slovak Air Force.
• He 172 prototype He 72B built in 1934

Trainer aircraft First flight: 1935 Heinkel

In late 1934, engineers at Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke began work on an improved version of the Heinkel He.72 Kadett trainer. The new aircraft received a more streamlined fuselage and a Townend ring fairing.

October 3, 1935, the company tester Kurt Heinrich (Kurt Heinrich) flew the first prototype aircraft He.172 V-1 (WNr. 1848, D-EEPO). It was a two-seat, single-column biplane, powered by a 160 hp Siemens-Halske Sh 14A radial seven-cylinder engine. (118 kW). This prototype flew without the Townend ring.

Soon Heinrich flew around the second prototype He.172 V-1 (WNr. 1849, D-EEHU). Both machines were handed over for testing at the end of 1935. The conclusions of the commission were disappointing - the flight Specivication of the new machine was only marginally better than that of the production He.72 aircraft. In addition, another TCB has already entered the series - the Focke-Wulf Fw.44 Steiglitz.

As a result, the project was closed, the third He.172 V-3 prototype (D-ELAJ) was not completed, and the fourth He.172 V-4 (D-EEON) in the form of a seaplane did not begin construction

Description
	Drawing Heinkel He 172V-3

Bibliography

• Unlucky competitor "one hundred and ninth" / Sergey Kolov. Planes of the World. /
• Luftwaffe Aviation / V.N. Shunkov /
• Luftwaffe Combat Aircraft / Edited by David Donald /