The
HeinkelHeinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...
He 51 was a
GermanNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
single-seat
biplaneA biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
which was produced in a number of different versions. It was initially developed as a
fighterA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
, and a
seaplaneA seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories: floatplanes and flying boats...
variant and a ground-attack version were also developed. It was a development of the earlier
He 49The Heinkel He 49 was a German single-bay single-seat biplane of mixed construction armed with two machine guns. Four designs were made, the He 49a, He 49b, He 49c, and the He 51 which went on to become a successful German fighter aircraft during World War II....
.
In 1931,
HeinkelHeinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...
recruited the talented aircraft designers,
Walter and Siegfried GünterSiegfried Günter and Walter Günter were German twin brothers and aircraft designers.-First World War:...
, and their first major design for Heinkel was the Heinkel He 49.
The
HeinkelHeinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...
He 51 was a
GermanNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
single-seat
biplaneA biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
which was produced in a number of different versions. It was initially developed as a
fighterA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
, and a
seaplaneA seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories: floatplanes and flying boats...
variant and a ground-attack version were also developed. It was a development of the earlier
He 49The Heinkel He 49 was a German single-bay single-seat biplane of mixed construction armed with two machine guns. Four designs were made, the He 49a, He 49b, He 49c, and the He 51 which went on to become a successful German fighter aircraft during World War II....
.
Design and development
In 1931,
HeinkelHeinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...
recruited the talented aircraft designers,
Walter and Siegfried GünterSiegfried Günter and Walter Günter were German twin brothers and aircraft designers.-First World War:...
, and their first major design for Heinkel was the Heinkel He 49. While this was officially an advanced
trainerA trainer is an aircraft used to develop piloting, navigational or war-fighting skills in flight crew.Civilian pilots are normally trained in a light aircraft, with 2 or more seats to allow for student and instructor. The aircraft may be modified to withstand the flight conditions imposed by...
, in fact it was a fighter. The first
prototypeA prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category...
, the
He 49a, flew in November 1932, and was followed by two further prototypes, the
He 49b, with a longer
fuselageThe fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
, and the
He 49c, with a revised engine.
The type was ordered into production for the still secret
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
as the
He 51, the first pre-production aircraft flying in May 1933. Deliveries started in July of the next year.
The He 51 was a conventional single-bay biplane, with all-metal construction and fabric covering. It was powered by a glycol-cooled
BMW VIThe BMW VI was a water-cooled V-12 aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1920s. It was one of the most important German aero engines in the years leading up to World War II-Design and development:...
engine, with an armament of two 7.92 mm (.312 in)
machine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rifle bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute...
s mounted above the engine.
The He 51 was intended to replace the earlier
Arado Ar 65The Arado Ar 65 was the single-seat biplane fighter successor to the Ar 64. Both looked very similar. The only major difference was the use of the 12-cylinder inline versus the 64's radial. The wingspan was also increased....
, but served side-by-side with the slightly later
Ar 68The Arado Ar 68 was a single-seat biplane fighter developed in the mid-1930s. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming....
. The He 51 was outdated the day it entered service, and after an initial run of 150 production fighters, the design was switched into the modified
He 51B, with approximately 450 built, including about 46
He 51B-2 floatplaneA floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...
s, and then finally a further 100
He 51C light ground-attack plane.
Operational history
On 6 August 1936, six of the He 51s were delivered to
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
to fight in the
Spanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil War was a major conflict that devastated Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. It began after an attempted coup d'état by a group of Spanish Army generals against the government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of president Manuel Azaña...
. Initial operations were successful, with the Heinkels meeting and defeating a number of older biplane designs, with two
Nieuport Ni-52The Nieuport-Delage NiD 52 was a French fighter aircraft of the 1920s. A single engined sesquiplane, it served with the Spanish Air Force, being operated by both sides of the Spanish Civil War.-Development and design:...
fighters, a
Breguet 19The Breguet 19 was a light bomber and reconnaissance plane, also used for long-distance flights, designed by the French Breguet company and produced from 1924.-Development:...
and a Potez 54 destroyed on 18 August 1936, the first day of operations by Spanish-flown He 51s. Deliveries continued as the hostilities increased, with two Nationalist squadrons equipped by November, and the
Legion KondorThe Condor Legion was a unit composed of "volunteers" from the German Air Force and from the German Army which served with the Nationalist side during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939...
forming three squadrons of 12 aircraft each manned by German "volunteers".
This time of superiority was short lived, with the arrival of large numbers of modern aircraft from the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
, including the
Polikarpov I-15The Polikarpov I-15 was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed Chaika because of its gulled upper wings, it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet Air Force, and together with the Polikarpov I-16 monoplane, was one of the standard fighters of the Spanish Republicans during...
biplane and new
Polikarpov I-16The Polikarpov I-16 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first cantilever-winged monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear. The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of World War II...
monoplaneA monoplane is an aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
, together with the
Tupolev SBThe Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB , and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined three-seat monoplane bomber, first flown in 1934....
bomberA bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, primarily by dropping bombs on them.-Classifications of bombers:...
, which was 110 km/h (70 mph) faster. The He 51 proved unable to protect the
Legion Kondors bombers, forcing it to switch to night operations, while also unable to intercept the much faster SB. The He 51 was therefore withdrawn from fighter duty and relegated to the ground-attack role by both the
Legion Kondor and the Spanish Nationalists, It was replaced in the fighter role by the
Fiat CR.32The Fiat CR.32 was an Italian biplane fighter used in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. The CR.32 fought in North and East Africa, in Albania and in the Mediterranean theatre. The CR.32 saw service in the air forces of China, Austria, Hungary, Paraguay and Venezuela...
in the Nationalist Air Force, with the
Legion Kondor receiving
Messerschmitt Bf 109The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. It was one of the first true modern fighters of the era, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear...
s from April 1937 to allow it to operate successfully in fighter operations.
While a failure as a fighter, the Heinkel proved successful as a ground-attack aircraft, being used by
Wolfram von RichthofenGeneralfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
was a German Field Marshal General of the Luftwaffe during World War II....
to develop the
close supportIn military tactics, close air support is air action against hostile targets that requires detailed coordination and integration with ground forces. It is typically used to support ground troops, providing firepower at critical points....
tactics which were used by the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It continued in use as a ground attack aircraft for the remainder of the Civil War, although losses were heavy. After the war the 46 surviving aircraft would be joined by another 15 new builds, and serve in the utility role in Spain until 1952.
The experiences in Spain would prove once and for all that the days of the biplane fighter were over. Although the later model Fiat biplanes were superior to the He 51 and continued to soldier on in Nationalist service, the I-16s were basically untouchable because of their speed. If the conditions were right, they could use their heavy armament in a quick pass and then leave; if things weren't so favorable, they simply flew away. The lesson learned by all of the participants was that speed was far more important in combat than maneuverability.
The He 51 continued in front-line service with the
Luftwaffe until 1938, with it remaining in service as an advanced trainer for the first few years of World War II.
Variants
He 49a
- First prototype. Short fuselage.
He 49b
- Second prototype, with stretched fuselage. Tested as both landplane and floatplane.
He 49c
- Third prototype, with revised, glycol-cooled engine installation.
He 51a
- Fourth prototype. New vertical tail, revised wings and undercarriage
In aviation, the undercarriage or landing gear is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi.-Overview:...
, new radiator.
He 51A-0
- Pre-production aircraft. Nine built.
He 51A-1
- Initial production version, 150 built.
He 51B-0
- Structuraly strengthened. Pre-production aircraft, 12 built.
He 51B-1
- Production version of B-0. 12 built.
He 51B-2
- Single-seat floatplane fighter, reconnaissance version, 46 built.
He 51B-3
- High-altitude version.
He 51C-1
- Light ground-attack version. 79 sent to Spain to equip the Legion Kondor and Nationalist air force.
He 51C-2
- Improved version of C-1, with revised radio equipment. 21 built.
Operators
- Acquired 12 He 51s.
Germany
- Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
Spain
Spanish StateThe Spanish State was the formal name of Spain from 1939 to 1975 under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco.The régime emerged from the victory in the Spanish Civil War of the rebel Nacionales coalition led by General Franco...
Specifications (He 51B-1)
See also
External links