HE 5 | |
---|---|
Swedish Air Force HE 5 S5C | |
Role | Reconnaissance floatplane |
National origin | Germany |
Manufacturer | Heinkel, Svenska, Focke-Wulf, Swedish Air Force |
First flight | 1926 |
Primary user | Swedish Air Force |
The Heinkel HE 5, produced in Sweden as the Svenska Aero S 5 and nicknamed the "Hansa", was a reconnaissance floatplane built during the 1920s. It was a further development of the HE 1, sharing its same basic configuration as a low-wing, strut-braced monoplane. The HE designation also refers to the monoplane construction, standing for Heinkel Eindecker.
The HE 5 built upon Heinkel's experiences of mixed construction as used on the H steel tube, and wooden wings largely skinned in alloy. The usual crew carried was just two, pilot and observer seated in tandem, open cockpits; however, some HE 5s also had a third cockpit which could be used to carry a trainee.
Two prototypes were built in 1926, and after initial testing were entered in the German seaplane trials at Warnemünde, winning first and second places in the speed trials. The Swedish Air Force soon ordered the type to supplement the HE 1s, HE 2s, and HE 4 that it had acquired when it took over Swedish naval aviation in 1926, and eventually 40 HE 5s were built under licence by Svenska Aero.
In 1927, the Soviet Union also ordered the aircraft, to replace the obsolete flying boats then in service. A prototype was tested on the Black Sea in March the following year, where it was discovered that the aircraft's performance was significantly lower than had been specified by Heinkel. Modifications were made to a second prototype, and this was flight tested in November. This led to an order in quantity soon thereafter, but they did not remain in service long, being phased out by 1930.
In Germany, however, the type remained in service until 1933, with machines licence-built by Focke-Wulf equipping clandestine naval aviation units disguised as training schools for airlines.
An S5 scored the only kill during WWII for the Swedish Air Force. On 21 April 1940 a S5A piloted by Lt Curt Andersson and the Observer/gunner second lt H Olsen, shot down a Heinkel He 111P (B3+FN) of 5./KG 54 at Marstrandsfjorden. Andersson fired his fixed 7.7 mm gun and hit the right engine of the He 111. The He 111 crewed by Uffz Gunther Golz, Ogfr Erhard Fischer, Ogfr Herbert Schröder och Ogfr Hans Wolf, had to make forced landing. While circling the downed He 111, the rear seat gunner Olsen opened fire with his 7.7 mm machine gun towards the German crew. He was later reported for court martial for this action. However, before this took place, Olsen was killed in an accident in a S12 on 23 September 1941.
All other downed aircraft by Sweden during WWII were due to Anti Aircraft Artillery. The Swedish Volunteer Group in the Winter War, Flygflottilj 19, scored 8 air to air victories against the Soviets, but they are included in the Finnish Air Force total
Two HE 5s are preserved in museums - one at the Flygvapenmuseum in Linköping, and one at the Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego in Kraków.
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after the First World War prohibiting bombers, it was presented solely as a civil airliner, although from conception the design was intended to provide the nascent Luftwaffe with a heavy bomber.
The Heinkel He 70 Blitz ("lightning") was a fast monoplane aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel Flugzeugwerke. It was the first Schnellbomber operated by the Luftwaffe.
The BMW 003 is an early axial turbojet engine produced by BMW AG in Germany during World War II. The 003 and the Junkers Jumo 004 were the only German turbojet engines to reach production during World War II.
The Arado Ar 68 was a single-seat biplane fighter designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming.
The Heinkel He 51 was a German single-seat biplane fighter aircraft. A seaplane variant and a ground-attack version were also developed. It was a development of the earlier He 49.
The Heinkel He 115 was an all-metal twin-engined military seaplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. Early on its flying history, the He 115 established several new international records for floatplanes.
The Heinkel He 60 was a German single-engined biplane reconnaissance seaplane designed to be catapulted from Kriegsmarine warships of the 1930s.
The Heinkel He 114 was a sesquiplane reconnaissance seaplane produced for the Kriegsmarine in the 1930s for use from warships. It replaced the company's He 60, but it did not remain in service long before being replaced by the Arado Ar 196, Germany's standard observation seaplane.
The Arado Ar 64 was a single-seat biplane fighter designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Arado. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming.
Svenska Aero AB was a Swedish aircraft manufacturer on Hästholmen in Lidingö. The company was founded September 10, 1921, to license build Caspar-Werke and Heinkel aircraft. The company was bought by ASJA in 1932.
The Heinkel He 45 was a light bomber produced in Germany in the early 1930s, one of the first aircraft adopted by the newly formed Luftwaffe. Its appearance was that of a conventional biplane and included seating for pilot and gunner in tandem, open cockpits. Developed in parallel with the He 46, it appeared in 1931 as a general-purpose biplane and was employed mainly as a trainer, but was also used by the Luftwaffe for reconnaissance and light bombing duties. Production of this plane totalled 512 aircraft, including those built under licence by Gotha, Focke-Wulf, and BFW.
Svenska Aero Jaktfalken was a Swedish biplane fighter aircraft, constructed in the late 1920s. The aircraft was first manufactured by Svenska Aero from 1929 to 1932 and later by AB Svenska Järnvägsverkstädernas Aeroplanavdelning (ASJA) from 1934 to 1935.
The Heinkel HE 1 or Caspar S 1 was a two-seat, low-wing monoplane floatplane, designed in 1921 by German designer Ernst Heinkel at Caspar-Werke.
The 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, with thousands built. It was further developed as the BMW VII and BMW IX, although these saw considerably less use. It was also produced in the Soviet Union as the M-17 and Japan as the Kawasaki Ha-9.
The Arado Ar 95 was a single-engine reconnaissance and patrol biplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Arado.
The Bartel BM 5, initially known as M.5 was a Polish biplane advanced trainer used from 1930 to 1939 by the Polish Air Force, manufactured in the Samolot factory in Poznań.
The Polikarpov R-5 was a Soviet reconnaissance bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was the standard light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of the Soviet Air Force for much of the 1930s, while also being used heavily as a civilian light transport, some 7,000 being built in total.
The Heinkel HD 24 was a training seaplane developed in Germany in the late 1920s. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with equal-span, staggered wings. The fuselage was braced to both the upper and lower wings with a number of struts on its sides, in addition to the normal cabane struts. The pilot and instructor sat in tandem, open cockpits, and the undercarriage consisted of twin pontoons, although this could be readily exchanged for wheels or skis.
The Junkers J 21 was a reconnaissance aircraft designed in Germany in the early 1920s and produced in the Soviet Union at the Junkers plant at Fili for use by the Soviet Air Force.
The Heinkel HD 16 was a single-engine biplane torpedo aircraft developed by the German aviation company Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in the nineteen-twenties and produced under license by Svenska Aero in Stockholm, Sweden.