Heinkel He 59

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Heinkel He 59

Description
Role	Trainer; Transport; Ambulance; Torpedo
Crew
First Flight	1931
Entered Service	1935
Manufacturer	Heinkel
Dimensions
Length	17.40 m	ft in
Wingspan	23.70 m	ft in
Height	7.10 m	ft in
Wing Area	153,2 m²	ft²
Weights
Empty	5,630 kg	lb
Loaded	9,400 kg	lb
Maximum takeoff	kg	lb
Powerplant
Engine	2 × BMW VI 6.0 ZU
Power (each)	kW	660 hp
Performance
Maximum speed	235 km/h	mph
Combat range	750 km	miles
Ferry range	1 880 km	miles
Service ceiling	5,000 m	ft
Rate of climb	200 m/min	ft/min
Wing loading	kg/m²	lb/ft²
Armament
Guns	2×2× MG machine guns
Bombs	4× 250 kg bombsor 1× 800 kg torpedo or 4× 500 kg mines

The Heinkel He 59 was a German military aircraft designed in 1930 resulting from a requirement for a torpedo bomber and reconnaissance warplane able to operate with equal facility on wheeled landing gear or twin-float alighting gear.

1 History
2 Operational history
- 2.1 Use in Finland
3 Versions
4 Sources

[edit] History

In 1930, Ernst Heinkel began developing an aircraft for the German Navy. To conceal the true military intentions, the aircraft was officially a civil aircraft. The He 59B landplane prototype was the first to fly, an event that took place in September 1931 but it was the He 59A floatplane prototype that paved the way for the He 59B initial production model, of which 142 were delivered in three variants. Heinkel He 59 was a very pleaseant aircraft to fly and the only problems were the weak engines. The range, the load capability and the armament were also considered insufficient.

The aircraft was of a mixed-material construction. The wings were mad of a two beam wooden frame, where the front was covered with plywood and the rest of the wing was covered with fabric. The box-shaped fuselage had a fabric covered steel frame. The tail section was covered with lightweight metal sheets.

The keels of the floaters were used as fuel tanks - each one holding 900 liters of fuel. Together with the internal fuel tank the aircraft could hold a total of 2,700 liters of fuel. Two extra fueltanks could als be placed in the bomb bay, bringing the total fuel kapacity up to 3,200 liters. The propellers were ridgid and had four blades each.

[edit] Operational history

During the first monthts of the second World War, He 59 was used as a torpedo- and minelaying aircraft. It was mines from a He 59 that sank the Polish destroyer ORP Gryf in 1939. Between 1940 and 1941 the aircraft was used as a reconnaissance aircraft, and in 1941-42 as a transport-, SAR, and training aircraft. The trainer models survived slightly longer in service than operational models, but all had been retired or destroyed by 1944. Some aircraft were operated by the Condor Legion in Spain during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 as coastal reconnaissance and torpedo floatplanes.

[edit] Use in Finland

The Finnish Air Force rented four aircraft from Germany in August 1943. These were used to ferry long range reconnaissance patrols behind the enemy lines. They were returned to Germany four months later.