The Heinkel HD 26 was a

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

developed in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

during the 1920s for production in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It was intended as a smaller, single-seat counterpart to the HD 25, to provide a spotter aircraft for

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

s, to take off from a short ramp. The HD 26 was a conventional

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with staggered wings, twin float

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

, and an open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

. The pattern aircraft supplied by Heinkel was powered by a 300 hp Hispano-Suiza V-8 engine, but the single example of the Aichi Navy Type 2 Single-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane built by Aichi had an Aichi-built 420 hp

Bristol Jupiter VI The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turn ...

instead. Launching ramps were built on the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

and the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

for trials, but the HD 25 and HD 26 were already obsolete.Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London: Putnam, 1990.

Variants

;Heinkel HD 26 :Heinkel Doppeldekker 26, German built prototype of a single seat reconnaissance/fighter seaplane ;Heinkel Small Reconnaissance Seaplane :Unofficial designation for the Heinkel built prototype ;Heinkel-go Reconnaissance Seaplane :An alternative unofficial designation for the HD 26 ;Aichi Navy Type 2 Single-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane :The official designation for the Heinkel and Aichi built prototypes

Specifications (Aichi-built)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London: Putnam, 1990. {{Heinkel aircraft 1920s German military reconnaissance aircraft Floatplanes HD 26 Aichi aircraft Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1928