The Heinkel He 45 was a
light bomber
A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance.
The earliest light bombers were intended to dro ...
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
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 ...
and included seating for pilot and gunner in tandem, 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 ...
s. 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
Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG () was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the ...
, and
BFW.
Variants
;He 45a
:First
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
, powered by a
BMW VI
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 B ...
7,3Z piston engine.
;He 45b
:Second prototype, fitted with four-blade propeller.
;He 45c
:Third prototype, armed with one 7.92 mm (.312 in) forward-firing
MG 17 machine gun
The MG 17 was a 7.92 mm machine gun produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig for use at fixed mountings in many World War II Luftwaffe aircraft, typically as forward-firing offensive armament. The MG 17 was based on the older MG 30 light machine gun, ...
, and one 7.92 mm
MG 15 machine gun in the rear cockpit.
;He 45A
:Initial production version.
;;He 45A-1
::Training version.
;;He 45A-2
::Reconnaissance version.
;He 45B
:Improved production version.
;;He 45B-1
::Reconnaissance version, armed with a 7.92 mm (0.312 in)
machine gun.
;;He 45B-2
::Able to carry a 100 kg (220 lb) bombload.
;He 45C
:Production version of the He 45c.
;He 45D
:Slightly improved version. Similar to the He 45C.
;HD 61a
:Reconnaissance export version of He 45B intended for
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, powered by a 492 kW (660 hp) BMW VI piston engine.
[Andersson, Lennart (2008). ''A History of Chinese Aviation - Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China until 1949''. AHS. , p. 269]
Operators
;
*
Bulgarian Air Force
The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and p ...
;
*One HD 61a tested and crashed during a demonstration on 22 August 1931.
[
;
* Luftwaffe
;
* Royal Hungarian Air Force operated a single He 45C.][Green 1972, p. 261.]
;
*Spanish Air Force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 10 December
, equipment ...
Specifications (He 45C)
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
*
*
{{RLM aircraft designations
Biplanes
Heinkel He 045
He 045
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1931