Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after

Ernst Heinkel Dr. Ernst Heinkel (24 January 1888 – 30 January 1958) was a German aircraft designer, manufacturer, '' Wehrwirtschaftsführer'' in Nazi Germany, and member of the Nazi Party. His company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke produced the Heinkel He 178, th ...

. It is noted for producing

bomber aircraft A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strategic bombing is d ...

for the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with the pioneering examples of a successful

liquid-fueled rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket uses a rocket engine burning liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. (Alternate approaches use gaseous or Solid-propellant rocket , solid propellants.) Liquids are desirable propellants because th ...

and a turbojet-powered aircraft in aviation history, with both Heinkel designs' first flights occurring shortly before the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

History

Following the successful career of

as the chief designer for the

Hansa-Brandenburg Hansa und Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke (more usually just Hansa-Brandenburg) was a German aircraft manufacturing company that operated during World War I. It was created in May 1914 by the purchase of ''Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke'' by Cam ...

aviation firm in World War I, Heinkel's own firm was established at

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow (river ...

in 1922, after the restrictions on German aviation imposed by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

were relaxed. By 1929, the firm's compressed air-powered

catapults A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of sto ...

were in use on the German

Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

ocean-liners and to launch short-range mail planes from the liners' decks. The company's first post-World War I aircraft design success was the design of the all-metal, single-engined

Heinkel He 70 The Heinkel He 70 ''Blitz'' ("lightning") was a fast monoplane aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel, Heinkel Flugzeugwerke. It was the first ''Schnellbomber'' operated by the Luftwaffe. Development of the He ...

''Blitz'' high-speed

mail plane The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

and airliner for

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline. It served as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and t ...

in 1932, which broke a number of air speed records for its class. It was followed by the two-engine

Heinkel He 111 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 a ...

''Doppel-Blitz'', which became a mainstay of the Luftwaffe during World War II as a bomber. Heinkel's most important designers at this point were the twin

Günter brothers Gunter or Günter may refer to: * Gunter rig, a type of sailing rig, especially in small boats * Gunter Annex, Alabama, a United States Air Force installation * Gunter, Texas, city in the United States * the former German name of the village of ...

, Siegfried and Walter, and

Heinrich Hertel Heinrich Hertel (13 November 1901 in Düsseldorf – 5 December 1982) "Heinrich Hertel", in ''“The shoulders on which we stand”-Wegbereiter der Wissenschaft: 125 Jahre Technische Universität Berlin'', Eberhard Knobloch, ed. (Springer-Verlag, ...

. The firm's headquarters was in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

later known as ''Heinkel-Nord'' (Heinkel-North), located in what used to be named the ''Rostock''- ''Marienehe'' neighborhood (today's ''Rostock''- ''Schmarl'' community, along the west bank of the

Unterwarnow Unterwarnow is the estuary of the Warnow River in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. It connects with the Baltic Sea in Warnemünde. The city of Rostock is located on its banks. References

Rivers of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania B ...

estuary), where the firm additionally possessed a factory airfield along the coastline in the Rostock/Schmarl neighborhood roughly three kilometers (1.9 miles) north-northwest of the main offices, with a second ''Heinkel-Süd'' engineering and manufacturing facility in

Schwechat Schwechat () is a city southeast of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. The city is home to the Oil refinery, refineries of the Austrian national oil company OMV. Geography Schwechat is named after the river S ...

, Austria, after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

in 1938.

World War II

The Heinkel company is most closely associated with aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. This began with the adaptation of the He 70 and, in particular, the He 111, to be used as bombers. Heinkel also provided the Luftwaffe's only operational

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...

, the

Heinkel He 177 The Heinkel He 177 ''Greif'' (Griffin) was a long-range heavy bomber flown by the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. The introduction of the He 177 to combat operations was significantly delayed by problems both with the development of its ...

, although this was never deployed in significant numbers. The German

equipped both of these bombers with the ''Z-Gerät'', ''Y-Gerät'', and ''Knickebein'', developed by Johannes Plendl, and thus they were among the first aircraft to feature advanced night navigation devices, common in all commercial airplanes today. Heinkel was less successful in selling fighter designs. Before the war, the

Heinkel He 112 The Heinkel He 112 is a German fighter aircraft designed by Walter and Siegfried Günter. It was one of four aircraft designed to compete for the 1933 fighter contract of the ''Luftwaffe'', in which it came second behind the Messerschmitt Bf 1 ...

had been rejected in favour of the

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

, and Heinkel's attempt to top Messerschmitt's design with the

Heinkel He 100 The Heinkel He 100 was a German pre-World War II fighter aircraft design from Heinkel. Although it proved to be one of the fastest fighter aircraft in the world at the time of its development, the design was not ordered into series production. ...

failed due to political interference within the

Reichsluftfahrtministerium The Ministry of Aviation (, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany (1933–45). It is also the original name of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus building on the Wilhelmstrasse in central Berlin, Germany, which ...

(RLM — Reich Aviation Ministry). The company also provided the Luftwaffe with an outstanding night fighter, the

Heinkel He 219 The Heinkel He 219 ''Uhu'' (" Eagle-Owl") is a night fighter designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It primarily served with the ''Luftwaffe'' in the later stages of the Second World War. Work on the He 219 began i ...

, which also suffered from politics and was produced only in limited numbers, but was the first Luftwaffe front-line aircraft to use retractable

tricycle gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

for its undercarriage design, and the world's first front-line military aircraft to use

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an exp ...

s. By contrast, the only

to enter service with the ''Luftwaffe'' during the war years – the

''Greif'' – turned out to be one of the most troublesome German wartime aircraft designs, plagued with numerous engine fires from both its inadequate engine nacelle design and its general airframe design being mis-tasked. The 30-meter (100 ft) class wingspan design was to be built to be able to perform moderate-angle

dive bombing A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

attacks from the moment of its approval by the RLM in early November 1937, until this was rescinded in September 1942. From 1941 until the end of the war, the company was merged with engine manufacturer

Hirth Hirth Engines GmbH is an engine manufacturer based in Benningen, Germany. It is currently a part of the UMS Aero Group. Hirth began manufacturing aero engines in the 1920s, was taken over by Heinkel in WWII to develop the Heinkel-Hirth jet en ...

to form Heinkel-Hirth, giving the company the capability of manufacturing its own powerplants, including its ''Heinkel Strahltriebwerke'' turbojet engine manufacturing firm. The Heinkel name was also behind pioneering work in

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

and

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

development, and also the German aviation firm that attempted to popularize the use of retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

, a relative rarity in early WW II German airframe design. In 1939, flown by

Erich Warsitz Erich Karl Warsitz (18 October 1906 – 12 July 1983) was a German test pilot of the 1930s. He held the rank of Flight-Captain in the Luftwaffe and was selected by the Reich Air Ministry as chief test pilot at Peenemünde West. He is remembe ...

, the

Heinkel He 176 The Heinkel He 176 was a German experimental rocket-powered aircraft. It was the world's first aircraft to be propelled solely by a liquid-fueled rocket, making its first powered flight on 20 June 1939 with Erich Warsitz at the controls. The H ...

and

Heinkel He 178 The Heinkel He 178 was an experimental aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It was the world's first aircraft to fly using the thrust from a turbojet engine. The He 178 was developed to test the jet prop ...

became the first aircraft designs to fly under liquid-fuel rocket and

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

power respectively. Ruinen Heinkelwerk

Heinkel was the first to develop a jet fighter to prototype stage, the

Heinkel He 280 Originally called the He 180, the Heinkel He 280 was an early turbojet-powered fighter aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It was the first jet fighter to fly in the world. The He 280 harnessed the progr ...

, the first Heinkel design to use and fly with retractable tricycle gear. In early 1942, the photographic interpretation unit at

RAF Medmenham RAF Medmenham is a former Royal Air Force station based at Danesfield House near Medmenham, in Buckinghamshire, England. Activities there specialised in photographic intelligence, and it was once the home of the RAF Intelligence Branch. Durin ...

first saw evidence of the existence of the 280 in aerial reconnaissance photographs taken after a bombing raid on the Rostock factory. Thereafter, the Allies began intensive aerial reconnaissance intended to learn more about the German jet aircraft programme. The

He 219 The Heinkel He 219 ''Uhu'' (" Eagle-Owl") is a night fighter designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It primarily served with the ''Luftwaffe'' in the later stages of the Second World War. Work on the He 219 began i ...

night fighter design was the first German frontline combat aircraft to have retracting tricycle gear, and the first operational military aircraft anywhere to use

s. Heinkel's He 280, the firm's only twin-jet aircraft design to fly never reached production, however, since the RLM wanted Heinkel to concentrate on bomber production and instead promoted the development of the rival

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed (German for "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ("Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messers ...

. Very late in the war, a Heinkel single-jet powered fighter finally took to the air as the

Heinkel He 162 Heinkel 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, wit ...

A ''Spatz'' (sparrow) as the first military jet to use retractable tricycle landing gear, use a turbojet engine from its maiden flight forward, and use an ejection seat from the start, but it had barely entered service at the time of Germany's surrender.

Slave labour during World War II

Heinkel was a major user of

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

labour, using between 6,000 and 8,000 prisoners on the He 177 bomber.

Post-war

Following the war, Heinkel was prohibited from manufacturing aircraft and instead built

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

motor scooter A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, a transmission that shifts without the operator having to operate a clutch lever, a platform for their feet, and with a method of operation that emph ...

s (see below), and the Heinkel microcar. The company eventually returned to aircraft in the mid-1950s, licence building

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

F-104 Starfighters for the West German Luftwaffe. In 1965, the company was absorbed by

Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW; English: "United Aviation Engineering Works") was a West German aerospace manufacturer. The company was formed by the 1964 merger of two German aerospace firms, Focke-Wulf and Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH (Weserfl ...

(VFW), which was in turn absorbed by

Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) was a West Germany, West German aerospace manufacturer. It was formed during the late 1960s as the result of efforts to consolidate the West German aerospace industry; aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt AG merged ...

in 1980 and later became part of

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

. Entwicklungsring Süd, a research and development conglomeration in a joint venture with

Bölkow Bölkow was a West German aircraft manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany, and later Ottobrunn. History The company was founded in 1948 by Ludwig Bölkow, who since 1955 with Emil Weiland had developed helicopters for Bölkow Entwicklungen KG. ...

and

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in parti ...

, designed the EWR VJ 101A/He 231, a

VSTOL A vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft is an airplane able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft are a subset of V/STOL craft that do not require runways at al ...

prototype, intended to protect West Germany's airfields against Soviet attack.

Products

Aircraft

;HD - ''Heinkel Doppeldecker'' * Heinkel HD 14 *

Heinkel HD 15 The Heinkel HD 15 was a single-engine biplane seaplane, developed by the German aeronautical company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in the late 1920s and remained at the prototype stage. Design The HD 15 was a hydroplane with a central hull, character ...

Heinkel HD 16 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. Development The Heinkel ...

* Heinkel HD 17 * Heinkel HD 19 * Heinkel HD 20 *

Heinkel HD 21 The Heinkel HD 21 was a trainer built in Germany during the 1920s. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings braced with N-type interplane struts. The main units of the fixed, tailskid undercarriage were linked by a cross-a ...

* Heinkel HD 22 * Heinkel HD 23 * Heinkel HD 24 seaplane trainer (1926) *

Heinkel HD 25 The Heinkel HD 25 was a two-seat shipboard biplane Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance floatplane developed in Germany during the 1920s for production in Japan. Development It was intended to provide a spotter aircraft for warships, to take of ...

* Heinkel HD 26 * Heinkel HD 27 * Heinkel HD 28 * Heinkel HD 29 * Heinkel HD 30 * Heinkel HD 32 * Heinkel HD 33 * Heinkel HD 34 *

Heinkel HD 35 The Heinkel HD 35 was a trainer developed in Germany in the 1920s. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings of equal span. The design was based on that of the HD 21, and like that aircraft, it had three open cockpits in t ...

Heinkel HD 36 The Heinkel HD 36 was a trainer developed in Germany in the 1920s at the request of the Swedish Air Force, which was in search of a new trainer aircraft. The newly formed air force had previously evaluated the HD 35, found it to be underpowered ...

* Heinkel HD 37 fighter (biplane) * Heinkel HD 38 fighter (biplane) * Heinkel HD 39 * Heinkel HD 40 * Heinkel HD 41 * Heinkel HD 43 fighter (biplane) * Heinkel HD 44 *

Heinkel HD 55 The Heinkel HD 55 was a biplane flying boat produced in Germany in the early 1930s for use as a reconnaissance aircraft aboard Soviet warships. The design was based on the HD 15 mail plane of 1927 and was a conventional design for its time, with ...

reconnaissance flying boat * Heinkel HD 56 reconnaissance seaplane; built in Japan as the Aichi E3A ;HE - ''Heinkel Eindecker'' * Heinkel HE 1 low-wing floatplane (monoplane) * Heinkel HE 2 improvement on the HE 1 * Heinkel HE 3 * Heinkel HE 4 reconnaissance (monoplane) * Heinkel HE 5 reconnaissance (monoplane) *

Heinkel HE 6 The Heinkel HE 6 was a single-seat floatplane developed by the German aeronautical company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in the late 1920s. Development In the 1920s many aviators attempted the venture to cross the Atlantic even if they lost their liv ...

* Heinkel HE 7 *

Heinkel HE 8 The Heinkel HE 8 was a reconnaissance floatplane built in Germany in the late 1920s. It was developed at the request of the Danish Navy, which had noted the success of the Heinkel HE 5, HE 5 in Sweden, Swedish service, and wished to purchase a si ...

reconnaissance (monoplane) * Heinkel HE 9 *

Heinkel HE 10 The Heinkel HE 10 was a trainer floatplane developed by the German aeronautical company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in the late 1920s. Development The Heinkel HE 10 was a monoplane trainer seaplane based on the HE 6. On September 4, 1929, an HE 1 ...

* Heinkel HE 12 *

Heinkel HE 18 The Heinkel HE 18 was a sports aircraft built in Germany in the mid 1920s. It was a two-seat conventional low-wing monoplane. A development of the HE 3, it had a narrower fuselage than the HE3, having tandem seating instead of side-by-side. Also ...

* Heinkel HE 31 HE 8 with a Packard 3A-2500 engine * Heinkel HE 57 ''Heron'', passenger flying boat (prototype); Heinkel's last flying boat and first all-metal aircraft * Heinkel HE 58 enlarged HE 12 ;He - ''Heinkel'' (RLM designator) * Heinkel He 42 seaplane trainer; originally HD 42 *

Heinkel He 45 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 tande ...

biplane light bomber; originally HD 45 *

Heinkel He 46 The Heinkel He 46 was a German Reich, German World War II-era monoplane designed in 1931 for the close Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance and Liaison aircraft, army co-operation roles. While it served with the ''Luftwaffe''s front-line units on ...

reconnaissance/army co-operation monoplane; originally HD 46 * Heinkel He 47 trainer (project); existed as a mockup, but was lost in a factory fire in 1934 * Heinkel He 48 short-range reconnaissance (project); mockup inspected in 1935, but cancelled in 1936 * Heinkel He 49 biplane fighter; originally HD 49 * Heinkel He 50 reconnaissance + dive bomber (biplane); originally HD 50 *

Heinkel He 51 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. Design and development In 1931, Heinkel recruited the tal ...

biplane fighter developed from the He 49 * Heinkel He 52 high-altitude version of He 51 (prototype) *

Heinkel He 59 The Heinkel He 59 was a twin-engined German biplane designed in 1930, resulting from a requirement for a torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft able to operate on wheeled landing gear or twin-floats. Development In 1930, Ernst Heinkel bega ...

multirole biplane; originally HD 59 * Heinkel He 60 ship-borne reconnaissance (biplane seaplane); originally HD 60 * Heinkel He 61 export version of He 45 for China; originally HD 61 *

Heinkel He 62 The Heinkel He 62 was a reconnaissance seaplane designed in Germany in the early 1930s. It was a conventional, single-bay biplane with unstaggered wings of equal span. The pilot and gunner sat in tandem, open cockpits. A few aircraft were suppl ...

reconnaissance seaplane; originally HD 62 * Heinkel He 63 prototype trainer biplane; originally HD 63 * Heinkel He 64 sports plane; originally HE 64 * Heinkel He 65 single-engine, high-speed mail plane (project) * Heinkel He 66 export version of He 50 for Japan; originally HD 66 *

''Blitz'' (Lightning), high-speed single-engine mail plane, 1932 * Heinkel He 71 single-seat monoplane; shrunken He 64 * Heinkel He 72 ''Kadett'' (Cadet), trainer *

Heinkel He 74 The Heinkel He 74 was a light fighter aircraft developed in Germany in the early 1930s. It was a conventional, single-bay A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aero ...

biplane light fighter/advanced trainer (prototype); lost to the Fw 56 and Ar 76 *

fighter *

medium bomber/airliner *

fighter *

Heinkel He 113 The Heinkel He 113 was a fictitious German fighter aircraft of World War II, invented as a propaganda and possibly disinformation exercise. Development In 1940 in aviation, 1940, Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels publicised the fact ...

(fictitious alternative designation for He 100D-1) *

Heinkel He 114 The Heinkel He 114 was a Biplane#Sesquiplane, sesquiplane Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance seaplane produced for the ''Kriegsmarine'' in the 1930s for use from warships. It replaced the company's Heinkel He 60, He 60, but it did not remain i ...

reconnaissance seaplane *

Heinkel He 115 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 He 1 ...

military seaplane * Heinkel He 116 long-range reconnaissance/mail plane *

Heinkel He 118 The Heinkel He 118 was a prototype German monoplane dive bomber design that lost out to the Junkers Ju 87 ''Stuka'' in the 1930s, and was never ordered by the ''Luftwaffe''. Design Designed by the Günter brothers, the He 118 followed many of t ...

prototype dive bomber; lost to the Ju 87 * Heinkel He 119 experimental single-engine high-speed reconnaissance/bomber, 1937 * Heinkel He 120 four-engine long-range passenger flying boat (project), 1938; cancelled in favor of the BV 222 *

''Spatz'' (sparrow), ''Volksjäger'' (People's Fighter) design competition choice, fighter (jet-engined) *

Heinkel He 170 Heinkel 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, with ...

export version of He 70 for Hungary * Heinkel He 172 He 72B with NACA cowling (prototype) *

pioneering liquid-fueled rocket-powered experimental aircraft (prototype) *

''Greif'' (Griffon), the Third Reich's only long-range

world's first jet-engined aircraft * Heinkel He 179 variant of He 177 with four separate engines, not built *

''Uhu'' (Eagle-Owl), night fighter * Heinkel He 220 four-engine long-range passenger flying boat (project), 1939; cancelled in favor of the BV 222 * Heinkel He 270 He 70 with DB 601 engine *

Heinkel He 274 The Heinkel He 274 was a German heavy bomber aircraft with pressurized crew accommodation developed during World War II, designed for high-altitude bombing. Due to the Allied advance through Northwest Europe, the prototypes were abandoned at t ...

high-altitude heavy bomber, He 177 development, two prototypes completed post-war in France * Heinkel He 275 four-engine heavy bomber; project only * Heinkel He 277 heavy bomber, paper-only ''

Amerika Bomber The ''Amerikabomber'' () project was an initiative of the German Ministry of Aviation (''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'') to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the ''Luftwaffe'' that would be capable of striking the United States (specifical ...

'' He 177 development (by February 1943) with four

BMW 801 The BMW 801 was a powerful Nazi Germany, German Air-cooled engine, air-cooled 14-cylinder-radial engine, radial aircraft engine built by BMW and used in a number of German Luftwaffe aircraft of World War II. Production versions of the Radial e ...

E radial engines, never built * Heinkel He 278 four-engine turboprop bomber; project only *

jet fighter; first jet fighter to fly *

Heinkel He 319 The Heinkel He 219 ''Uhu'' (" Eagle-Owl") is a night fighter designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It primarily served with the ''Luftwaffe'' in the later stages of the Second World War. Work on the He 219 began i ...

multirole aircraft (project); unrelated to the He 219 * Heinkel He 343 four-engine jet bomber (project), 1944 * Heinkel He 419 He 219 with longer wingspan and He 319 tail (project) * Heinkel He 519, high-speed bomber (He 119 derivative; project only), 1944 * Heinkel Type 98 Medium Bomber - He 111 for service with the

IJNAS The (IJNAS) was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired its first aircraft in ...

* Heinkel A7He He 112 development for the

IJAAS The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground forces, as well a ...

* Heinkel Navy Type He Interceptor Fighter He 100 development for the IJNAS P - ''Projekt'' * Heinkel P.1041 - He 177 * Heinkel P.1054 * Heinkel P.1060 - He 219 * Heinkel P.1062 - fighter (project), 1942 * Heinkel P.1063 - mid-wing fast attack aircraft (project), 1942 * Heinkel P.1064 - long-range mid-wing bomber with BMW 801Ea engine (project), 1943 * Heinkel P.1065 - fighter-bomber designs * Heinkel P.1066 - ground attack aircraft with two BMW 801E or BMW Jumo 222C engines (project), 1942 * Heinkel P.1068 - He 343 * Heinkel P.1069 - mid-wing fighter with Junkers Jumo 004B engine (project), 1943 * Heinkel P.1070 - fighter-reconnaissance with two Junkers Jumo 004B engines (project), 1943 * Heinkel P.1071 - asymmetrical fuselage fighter with two Junkers Jumo 004B engines (project), 1943 * Heinkel P.1072 - Mid-wing bomber with four BMW 003A-0 engines (project) 1943 * Heinkel P.1073 - twin jet engine fighter (project); design evolved into the He 162 * Heinkel P.1074 - four engine fighter with BMW 801E engines (project), 1944 * Heinkel P.1075 - mid-wing long-range fighter with twin DB 603E engines (project), 1944 * Heinkel P.1076, a nearly conventional 1944 design, with slightly forward swept wings and

contra-rotating propellers Aircraft equipped with contra-rotating propellers (CRP) coaxial contra-rotating propellers, or high-speed propellers, apply the maximum power of usually a single engine piston powered or turboprop engine to drive a pair of coaxial propellers i ...

at the front. * Heinkel P.1077 ''Julia''/''Romeo'' rocket-propulsion point-defense interceptor * Heinkel P.1078 jet-powered interceptor designs; Emergency Fighter Program candidate ** Heinkel He P.1078A, fighter (jet-engined) (project) ** Heinkel He P.1078B, tailless fighter (jet-engined) (project) ** Heinkel He P.1078C, tailless fighter (jet-engined) (project), 1944 * Heinkel P.1079 all-weather jet fighter designs ** Heinkel He P.1079A, two-engine night-fighter (jet-engined) (project) ** Heinkel He P.1079B/I, all-weather heavy fighter (flying wing design) (jet-engined) ** Heinkel He P.1079B/II, all-weather heavy fighter (flying wing design) (jet-engined), 1945 * Heinkel P.1080 ramjet fighter (project); Emergency Fighter Program candidate * Heinkel P.1084 - transport aircraft (project), 1942 *

Heinkel Lerche The Heinkel Lerche () was the name of a set of project studies made by German aircraft designer Heinkel in 1944 and 1945 for a VTOL fighter and ground-attack aircraft. The ''Lerche'' was an early coleopter design. It would take off and land si ...

(Lark) VTOL ground attack/fighter * Heinkel Wespe (Wasp) VTOL tail sitter interceptor

Microcar

Heinkel introduced the "Kabine"

bubble car Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are often ...

in 1956. It competed with the

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

Isetta The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar initially manufactured in 1953 by the Italian firm Iso (automobile), Iso SpA, and subsequently built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil ...

and the

Messerschmitt KR200 The Messerschmitt KR200, or ''Kabinenroller'' (Cabin Scooter), is a three-wheeled bubble car designed by the aircraft engineer Fritz Fend and produced in the factory of the West Germany, West German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt from 1955 un ...

. It had a

unit body Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

and a

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

single-cylinder engine A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, motorized bicycles, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, power tools ...

.Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum: 1956 Heinkel Kabine
''www.microcarmuseum.com'', accessed 17 March 2021 Heinkel stopped manufacturing the Kabine in 1958 but production continued under licence, first by Dundalk Engineering Company in Ireland and then by Trojan Cars Ltd., which ceased production in 1966.Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum: 1963 Trojan 200

Scooters

Heinkel introduced the "Tourist"

in the 1950s which was known for its reliability. A large and relatively heavy touring machine, it provided good weather protection with a full fairing and the front wheel turning under a fixed nose extension. The "Tourist" had effective streamlining, perhaps unsurprising in view of its aircraft ancestry, and although it had only a , 9.5

bhp BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

4-stroke engine, it was capable of sustaining speeds of up to (official figures ), given time to get there. Heinkel also made a lighter scooter called the Heinkel 150.Heinkel 150
Faraway Montevideo Heinkel 150 site, ''www.faraway.htmlplanet.com'', accessed 17 March 2021

Mopeds

Heinkel built the Perle

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. Historically, the term exclusively meant a similar vehicle with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle eng ...

from 1954 to 1957.Biker Szene Interview with Ernst Heinkel's Son
/ref> The Perle was a sophisticated cycle with a cast alloy unit frame, rear

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...

, a fully enclosed chain with part of the chain enclosure integral with the

swingarm A swingarm ( or swinging arm), originally known as a swing fork or pivoted fork, is a single or double sided mechanical device which attaches the rear wheel of a motorcycle to its body, allowing it to pivot vertically. The main component of the ...

, and interchangeable wheels. This high level of sophistication came at a high cost.Wilson, H. "The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle" p. 77 Dorling-Kindersley Limited, 1995 CycleMaster PAGE 10. 1955 Earls Court Show: Debut of the ‘Mo-ped’ - "HEINKEL - Stand 96"
/ref> As with most mopeds, it had a

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a f ...

with a displacement of 50cc that operated on a mixture of gasoline and lubrication oil.Die Heinkel-Perle von Dieter Lammersdorf
''www.heinkel-club.de'', accessed 17 March 2021 Approximately twenty-seven thousand Perles were sold.

References

External links

Heinkel Motor ScootersHeinkel Scale ModelsThe official Erich Warsitz Website (world's first jet pilot), includes videos and audio commentaries
* {{Authority control Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany Scooter manufacturers Companies involved in the Holocaust