The Heinkel He 64 was a sports plane built 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 ...
in 1933 to participate in the
touring plane championships that year, designed by
Siegfried and Walter Günter
Siegfried Günter (8 December 1899 – 20 June 1969) and Walter Günter (8 December 1899 – 21 September 1937) were German twin brothers and pioneering aircraft designers. Walter was responsible for the world's first rocket-powered and tu ...
.
Development
The He 64 was a sleek, low-wing
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
of conventional configuration with fixed,
tailskid undercarriage. The pilot and passenger sat in tandem under a streamlined
canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...
. Six examples were entered in the championships, which represented almost every example of the type built, the only exception being the first
prototype, which had crashed.
Operational history
The He 64s shone in speed-related trials, taking the first three places in the 7,363 km (4,601 mi) ''Europa Rundflug'' ("Rally over Europe"), and the first five places in top speed trials. They also had high positions in minimal speed trial. Although no He 64 had won in any of the other categories, these wins were sufficient to gain pilot
Fritz Morzik an overall tied second place in the contest.
One He 64C was imported into the United Kingdom in 1933 for flap research, at first with
Handley Page then with the
Royal Aircraft Establishment until 1935. This aircraft later flew in
Rhodesia until 1952.
Variants
;He 64a:The prototype of the He 64 family.
;He 64b:Initial production version
;He 64c:Later production offering a variety of powerplants, including the
de Havilland Gipsy III,
Hirth HM 504A-2
The Hirth HM 504 is a four-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline engine. The HM 504 was a popular engine for light aircraft of the 1930s-1940s, and it was used to power a number of Germany's trainer aircraft of World War II. The engine featured a ...
and
Hirth HM 506
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 ...
;He 64d:Two examples of a high speed version were built, powered by the standard
Argus As 8R but with elliptical planform wings similar to those fitted to the
He 70 and no
Handley Page slats. The maximum speed was increased to .
Specifications (He 64b)
References
Bibliography
*
* Heinze, Edwin P.A
"The New Heinkel He 64".''Flight'': 848-50, 9 September 1932. Retrieved: 24 April 2008.
* Nowarra, Heinz. ''Die deutsche Luftrüstung 1933-1945''. Bonn: Bernard and Graefe, 1983, pp. Teil 2, 173–175.
* Taylor, Michael J.H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions, 1989, pp. 501. .
External links
Heinkel He-64
{{RLM aircraft designations
1930s German sport aircraft
He 064
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1933