The Heinkel He 72 ''Kadett'' ("Cadet") was a German single-engine

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 a ...

trainer of the 1930s.

Development

The ''Kadett'' was designed in 1933 to meet an official requirement for a basic trainer. It was a single-bay biplane of fabric-covered, metal construction with open

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

s, a staggered wing, a strut-braced tail unit, and fixed tailskid undercarriage. The

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 programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

was powered by a 104 kW (139 hp)

Argus As 8 The Argus As 8 was a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline aircraft engine produced in Germany by Argus Motoren in the 1930s. Variants ;As 8A:Initial production version maximum for 5 minutes, continuous. ;As 8B:A more powerful variant de ...

B air-cooled inline engine."The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft" Editors: Paul Eden & Soph Moeng, (Amber Books Ltd. Bradley's Close, 74-77 White Lion Street, London, NI 9PF, 2002, ), 1152 pp. The first production model, the He 72A retained the As 8B engine in early batches, but later production aircraft had a 112 kW (150 hp) As 8R. The He 72A was superseded by the He 72B, which was the major production version. This was powered by a 120 kW (160 bhp) Siemens-Halske Sh 14A

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective form of * Radial distance, a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system * Radial set * A bearing f ...

. The He 72B was produced as the He 72B-1 landplane and He 72BW ''Seekadett'' ("Sea Cadet") twin-float

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

. The civil development was the He 72B-3 ''Edelkadett'' ("Noble Cadet").

Operational history

The ''Kadett'' entered service with

National Socialist Flyers Corps The National Socialist Flyers Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps; NSFK) was a paramilitary aviation organization of the Nazi Party. History NSFK was founded 15 April 1937 as a successor to the German Air Sports Association; the ...

before the formation of the ''

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

''. Later, it became a standard basic trainer with the ''Luftwaffe''. Slovak forces used it in the attack role.

Variants

*He 72A ''Kadett'' : Initial production version. *He 72B : *He 72B-1 : *He 72B-3 ''Edelkadett'' : Civil adaptation of He 72B-1. 30 built. *He 72BW ''Seekadett'' : Twin-float seaplane. Prototype only. *He 172 - He 72B with NACA cowling. Prototype only in 1934.

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 an ...

; *

Czechoslovakian Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia ce ...

(Postwar) ; *

*''

'' ; *

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

- one aircraft ; *'' Slovenské vzdušné zbrane'' * Slovak Insurgent Air Force

Development

Operational history

Variants

Operators

Specifications (He 72B)

See also

References

Further reading