Heinkel had originally built two HD 24s for the competition ”Seeflugwettbewerb” in 1926. Further aircraft were built for the German Airline Pilot School (DVS). Eight Heinkel HD 24s (HD = Heinkel Doppeldecker), Sk 4 in the Air Force, was ordered in the first half of 1926 by the MFV (the Navy aviation), just before the forming of the Swedish Air Force. The Swedish Sk 4s were ordered from Heinkel’s Swedish subsidiary Svenska Aero AB. The aircraft was designed as a naval aviation trainer, but the floats could be replaced by wheel landing gear or skis. The eight Sk 4s were all based at the naval aviation Wing F 2 at Hägernäs.
The first two Sk 4s were manufactured at Heinkel’s Warnemünde works as pattern aircraft for the rest of the series. The two aircraft were approved by the Air Force in November 1926. Some months later, they were given the Air Force numbers 201 and 202. The six aircraft built in Sweden were approved in July 1927 – November 1928 (Air Force numbers 203-208).
The six first aircraft (201-206) were fitted with Mercedes engines of 180 hp. These engines were unfortunately not very reliable. Therefore, the 207 and 208 got Junkers Jumo L 25 engines. These engines delivered 280 hp (100 hp more than the Mercedes engines). The 207 and 208 got the subdesignation Sk 4A. After some time, also the 203, 204 and 206 got the L 25 engine and got their designation changed to Sk 4A. Aircraft 201, 202 and 205 also got their original Mercedes engines replaced, but this time to the Armstrong Siddeley Puma (240 hp). New designation Sk 4B.
Sk 4 Length: 9,69 m. Span: 14,20 Height: 4,15 m MTOW: 2.150 kg Max. speed: 168 km/h
The HD-19 fighter was developed by Heinkel to an order from the Swedish VVS. The contract provided for the production of six fighters HD-19 (Heinkel Of doppeldecker 19). The first two had to be built at the plant of Heinkel, and remaining four – at Svenska Aero AB in Stockholm. Aircraft was equipped with a Bristol Jupiter VI engine, since this engine was standard for Swedish VVS. The first aircraft was tested at Warnemünde in July 1928, and after several months aircraft began to enter into F 2 squadron service, where obtained Swedish designation J 4. In 1934 three aircraft of those remaining in the operation were transferred into the F 1 squadron.
Engine: 1 x Bristol Jupiter VI, 420 hp Wingspan: 11.00 m Length: 9.26 m Height: 3.91 m Wing area: 31.60 sq.m Empty weight: 1175 kg Normal takeoff weight:1725 kg Maximum speed: 215 km/h Cruising speed: 182 km/h Range: 838 km Maximum rate of climb: 414 m/min Service ceiling: 6400 m Crew: 2 Armament: 3 x 8-mm machine gun
Ernst Heinkel flying his homemade biplane near Stuttgart in July 1911.
In 1909, after attended an international airshow in Frankfurt am Main, he determined flight was the future of transportation, and the following year, he built his first aircraft.
Working from a set of plans by Henri Farman, Heinkel’s aircraft was originally powered by a modified marine engine, but first flew his biplane at Cannstatter Wasen near Stuttgart in July, 1911, with a 50 hp engine on loan from DMG (Daimler). Heinkel crashed the plane and suffered severe injuries on 19 July, 1911.
This was a single-seat enclosed cabin biplane designed and built by Mr. Ray Hegy, who was famous for his wooden propellers. Work on the aircraft started in 1950 and was it completed in 1959, making the first flight on 1 May of that year as N9360. The aircraft had a 65hp Continental A65 engine and a mixed steel tube/wood construction. The aircraft was donated to the EAA (AirVenture) Museum.
In 1919 Ed Heath designed and built his Feather biplane, designated the MA-2. It was his first ultralight airplane.
This was a single place plane with a two-cylinder Thor motorcycle engine modified by Heath’s company.
The propeller was fitted with two auxiliary blades, to act as a fan for engine cooling. The landing gear was equipped with a third wheel, extending out in front to prevent nose-overs.
Heath planned to sell these planes $1,200 ready to fly, $990 less engine and $250 for the kit of materials to build your own (less engine). The engine could be bought separately for $250.
Before Heath could get the Feather into production, the bottom dropped out of the airplane market with WW1 surplus aircraft available.
Engine: Thor 76 cu.in, 18 hp Wingspan: 20 or 24 ft Weight: 270 lb Cruise: 45 mph Seats: 1
To meet the requirements of Air Ministry Specification F.20/27, Sydney Camm of Hawker designed a single seat fighter biplane, which flew for the first time in August 1928 powered by a 450 hp Bristol Jupiter VII radial engine. It was also tested with a 520 hp Bristol Mercury VI powerplant, also a radial, and the satisfactory results inspired the design of the Hornet prototype. It was clear to Sydney Camm at Hawkers that the F.20/27 specification would soon have to be revised, and so in 1929 Hawkers began work on the Hornet. which utilized the 420 hp (313 kW) Rolls Royce F.XIA V type engine enclosed by a smooth, streamlined cowling.
The new fighter prototype was a single engined biplane, with single bay wings, known as the Hawker Hornet, first flew at Brooklands, Surrey, in March 1929. It used Hawker’s tubular steel construction method and all metal structure.
The Hornet made its public debut at the 1929 Olympia Aero Show. The engine was changed for a 480 hp (358 kW) F.XIS when it was sent for service trials. Registered J9682, the Hornet was purchased by the Air Ministry in September 1929 and renamed Fury I, and delivered to Martlesham Heath for service trials. It was evaluated against the similarly powered Fairey Firefly II, being preferred because of its better handling compared with the mainly wooden construction of the Firefly.
Hawker Hornet
The private venture prototype (G ABSE) made its first flight on April 13, 1932, and was developed as the Intermediate Fury. From this was evolved the High Speed Fury, also a private venture, flown for the first time on May 3, 1933, and subsequently fitted with various Rolls Royce Kestrel or Goshawk engines. British Aerospace records suggest that this biplane was re-engined in 1934 with a Goshawk III and flown on 17 October of that year, with which it attained a speed of 394km/h, subsequently receiving a later 518kW Goshawk engine. After evaluation, Specification 6/35 was issued to cover the production of 23 similar aircraft ordered initially in August 1930, with 640 hp Kestrel VI engines, as Fury IIs for the RAF.
Officially, the Fury was constructed under Specification 13/30, though it would be more accurate to say that the specification was written round the Fury. The fighter had a standard tubular metal airframe of rectangular section, fairing into an oval; the forward fuselage was metal skinned and the rear portion fabric covered. The staggered, unequal span wings had ailerons on the upper mainplane only, and the wooden two blade prop¬eller was driven by a supercharged 525 hp Rolls Royce Kestrel IIS engine, the developed version of the F.Xl. Standard armament comprised two synchronized Vickers 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns in the nose and racks for light bombs could be fitted beneath the lower wings.
The first production Fury I flew on March 25, 1931. No 43 Squadron received 16 aircraft in May 1931, and Nos 1 and 25 Squadrons were equipped from orders placed during that year. The Fury had an exceptionally rapid rate of climb, 3048 m (10 000 ft) in 41 minutes, was highly manoeuvrable, and was the first intercepter with the RAF capable of achiev¬ing a level speed of more than 322 kph (200 mph).
General Aircraft was given an order for 75 of this version, but this was not completely fulfilled though it included a few Fury IIs for South Africa.
In 1934 it was decided that a Fury I should be fitted with a Kestrel VI with composite cooling, modified fuel and oil systems and streamlined wheel spats as the Fury II. This was first flown on 20 August 1935. Twenty-three production Fury IIs were built by Hawker with increased fuel capacity, followed by 89 from General Aircraft, six of which were delivered to the South African Air Force.
Fury IIs entered RAF service (with No 25 Squadron) in early 1937, but the five squadrons equipped with the Mk II had begun phasing them out by January 1939. However, 16 Fury Is and.48 Fury IIs were still serving, with RAF training units, at the beginning of the Second World War.
Altogether 118 were completed for the RAF with 391kW Kestrel IIS engines.
Hawker Fury number 401 was exported to Norway for evaluation. It was powered by the Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIIA radial engine, and made its first flight on September 9 of the same year. The aircraft was tested briefly at Brooklands and Martiesham and then flown to Oslo by P. W. S. Bulman. It was later tested with a ski undercarriage, but plans to produce the type in Norway did not materialise due to c.g. problems.
Six Pratt & Whitney Hornet-powered Furies went to Persia, three Furies to Portugal, and six Hispano-Suiza 12-engined aircraft to Yugoslavia.
These foreign models were armed with various calibre machine guns of Colt, Mauser or Spandau manufacture, and those supplied to Yugoslavia could carry two additional machine guns beneath the lower wings.
Hawker Hornet Engine: Rolls-Royce F.XIS. 480hp Wing span: 30ft 0in Length: 26ft 3in Height: 9ft 4in Empty Weight: 2,409lb Loaded Weight: 3,232lb Max Speed: 205mph at 13,000ft Climb: 5min 9sec to 10,000ft Service Ceiling: 25,500ft Armament: Provision for two Vickers Mk III guns Crew: 1
Fury I Engine: One 525 hp Rolls Royce Kestrel IIS. Span: 9.14 m (30 ft) Length: 8.13 m (26 ft 8 in) Weight empty 2,623 lb. (1,190 kg.) Gross weight: 1583 kg (3490 lb) Maximum speed: 333 km/h (207 mph). Ceiling 28,000 ft. (8,500 m.) fully loaded. Range 305 miles (490 km.) Crew: 1. Armament: Two synchronised machine¬ guns.
Fury Mk II Engine: 1 x Rolls-Royce Kestrel VI, 477kW / 631 hp Max take-off weight: 1637 kg / 3609 lb Empty weight: 1240 kg / 2734 lb Wingspan: 9.14 m / 29 ft 12 in Length: 8.15 m / 26 ft 9 in Height: 3.10 m / 10 ft 2 in Wing area: 23.41 sq.m / 251.98 sq ft Wing loading: 14.35 lb/sq.ft / 70.0 kg/sq.m Max. speed: 194 kts / 359 km/h / 223 mph Service ceiling: 8990 m / 29500 ft Range: 235 nm / 435 km / 270 miles Armament: 2x cal.303 MG (7,7mm) Crew: 1
This experimental single-seat interceptor fighter designed by Sydney Camm to meet the requirements of Specification F.20/27, was flown in August 1928 with a 450hp Bristol Jupiter VII radial. Of metal construction with sharply staggered single-bay wings and a twin-Vickers gun armament, the prototype was re-engined with a 520hp Mercury VI in May 1930. It demonstrated a maximum level speed of 325km/h. By this time the F.20/27 specification had prompted Hawker to initiate development of a more advanced fighter as a private venture, and this, owing much to the F20/27, was to emerge as the Hornet in 1929.
F.20/27 Engine: 520hp Mercury VI Max take-off weight: 1429 kg / 3150 lb Empty weight: 977 kg / 2154 lb Wingspan: 9.14 m / 29 ft 12 in Length: 7.17 m / 23 ft 6 in Height: 2.87 m / 9 ft 5 in Wing area: 21.18 sq.m / 227.98 sq ft Max. speed: 325 km/h / 202 mph
The Hind light bomber was one of the types produced for quick delivery to the RAF, based on the Hart and therefore needing little new development, although a number of improvements were introduced as the result of long experience with the Hart.
The first prototype was a modified Hart and first flew on 12 September 1934 at Brooklands.
By the end of 1935 the Hind had started to replace the Hawker Hart as a front line fighter with the RAF. The production total was 528 aircraft, although with the delivery of modern monoplane bombers a number of the final Hinds on the production lines for the RAF were completed as dual-control trainers. Records show that from even the first batch of 20 Hinds, General Aircraft was later to convert nine into trainers.
Nine foreign users of the Hind (new and ex-RAF aircraft) included Latvia, New Zealand, Persia and South Africa.
Engine: 1 x Rolls-Royce Kestrel V, 477kW / 631 hp Max take-off weight: 2403 kg / 5298 lb Empty weight: 1475 kg / 3252 lb Wingspan: 11.35 m / 37 ft 3 in Length: 9.02 m / 29 ft 7 in Height: 3.23 m / 10 ft 7 in Wing area: 32.33 sq.m / 348.00 sq ft Max. speed: 161 kts / 299 km/h / 186 mph @ 16,000 ft Service ceiling: 8045 m / 26400 ft Initial climb rate: 1870.08 ft/min / 9.50 m/s Range: 374 nm / 692 km / 430 miles Armament: 2 x 7.7mm machine-guns, 220kg of bombs Crew: 2 Endurance: 4 h
The Osprey was a two-seat naval fighter-reconnaissance biplane, developed from the Hart but with additional strengthening for catapult launching, folding wings for storage on board ship and naval equipment.
The first prototype flew in 1930 and was eventually followed by 37 Osprey Mk I, 14 Mk II, 52 Mk III and 26 Mk IV production aircraft; the Mk IIs later being modified into Mk IIIs with Fairey Reid propellers and other refinements. A small number of the genuine Mk IIIs were constructed of stainless steel, one of which, according to Hawker records, was exhibited in skeleton form at the 1932 Paris Show. Standard power plant for the Mk Is, IIs and IIIs was the 423kW Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIMS, giving a maximum speed of 257km/h as a landplane. Seaplane Ospreys had twin floats, although an experiment was carried out with one aircraft fitted with a central main float and wingtip stabilising floats. The Mk IV was powered by a 477kW Kestrel V engine.
Ospreys entered service with the FAA in 1932 and eventually flew from aircraft carriers, cruisers and other warships. In 1934 one RAF squadron took delivery of four Ospreys for communications work, and in the same year HMS Sussex went to Melbourne as part of the Centenary celebrations carrying an Osprey. By mid-1935 several ships of the Second Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet had been issued with Ospreys and the new cruiser Ajax had received two for service with the Mediterranean Command. These remained in service until 1939. The Swedish vessel Gotland had received Mercury-powered Ospreys, known as Nohabs. These remained operational as naval co-operation aircraft alongside Heinkel He 5s until 1940. Three Ospreys were also delivered to Portugal and Spain, although it is uncertain whether the Spanish aircraft was among the 57 machines sent by Britain to the Republican Air Force during the Civil War.
Osprey Mk III Engine: 423kW Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIMS Max take-off weight: 2245 kg / 4949 lb Empty weight: 1545 kg / 3406 lb Wingspan: 11.28 m / 37 ft 0 in Length: 8.94 m / 29 ft 4 in Height: 3.17 m / 10 ft 5 in Wing area: 31.5 sq.m / 339.06 sq ft Max. speed: 270 km/h / 168 mph Ceiling: 7165 m / 23500 ft
Osprey Mk IV Engine: Rolls Royce Kestrel V, 631 hp Length: 29.331 ft / 8.94 m Height: 10.4 ft / 3.17 m Wingspan: 37.008 ft / 11.28 m Wing area: 338.958 sq.ft / 31.49 sq.m Max take off weight: 4950.2 lb / 2245.0 kg Weight empty: 3404.5 lb / 1544.0 kg Max. speed: 153 kts / 283 km/h Cruising speed: 94 kts / 175 km/h Service ceiling: 25000 ft / 7620 m Wing loading: 14.56 lb/sq.ft / 71.0 kg/sq.m Endurance: 2 h Crew: 2 Armament: 2x cal.303 MG (7,7mm)
The Hawker Hartebeeste (also known as Hartbee or Hartebees) was a version of the Hawker Audax air co-operation aircraft modified for use in South Africa. The first was flown on 1 June 1928, and four (s/n 801 to 804) were produced by Hawker in 1934-35, with another sixty five (s/n 805 to 869) built by Roberts Heights in Pretoria, South Africa from 1937. The main difference between the Hartebeeste and the Audax was a change of engine to the Rolls Royce Kestrel VFP, producing 608hp. The more powerful engine compensated for the addition of some armour around the cockpits.
The Hartebeeste had a short front line career with the South African Air Force. Introduced on 1 January, 1930, two squadrons were equipped with the Hartebeeste when the Italians entered the war on 10 June 1940. The next day the Hartebeeste’s undertook their biggest operation of the war, a large scale attack on Italian positions. Soon after that the Hartebeeste was withdrawn from the front line, and transferred to training and communications units, remaining in service for the rest of the war.
Hawker Hartebeeste Engine: Rolls Royce Kestrel V FP, 600 hp / 453kW Total Length: 29ft 7in / 9.020 m Greatest height: 10 ft 5 in / 3.170 m Wingspan: 37ft 3in / 11.350 m Wing area: 348.000 sqft / 32.330 sq.m Max take off weight: 4787.1 lbs / 2171.0 kg Weight empty: 3150 lbs / 1429.0 kg Max. speed: 153 kts / 283 km/h / 176 mph Service ceiling: 22,000 ft / 6705 m Wing load: 13.74 lbs/sq.ft / 67.00 kg/qm Endurance: 3 h Crew: 2 Armament: 2 x .303 MG (7,7mm), one forward firing and one in aft cockpit plus light bombs or supply canisters under the wings.
All Aero 