Top speed 360 km/h Wingspan 15 m Retired 1945 Manufacturer Heinkel | Length 12 m Introduced 1933 First flight December 1, 1932 | |
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The Heinkel He 70 is a German mail plane and fast passenger aircraft of the 1930s which was also used in auxiliary bomber and reconnaissance roles. It had a relatively brief commercial career before it was replaced by types which could carry more passengers. The He 70 was a leading design for its day, setting eight world speed records by the beginning of 1933.
Contents
- Design and development
- Operational history
- Military use
- Influence
- German designs
- Japanese designs
- British designs
- Variants
- Civil Operators
- Military Operators
- Specifications He 70F 2
- References
Design and development
The Heinkel He 70 Blitz (lightning) was designed in the early 1930s to serve as a mailplane for Deutsche Luft Hansa in response to a request for an aircraft faster than the Lockheed Vega and Orion (as used by Swissair) for use on short routes.
It was a low-wing monoplane, with the main characteristic of its design being its elliptical wing (which the Günther brothers had already used for the Bäumer Sausewind sports aircraft before they joined Heinkel) and its small, rounded control surfaces. In order to meet the demanding speed requirements, the design minimised drag, with flush rivets giving a smooth surface finish and a retractable undercarriage. It was powered by a liquid cooled BMW VI V12, cooled by ethylene glycol rather than water, allowing a smaller radiator and therefore reducing drag. The pilot and radio operator were seated in tandem, with a cabin housing four passengers on two double seats facing each other.
The first prototype flew on 1 December 1932, and proved to have excellent performance, setting eight world records for speed over distance, and reaching a maximum speed of 377 km/h (222 mph).
Operational history
Luft Hansa operated He 70s between 1934 and 1937 for a fast flight service which connected Berlin with Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne, as well as on the Cologne/Hamburg route.
He 70s were flown abroad from Stuttgart to Seville between 1934 and 1936. The route was part of the South America mail service provided by Luft Hansa that continued via Bathurst, The Gambia to Natal, Brazil, using Junkers Ju 52/3m and Dornier Wal flying boats.
Remaining aircraft were transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1937.
Military use
Twenty-eight aircraft were sent with the Legion Condor, where they were used during the Spanish Civil War as fast reconnaissance aircraft. Their high speed (and likely the already existing "blitz" title) gave them the nickname Rayo (lightning).
The He 70K (later He 170), a fast reconnaissance airplane variant, was used by the Royal Hungarian Air Force in early World War II during 1941-42. The Luftwaffe operated He 70s from 1935, initially as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. As soon as purpose build designs became available, it was relegated as a liaison and courier aircraft.
The main weakness of the He 70 in military use was that crews considered it a fire risk. Elements of the airframe were made out of so-called "Elektron", though the majority of the monocoque fuselage was Duralumin. Elektron is a very light, yet strong, alloy of magnesium, which burns readily when ignited, and is difficult to extinguish. Moreover, the wings contained a non-self-sealing 47-gallon fuel tank apiece, which may have further added to the aircraft's reputation for being flammable. A single hit from a light machine gun is reputed to have often set the entire aircraft ablaze. The Hungarian He 170A (a military version derived from the He-70 with a new WM-K-14 radial engine), fleet was retired for this and other reasons, including poor defensive armament, short range and poor view from the cabin, and replaced with vintage, high-wing He 46 monoplanes, until modern Bf 109 fighter-reconnaissance and specialized Fw 189 "Uhu" medium altitude observation aircraft could be introduced.
Influence
While the He 70 saw only limited service in training capacities during World War II, it was the Luftwaffe's first Schnellbomber and served as the antecedent for the majority of bombers involved in both the Battle of Britain and the attack on Pearl Harbor.
German designs
The He 70 is known mainly as the direct ancestor of the Heinkel He 111, which had the distinctive elliptical wings and streamlined fuselage in a twin-engine configuration. One can also see the close similarity of the designs in the tail section and cockpit of the early He 111. The He 111, which began service with the Luftwaffe in 1936, went on to become the most numerous bomber type of the Luftwaffe - with just over 5,600 examples produced during the war in total - in the early years of World War II, before the growing numbers of Junkers Ju 88 bomber variants (the -A and -S subtypes) overtook it later in World War II.
Heinkel's pioneering design was also a model for the He 112 fighter which competed unsuccessfully against the Messerschmitt Bf 109 to become the Luftwaffe's first monoplane fighter. The He 112 was nonetheless built in small numbers, and its performance proved once again the strength of the He 70's original design.
Japanese designs
The He 70 was exported to Japan for study and inspired the Aichi D3A ("Val") carrier-launched light bomber. This aircraft shared the He 70's distinctive low-mounted elliptical wing and was one of several collaborations between Heinkel and the Japanese aviation industry.
British designs
It has been said that the He 70 was an inspiration or influence for the Supermarine Spitfire's elliptical wing,. The He 70 used as an engine test bed by Rolls Royce did not arrive in the UK until three weeks after the Spitfire's first flight.
In a letter to Heinkel, written after seeing the aircraft perform with the Rolls Royce Kestrel engine fitted, R. J. Mitchell said:
We, at Supermarine Aviation, were particularly impressed, since we have been unable to achieve such smooth lines in the aircraft that we entered for the Schneider Trophy Races....
In addition to this, we recently investigated the effect that installing certain new British fighter engines would have on the He 70, We were dismayed to find that your new aircraft, despite its larger measurements, is appreciably faster than our fighters. It is indeed a triumph.
However, Beverley Shenstone, RJ Mitchell's aerodynamic advisor denied that the Spitfire wing was copied from the He 70. Shenstone said:
It has been suggested that we at Supermarine had cribbed the wing shape from that of the He 70 transport. This was not so. The elliptical wing had been used on other aircraft and its advantages were well known. Our wing was much thinner than that of the Heinkel and had a quite different section. In any case it would have been simply asking for trouble to have copied a wing shape from an aircraft designed for an entirely different purpose.
Shenstone said that the He 70's influence on the Spitfire design was limited to use as a benchmark for aerodynamic smoothness.
Variants
Civil Operators
Military Operators
Specifications (He 70F-2)
Data from The Beautiful Blitz
General characteristics
Performance
Armament