Heinkel He 46

He 46

Role	Reconnaissance Army co-operation
Manufacturer	Heinkel
First flight	Late 1931
Introduction	1936
Retired	1943
Primary user	Luftwaffe Hungarian Air Force Legion Condor
Number built	About 500

The Heinkel He 46 was a German World War II-era monoplane designed in 1931 for the close reconnaissance and army co-operation roles. While it served with the Luftwaffe's front-line units only briefly at the start of World War II, the He 46 served as late as 1943 as a nighttime nuisance bomber and with the Hungarian Air Force.

Background

During the early 1930s, the German military was beginning to build up in strength. The RLM (German Air Ministry) wanted aircraft that could be rapidly built and would be able to swell the Luftwaffe's inventory with large numbers of aircraft for training. Ernst Heinkel designed many of these early aircraft. The He 46, for instance was, created to fill the short-range reconnaissance and army co-operation role for the Luftwaffe.

Development

As designed in 1931, the He 46 was a two-seat sesquiplane of mixed construction. The upper wing was swept back 10°. This is a common trick when a change in an aircraft's design moves the center of gravity to the rear; rather than moving the whole wing back to counter for the shift, it is easier to simply angle the wings back slightly, which requires very little change to the basic design, or even the overall structure of the wing. (The similarly angled wings on the Fairey Swordfish are due to just such a mid-program change to the weight distribution of the aircraft.) The tailplane was mounted high and braced by struts. The undercarriage was fixed, and the tail was fitted with a skid rather than a wheel. The He 46 prototype first flew in late 1931; its flight characteristics were good, but design improvements were incorporated. The small lower wing was removed, while the mainplane was increased in area by 22% and braced to the fuselage, transforming the He 46 into a parasol-wing monoplane. A more powerful engine was added to the second prototype, and a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine gun for the rear seat was added to the third prototype.

Production and operational service

In 1933, production started on the He 46. The first production version, the He 46C-1, featured the improvements added to the prototypes, plus it could carry either a camera or 200 kg (441 lb) of bombs. By 1934, about 500 He 46s had been built, and, by 1936, the Luftwaffe's aerial reconnaissance wings were all equipped with the He 46. In September and November 1936, 28 He 46C-1s were given to the Spanish Nationalists for use in the Spanish Civil War, one escuadrilla being used by Condor Legion. By the spring of 1938, the Luftwaffe started to gradually replace the He 46 with the Henschel Hs 126, and by the time of the Invasion of Poland in 1939, only two units were still equipped with the He 46. By the time Germany invaded France in 1940, all He 46 aircraft had been withdrawn from operational service, although they did continue service in training units. The Hungarians, with He 46s supplied by Germany, took the He 46 to war against the Soviet Union in 1941 as part of Operation Barbarossa, during which the planes served up to 1943. The Germans took the He 46 back to war in 1943, when aircraft were taken from training units and used for night-bombing harassment missions over the Soviet Union.

Variants

He 46a : First prototype.
He 46b : Second prototype.
He 46c : Third prototype.
He 46C-1 : Initial production version.
He 46C-2 : Export version of the He 46C-1 for Bulgaria, fitted with an NACA engine cowlings. 18 aircraft built.
He 46D-0 : Six pre-production aircraft.
He 46E-1 :
He 46E-2 :
He 46E-3 :
He 46F-1 : Unarmed observer training aircraft.
He 46F-2 : Unarmed observer training aircraft.

Operators

Bulgaria

Bulgarian Air Force

Germany

Luftwaffe

Hungary

Royal Hungarian Air Force

Spanish State

Spanish Air Force

Specifications (He 46C-1)

Data from Kay & Smith, p. 120.^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 2 (pilot, observer/gunner)
Length: 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 14 m (45 ft 11¼ in)
Height: 3.4 m (11 ft 11¾ in)
Wing area: 32.2 m² (347 ft²)
Empty weight: 1,765 kg (3,891 lb)
Loaded weight: 2,300 kg (5,070 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Bramo SAM 22B (later called 322B) radial piston engine, 493 kW (660 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 250 km/h (135 kn, 155 mph)
Range: 1,000 km (540 nmi, 621 mi)
Service ceiling: 6,000 m (19,680 ft)

Armament

1 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 15 machine gun for rear seat.
Up to 20 × 10 kg (22 lb) bombs

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heinkel He 46.

Notes

↑ Kay, A.L. & Smith, J.R., p. 120.

Bibliography

Kay, A.L. and Smith, J.R. German Aircraft of World War II. Naval Institute Press, 2002.

Aircraft produced by Heinkel

Company designations pre-1933	HE 1 HE 2 HE 3 HE 4 HE 5 HE 6 HE 7 HE 8 HE 9 HE 10 HE 12 HE 14 HD 15 HD 16 HD 17 HE 18 HD 19 HD 20 HD 21 HD 22 HD 23 HD 24 HD 25 HD 26 HD 27 HD 28 HD 29 HD 30 HE 31 HD 32 HD 33 HD 34 HD 35 HD 36 HD 37 HD 38 HD 39 HD 40 HD 41 HD 42 HD 43 HD 44 HD 45 HD 46 HD 49 HD 50 HD 55 HD 56 HE 57 HE 58 HD 59 HD 60 HD 61 HD 62 HD 63 HE 64 HD 66

RLM designations 1933–1945	He 45 He 46 He 47 He 49 He 50 He 51 He 58 He 59 He 60 He 61 He 62 He 63 He 64 He 65 He 66 He 70 He 71 He 72 He 74 He 100 He 111 He 112 He 113 He 114 He 115 He 116 He 118 He 119 He 120 He 162 He 170 He 172 He 176 He 177 He 178 He 219 He 220 He 270 He 274 He 275 He 277 He 278 He 280 He 319 He 343 He 419 He 519 P.1041 P.1054 P.1060 P.1062 P.1063 P.1064 P.1065 P.1066 P.1068 P.1069 P.1070 P.1071 P.1072 P.1073 P.1074 P.1075 P.1076 P.1077 P.1078 P.1079 P.1080 Strabo 16 Wespe Lerche

Foreign designations or built under license	Svenska S 5 (HE 5) Orlogsvaerftet HM.II. (HE 8) Aichi Type H Carrier Fighter (HD 23) Type 2 Two-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane (HD 25) Type 2 Single-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane (HD 26) Heinkel Three-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane (HD 28) Aichi E3A (HD 56) Aichi AB-5 (HD 62) Hitachi AXHei (He 100) Heinkel A7He (He 112) Yokosuka DXHe (He 118)

Reich Air Ministry aircraft designations

1 to 100	B 9 Gö 9 Do 10 Do 11 Wn 11 Do 12 Do 13 Do 14 Do 15 Wn 15 Do 16 Wn 16 Do 17 Do 18 Do 19 Do 20 Do 22 Do 23 Do 24 Kl 25 Do 26 Kl 26 M 27 Do 29 Kl 31 Kl 32 W 33 L 33 W 34 Kl 35 Kl 36 HD 37 HD 38 G 38 DFS 39 BV 40 DFS 40 A 40 Fw 42 He 42 Fw 43 HD 43 Fw 44 He 45 He 46 Ju 46 Fw 47 Ju 47 K 47 A 48 He 49 Ju 49 He 50 A 50 He 51 K 51 Ju 52 K 53 NR 54 Fw 55 NR 55 Fw 56 Fw 57 Fw 58 He 58 He 59 He 60 Ju 60 Fw 61 He 61 Fw 62 He 62 He 63 Ar 64 He 64 Ar 65 He 65 Ar 66 He 66 Ar 67 Ar 68 Ar 69 He 70 He 71 He 72 He 74 Ar 76 Ar 77 Ar 79 Ar 80 Ar 81 Ju 85 Ju 86 Ju 87 Ju 88 Ju 89 Ju 90 Ar 95 Ar 96 Fi 97 Fi 98 Fi 99 He 100

101 to 200	Al 101 Al 102 Al 103 Fi 103 Fh 104 Kl 105 Kl 106 Kl 107 Bf 108 Bf 109 Bf 110 He 111 He 112 He 113 He 114 He 115 He 116 Hs 117 He 118 He 119 He 120 Hs 121 Hs 122 Hs 123 Hs 124 Hs 125 Hs 126 Hs 127 Hs 128 Hs 129 Hs 130 Bü 131 Hs 132 Bü 133 Bü 134 Ha 135 Ha 136 Hü 136 Ha 137 BV 138 Ha 139 Ha 140 BV 141 BV 142 BV 143 BV 144 Go 145 Go 146 Go 147 Ju 147 Go 149 Go 150 Kl 151 Ta 152 Kl 152 Ta 153 Ta 154 BV 155 Fi 156 Fi 157 Fi 158 Fw 159 Ju 160 Bf 161 He 162 Bf 162 Bf 163 Me 163 Me 164 Fi 166 FK 166 Fi 167 Fi 168 He 170 He 172 He 176 He 177 He 178 Bü 180 Bü 181 Bü 182 Ta 183 Fl 184 Fl 185 Fw 186 Ju 186 Fw 187 Ju 187 Ju 188 Fw 189 Fw 190 Fw 191 Ao 192 DFS 193 DFS 194 Ar 195 Ar 196 Ar 197 Ar 198 Ar 199 Fw 200

201 to 300	Si 201 Si 202 DFS 203 Si 204 Fw 206 Me 208 Me 209 Me 209 (1943) Me 210 Hü 211 Do 212 Do 214 Do 215 Do 216 Do 217 Hs 217 He 219 He 220 BV 222 Fa 223 Fa 224 Ao 225 Fa 225 BV 226 Ho 226 FGP 227 DFS 228 Ho 229 DFS 230 Ar 231 Ar 232 Ar 233 Ar 234 Do 235 BV 237 BV 238 Fw 238 Ar 239 Ar 240 Go 241 Go 242 Go 244 BV 246 Ju 248 BV 250 Fw 250 Ho 250 Ho 251 Ho 252 Ju 252 Fi 253 Ho 253 Ta 254 Ho 254 Fi 256 Sk 257 Fw 261 Me 261 Me 262 Me 263 Me 264 Fl 265 Me 265 Fa 266 Ho 267 Ju 268 Fa 269 He 270 We 271 Fw 272 He 274 He 275 He 277 He 278 He 280 Fl 282 Fa 283 Ta 283 Fa 284 Fl 285 Ju 286 Ju 287 Ju 288 Ju 290 Me 290 As 292 Hs 293 Hs 294 Hs 295 Ar 296 Hs 296 Hs 297 Hs 298 Fw 300

301-	Me 309 Me 310 Do 317 Do 318 He 319 Me 321 Ju 322 Me 323 Me 328 Me 329 Fa 330 DFS 331 DFS 332 Fi 333 Me 334 Do 335 Fa 336 Fl 339 E.340 WNF 342 He 343 Rk 344 So 344 Go 345 DFS 346 Rk 347 Ba 349 Ju 352 Me 362 Me 364 Ju 388 Ju 390 Fw 391 Ar 396 Ta 400 Me 409 Me 410 Do 417 He 419 ZMe 423 Ar 430 Ka 430 Ar 432 Do 435 Ar 440 Ju 452 Me 462 Ju 488 Fw 491 Me 509 Me 510 He 519 ZSO 523 Ar 532 Do 535 E.555 Me 609 Ar 632 Do 635

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