Heinkel HD 38

what is it?

The Heinkel HD 38 was a fighter aircraft developed in Germany in the late 1920s. It was a compact, single-bay biplane with staggered wings of unequal span, braced with N-type interplane struts, a refined version of the HD 37 that had been evaluated and rejected by the Reichswehr for use at the secret training facility at Lipetsk. The HD 38 was designed in the hope of capturing a different niche - that of a seaplane fighter, and was designed with a twin pontoon undercarriage that could be quickly removed and replaced with wheels.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 engine · 10 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 290 km/htop speed
• size 1,850 kgmax take-off weight
• built 12made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 98 years ago, in 1928.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 10 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.

spec sheet

first flight

1928

number built

12

role

fighter

origin

🇩🇪 Germany

makers

Heinkel

engines

1× BMW VI

length

7.5 m

wingspan

10 m

height

3.6 m

max take-off weight

1,850 kg

top speed

290 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,700 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.