Heinkel He 115

what is it?

The Heinkel He 115 was an all-metal twin-engined military seaplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. Early on its flying history, the He 115 established several new international records for floatplanes. The He 115 was developed during the latter half of the 1930s in response to a requirement issued by the German Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM).

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 22.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 327 km/htop speed
• size 10.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 223made 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 89 years ago, in 1937.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 22.3 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1937-08

introduced

1939

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

223

role

torpedo bomber seaplane

origin

Nazi Germany

makers

Heinkel

engines

2× BMW 132K / BMW 132

length

17.3 m

wingspan

22.3 m

height

6.6 m

max take-off weight

10.4 t

top speed

327 km/h

range

—

ceiling

5,200 m

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