what is it?
The Heinkel HE 3 was a sports aircraft built in Germany in the early 1920s. It was a conventional, low-wing monoplane with seating for three people in two tandem cockpits. The wing was a cantilever design, an unusual and advanced feature for the day.
How to recognise it: 1 engine · 12.1 m wingspan
base stats
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 103 years ago, in 1923.
- Wingspan of 12.1 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1923
- number built
- —
- role
- sports plane
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- makers
- Heinkel
- engines
- 1× Siemens-Halske Sh 6
- passengers
- 2
- length
- 7.2 m
- wingspan
- 12.1 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,000 kg
- top speed
- 150 km/h
- range
- —
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5699834, Wikipedia: Heinkel HE 3 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.