2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Heinkel he 45 san diego air and space museum: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
- 2. He 45: San Diego Air & Space Museum· CC0
what is it?
The Heinkel He 45 was a light bomber produced in Germany in the early 1930s, one of the first aircraft adopted by the newly formed Luftwaffe. Its appearance was that of a conventional biplane and included seating for pilot and gunner in tandem, open cockpits. Developed in parallel with the He 46, it appeared in 1931 as a general-purpose biplane and was employed mainly as a trainer, but was also used by the Luftwaffe for reconnaissance and light bombing duties.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.5 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 95 years ago, in 1931.
- Top speed is 2.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 11.5 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Range of 1,200 km: 7× Amsterdam to Brussels.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1931
- number built
- 512
- role
- light bomber
- makers
- Heinkel
- engines
- 1× BMW VI 7.3
- crew
- 2
- length
- 10.6 m
- wingspan
- 11.5 m
- height
- 3.6 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,751 kg
- top speed
- 290 km/h
- cruise speed
- 221 km/h
- range
- 1,200 km
- ceiling
- 5,500 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q695683, Wikipedia: Heinkel He 45 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.