Heinkel He 46

what is it?

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.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · high wing · 14 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 250 km/htop speed
• range 1,000 kmwithout refuelling
• size 2,300 kgmax take-off weight
• built 481made 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 95 years ago, in 1931.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 14 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,000 km: 6× Amsterdam to Brussels.

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

spec sheet

first flight

1931-04-23

introduced

1936

retired

1943

status

retired

number built

481

role

reconnaissance, army co-operation

origin

German Reich

makers

Heinkel

engines

1× Bramo SAM 22B (later Bramo 322B) / Siemens-Halske Sh 22

crew

2

length

9.5 m

wingspan

14 m

height

3.4 m

max take-off weight

2,300 kg

top speed

250 km/h

range

1,000 km

ceiling

6,000 m

wings

high wing

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