2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Heinkel HE 5 S5C: Koster· Public domain
- 2. Heinkel He 5a Aero Digest September 1926: Aero Digest Magazine· Attribution
what is it?
The Heinkel HE 5, produced in Sweden as the Svenska Aero S 5 and nicknamed the "Hansa", was a reconnaissance floatplane built during the 1920s. It was a further development of the HE 1, sharing its same basic configuration as a low-wing, strut-braced monoplane. The HE designation also refers to the monoplane construction, standing for Heinkel Eindecker.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 16.8 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 100 years ago, in 1926.
- Top speed is 1.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 16.8 m: about 4 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
- 1926-07
- introduced
- 1927
- retired
- 1945
- status
- retired
- number built
- 57
- role
- reconnaissance floatplane
- origin
- Weimar Republic
- makers
- Heinkel, Svenska Aero
- engines
- 1× BMW VI / Napier Lion / Jupiter VI
- length
- 12.2 m
- wingspan
- 16.8 m
- height
- 4.4 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,900 kg
- top speed
- 200 km/h
- cruise speed
- 168 km/h
- range
- 550 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 Q3784391, Wikipedia: Heinkel HE 5 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.