Henschel Hs 129

what is it?

The Henschel Hs 129 was a ground-attack aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Henschel Flugzeugwerke AG. Fielded by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, it saw combat in Tunisia and on the Eastern Front. During the latter half of 1930s, influenced by the experiences of German Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM; "Reich Aviation Ministry") sought a new ground-attack aircraft. The specification required protection from ground-based small arms fire, for which Henschel's design (which was initially designated at the P 46) incorporated a steel "bathtub" with angled fuselage sides and a compact canopy that was fitted with tiny windows.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 14.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 407 km/htop speed
• range 690 kmwithout refuelling
• size 5,250 kgmax take-off weight
• built 878made 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 87 years ago, in 1939.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 14.2 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

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

spec sheet

first flight

1939-05-25

introduced

1942

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

878

role

attacker

origin

Nazi Germany

makers

Henschel & Sohn

engines

2× Gnome-Rhône 14M-4/-5

crew

1

length

9.8 m

wingspan

14.2 m

height

3.3 m

max take-off weight

5,250 kg

top speed

407 km/h

cruise speed

315 km/h

range

690 km

ceiling

9,000 m

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