Henschel Hs 129
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2010) |
Hs 129 | |
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A captured Henschel Hs 129 B-1 at Freeman Army Airfield, Indiana, 1946 | |
Role | Attacker |
National origin | Nazi Germany |
Manufacturer | Henschel |
First flight | 29 May 1939[1] |
Introduction | April 1942 |
Retired | 1945 |
Status | Retired |
Primary users | Luftwaffe |
Produced | June 1940 – September 1944 |
Number built | 865 |
The Henschel Hs 129 was a
A key requirement of the original specification was that the aircraft be powered by engines that were not in demand for other designs. Prototypes with low-power German Argus As 410 engines of 465 PS (459 hp; 342 kW) failed acceptance test, a more powerful replacement was found with the French Gnome-Rhône 14M engine of 700 PS (690 hp; 515 kW).
The design was relatively effective when it was first introduced, and saw service on the Eastern Front in a variety of front-line roles. As the war continued and anti-tank support became the main goal, the aircraft was continually up-gunned, eventually mounting a 75 mm anti-tank gun. Only a small number of these B-3 models were produced, late in the war. Production ceased in September 1944.[2]
Design and development
By the mid-1930s, the German military, as well as its counterparts in other countries, had come to see the main role of ground-attack aircraft as the interdiction of logistics and materiel, a task in which targets were often poorly protected and less likely to have strong, well-coordinated defences. For high-value, well-protected tactical targets, the dive bomber was becoming the conventional solution.
The experience of the German
It was anticipated that the main source of damage to such an aircraft would be
The specification was issued to four companies in the Spring of 1937. These were
Prototypes
The Hs 129 was designed by Henschel's chief designer,
Henschel's plane came in 12 percent overweight with the engines 8 percent underpowered; understandably, it flew poorly. The controls proved to be almost inoperable as speed increased and in testing, the V2 prototype flew into the ground from a short dive on 5 January 1940 because the stick forces were too high for the pilot to pull out.[5][6] The Focke-Wulf design proved to be no better. Both planes were underpowered with their air-cooled, inverted-V12 Argus As 410 engines and very difficult to fly.
The RLM nevertheless felt they should continue with the concept. The only real deciding factor between the two designs was that the Henschel was smaller and cheaper. The Focke-Wulf was put on low priority as a backup and testing continued with the Hs 129 A-0. Improvements resulted in the Hs 129 A-1 series, armed with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons and two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns, along with the ability to carry four 50 kg (110 lb) bombs along the fuselage centreline.
Hs 129 B-1
Even before the A-1s were delivered, the plane was redesigned with Gnome-Rhône 14M radial engines, which were captured in some number when France fell and continued to be produced under German occupation. This engine supplied 700 PS (690 hp; 515 kW) for takeoff, compared with the Argus at 465 PS (459 hp; 342 kW). The Gnome-Rhone radials were also made in versions with opposite rotation for the propeller, and were installed on the Hs 129 with the port engine rotating clockwise and the starboard rotating counterclockwise, as seen from nose-on, thus eliminating engine torque problems.
The A-1 planes were converted into Hs 129 B-0s for testing (although it has been claimed that some As were sold to Romania) and the pilots were reportedly much happier with the results. Their main complaint was the view from the canopy, so a single larger windscreen and a new canopy with much better vision were added, resulting in the production model Hs 129 B-1.
B-1 production began in December 1941 but deliveries were slow. In preparation for the new plane, I./SchlG 1 had been formed in January with Bf 109 E/Bs (fighter-bomber version of Bf 109 E) and Hs 123s and they delivered B-0s and every B-1 that was completed. It was not until April that 12 B-1s were delivered and the 4th Staffel (squadron) became ready for action. They moved to the Eastern Front (to Crimea) in the middle of May 1942 and in June they received a new weapon, the 30 mm (1.2 in) MK 101 cannon with armor-piercing ammunition in a centerline pod. This would be the B1/R2 Rüstsätze kit, the B1/R3 had the MK 101 replaced with a ventral tray of four 7.92mm MG 17 machine guns. The B1/R4 had a larger bomb load and the B1/R5 reconnaissance version had a camera.[7]
Hs 129 B-2
Deliveries of the new Hs 129 B-2 model began in May 1942, side by side with the B-1 (of which just 50 planes had been delivered at that point). The only difference between the two were changes to the fuel system – a host of other minor changes could be found almost at random on either model. These changes accumulated in the B-2 production line until they could eventually be told apart at a glance; the main differences being the removal of the mast for the radio antenna, the addition of a
In the field, the differences seemed to be more pronounced. The Rüstsatz field refit kits were renumbered and some were dropped, and in general, the Hs 129B-2/R2 planes in service with 4./Schlachtgeschwader 1[2] received the upgraded cannon pack using a 30 mm MK 103 cannon instead of the earlier MK 101. These guns both fired the same ammunition, but the 103 did so at almost twice the rate.
By late 1942 reports were coming in about the ineffectiveness of the MK 101 against newer versions of the
Hs 129 B-3
It was decided that the 7.5 cm (2.95 in) semi-automatic Rheinmetall PaK 40 anti-tank gun, which had already been adapted for use in the Junkers Ju 88 P-1, would be further modified for use in the Hs 129. This resulted in the BK 7,5 (Bordkanone 7,5), which, even though it weighed 1,200 kg (2,600 lb), was lighter than the PaK 40. Fully automatic, it featured a new, hydraulic recoil-dampening system and a new, more aerodynamic muzzle brake. An autoloader system, with 12 rounds in a rotary magazine, was fitted in the empty space behind the cockpit, within the rear half of the wing root area. The gun and its recoil mechanism occupied a substantial gun pod under the fuselage, and a circular port at the rear of the pod allowed rearwards ejection of spent cartridges immediately after firing. While this new variant, the Hs 129 B-3, was theoretically capable of destroying any tank in the world, the added weight worsened the aircraft's general performance and it was inferior to previous variants.[8]
The Bordkanone 7,5 was the heaviest and most powerful forward-firing weapon fitted to a production
In May 1944, a Hs 129B-2, Werknummer 141258, was fitted with a mock-up of the BK 7.5 and underwent aerodynamic testing at Travemünde. The gun fired a 12 kg shell and an emergency the entire installation could be jettisoned.[9] From June 1944, only 25 examples of the Hs 129 B-3 arrived at frontline units before the production line was shut down in September (a small number were reportedly also created by converting B-2 aircraft). In the field the B-3 proved effective, but its small numbers had little effect on the war effort.
Hs 129 C
To address the poor performance of the aircraft, plans had been under way for some time to fit the plane with newer versions of the
Hs 129 D
Planned version of the Hs 129. Powered by either two 809 kW (1,085 hp; 1,100 PS) Junkers Jumo 211 or two 1,148 kW (1,539 hp; 1,561 PS) BMW 801 to improve its performance. No prototypes were made.
Operators
- Royal Hungarian Air Force
Specifications (Hs 129B-2)
Data from Henschel Hs 129...der geflügelte Büchsenöffner [10]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 9.75 m (32 ft 0 in)
- Wingspan: 14.2 m (46 ft 7 in)
- Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)
- Wing area: 29 m2 (310 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 4,020 kg (8,863 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 5,250 kg (11,574 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Gnome-Rhône 14M-4/-5 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 515 kW (691 hp)700 PS each [11] for take-off
- Propellers: 3-bladed Ratier constant speed propeller, 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) diameter [12]
Performance
- Maximum speed: 407 km/h (253 mph, 220 kn) at 3,830 m (12,570 ft)
- Cruise speed: 315 km/h (196 mph, 170 kn) at 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
- Range: 690 km (430 mi, 370 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 8.1 m/s (1,590 ft/min)
Armament
- Guns: ** 2 × 7.92 mm (0.323 in) MG 17 machine guns, later models from 1943 to 1944 replaced the MG 17s with 2 × 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns
- 2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cannonor
- a 30 mm (1.181 in) MK 101 cannon or MK 103 cannon in a conformally mounted gun pod (B-2/R-2).
- 2 × 20 mm
- Bombs: ** 2 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs on underwing hardpoints
- 4 × 50 kg (110 lb) fragmentation bombs on belly racks
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
- ^ Pegg 2019, p. 23.
- ^ a b c Munson 1978, p. 95.
- ^ a b Pegg 2019, p. 19.
- ^ Pegg 2019, p. 20.
- ^ "Henschel Hs 129".
- ^ Pegg 2019, p. 24.
- ^ Munson 1978, p. 94.
- ^ DeutscheLuftwaffe.de's German language page for the BK 7,5 autocannon Archived 2016-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Munson 1978, p. 96.
- ^ Air International December 1980, p. 281.
- ^ https://www.deutscheluftwaffe.com/archiv/Dokumente/ABC/h/Henschel/Hs%20192/Hs_129_B_0%20Handbuch.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://www.deutscheluftwaffe.com/archiv/Dokumente/ABC/h/Henschel/Hs%20192/Hs_129_B_0%20Handbuch.pdf [bare URL PDF]
Bibliography
- Bernád, Dénes. Henschel Hs 129 in Action (Aircraft Number 176). Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-89747-428-7.
- Bernád, Dénes. Henschel Hs 129 (Military Aircraft in Detail). Hinckley, UK: Midland publishing Ltd., 2006. ISBN 1-85780-238-1.
- Chorążykiewicz, Przemysław. Henschel Hs 129. Sandomierz, Poland/Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2008. ISBN 9788389450463.
- Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970 (fourth impression 1979). ISBN 0-356-02382-6.
- "Henschel Hs 129...der geflügelte Büchsenöffner". ISSN 0306-5634.
- Kempski, Benedykt. Samolot szturmowy Henschel Hs 129 (Typy Broni i Uzbrojenia No.214) (in Polish). Warszawa, Poland: 2004. ISBN 83-11-10010-1.
- Munson, Kenneth (1978). German Aircraft Of World War 2 in colour. Poole, Dorset, UK: Blandford Press. ISBN 0-7137-0860-3.
- Pegg, Martin (2019). Henschel Hs 129 Panzerjäger. Hull, East Yorkshire, UK: Chandos. ISBN 978-1-9993-1650-1..
- Pegg, Martin; Creek, Eddie; Tullis, Thomas A. and Bentley: Hs 129: Panzerjäger! (Classic series, No. 2) West Sussex, UK: Classic Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-9526867-1-6.
- Smith, J.Richard. The Henschel Hs 129 (Aircraft in Profile No.69). Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1966.
- Smith, J.Richard and Kay, Anthony. German Aircraft of the Second World War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1972 (third impression 1978). ISBN 0-370-00024-2.
- Stachura, Petr; Bernád, Dénes and Haladej, Dan. Henschel Hs 129 (in Czech). Prague, Czech Republic: MBI, 1993 (second edition 1996 bilingual Czech/English). ISBN 80-901263-4-0.
- Wood, Tony and Gunston, Bill. Hitler's Luftwaffe: A pictorial history and technical encyclopedia of Hitler's air power in World War II. London: Salamander Books Ltd., 1977. ISBN 0-86101-005-1.
External links
- "Hs 129 B-0 Flugzeug-Handbuch" (PDF) (in German). Reichsminister der Luftfahrt. November 1941. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-03-18 – via Deutsche Luftwaffe.
- German WW II manual for Hs 129B-3's Bordkanone BK 7,5 cannon installation