Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with the pioneering examples of a successful

liquid-fueled rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket uses a rocket engine burning liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. (Alternate approaches use gaseous or Solid-propellant rocket , solid propellants.) Liquids are desirable propellants because th ...

and a turbojet-powered aircraft in aviation history, with both Heinkel designs' first flights occurring shortly before the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

History

Following the successful career of Ernst Heinkel as the chief designer for the Hansa-Brandenburg aviation firm in World War I, Heinkel's own firm was established at

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow (river ...

in 1922, after the restrictions on German aviation imposed by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

were relaxed. By 1929, the firm's compressed air-powered catapults were in use on the German

Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

ocean-liners and to launch short-range mail planes from the liners' decks. The company's first post-World War I aircraft design success was the design of the all-metal, single-engined

Heinkel He 70 The Heinkel He 70 ''Blitz'' ("lightning") was a fast monoplane aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel, Heinkel Flugzeugwerke. It was the first ''Schnellbomber'' operated by the Luftwaffe. Development of the He ...

''Blitz'' high-speed

mail plane The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

and airliner for Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1932, which broke a number of air speed records for its class. It was followed by the two-engine

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to restrictions placed on Germany a ...

''Doppel-Blitz'', which became a mainstay of the Luftwaffe during World War II as a bomber. Heinkel's most important designers at this point were the twin

Günter brothers Gunter or Günter may refer to: * Gunter rig, a type of sailing rig, especially in small boats * Gunter Annex, Alabama, a United States Air Force installation * Gunter, Texas, city in the United States * the former German name of the village of ...

, Siegfried and Walter, and

Heinrich Hertel Heinrich Hertel (13 November 1901 in Düsseldorf – 5 December 1982) "Heinrich Hertel", in ''“The shoulders on which we stand”-Wegbereiter der Wissenschaft: 125 Jahre Technische Universität Berlin'', Eberhard Knobloch, ed. (Springer-Verlag, ...

. The firm's headquarters was in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

later known as ''Heinkel-Nord'' (Heinkel-North), located in what used to be named the ''Rostock''- ''Marienehe'' neighborhood (today's ''Rostock''- ''Schmarl'' community, along the west bank of the

Unterwarnow Unterwarnow is the estuary of the Warnow River in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. It connects with the Baltic Sea in Warnemünde. The city of Rostock is located on its banks. References

Rivers of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania B ...

estuary), where the firm additionally possessed a factory airfield along the coastline in the Rostock/Schmarl neighborhood roughly three kilometers (1.9 miles) north-northwest of the main offices, with a second ''Heinkel-Süd'' engineering and manufacturing facility in

Schwechat Schwechat () is a city southeast of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. The city is home to the Oil refinery, refineries of the Austrian national oil company OMV. Geography Schwechat is named after the river S ...

, Austria, after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

in 1938.

World War II

The Heinkel company is most closely associated with aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. This began with the adaptation of the He 70 and, in particular, the He 111, to be used as bombers. Heinkel also provided the Luftwaffe's only operational

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...

, the Heinkel He 177, although this was never deployed in significant numbers. The German

equipped both of these bombers with the ''Z-Gerät'', ''Y-Gerät'', and ''Knickebein'', developed by Johannes Plendl, and thus they were among the first aircraft to feature advanced night navigation devices, common in all commercial airplanes today. Heinkel was less successful in selling fighter designs. Before the war, the Heinkel He 112 had been rejected in favour of the

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

, and Heinkel's attempt to top Messerschmitt's design with the Heinkel He 100 failed due to political interference within the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM — Reich Aviation Ministry). The company also provided the Luftwaffe with an outstanding night fighter, the Heinkel He 219, which also suffered from politics and was produced only in limited numbers, but was the first Luftwaffe front-line aircraft to use retractable

tricycle gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

for its undercarriage design, and the world's first front-line military aircraft to use

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an exp ...

s. By contrast, the only

to enter service with the ''Luftwaffe'' during the war years – the Heinkel He 177 ''Greif'' – turned out to be one of the most troublesome German wartime aircraft designs, plagued with numerous engine fires from both its inadequate engine nacelle design and its general airframe design being mis-tasked. The 30-meter (100 ft) class wingspan design was to be built to be able to perform moderate-angle dive bombing attacks from the moment of its approval by the RLM in early November 1937, until this was rescinded in September 1942. From 1941 until the end of the war, the company was merged with engine manufacturer Hirth to form Heinkel-Hirth, giving the company the capability of manufacturing its own powerplants, including its ''Heinkel Strahltriebwerke'' turbojet engine manufacturing firm. The Heinkel name was also behind pioneering work in

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

and

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

development, and also the German aviation firm that attempted to popularize the use of retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

, a relative rarity in early WW II German airframe design. In 1939, flown by Erich Warsitz, the Heinkel He 176 and Heinkel He 178 became the first aircraft designs to fly under liquid-fuel rocket and

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

power respectively. Ruinen Heinkelwerk

Heinkel was the first to develop a jet fighter to prototype stage, the Heinkel He 280, the first Heinkel design to use and fly with retractable tricycle gear. In early 1942, the photographic interpretation unit at RAF Medmenham first saw evidence of the existence of the 280 in aerial reconnaissance photographs taken after a bombing raid on the Rostock factory. Thereafter, the Allies began intensive aerial reconnaissance intended to learn more about the German jet aircraft programme. The He 219 night fighter design was the first German frontline combat aircraft to have retracting tricycle gear, and the first operational military aircraft anywhere to use

s. Heinkel's He 280, the firm's only twin-jet aircraft design to fly never reached production, however, since the RLM wanted Heinkel to concentrate on bomber production and instead promoted the development of the rival

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed (German for "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ("Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messers ...

. Very late in the war, a Heinkel single-jet powered fighter finally took to the air as the Heinkel He 162A ''Spatz'' (sparrow) as the first military jet to use retractable tricycle landing gear, use a turbojet engine from its maiden flight forward, and use an ejection seat from the start, but it had barely entered service at the time of Germany's surrender.

Slave labour during World War II

Heinkel was a major user of

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

labour, using between 6,000 and 8,000 prisoners on the He 177 bomber.

Post-war

Following the war, Heinkel was prohibited from manufacturing aircraft and instead built

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

s, motor scooters (see below), and the Heinkel microcar. The company eventually returned to aircraft in the mid-1950s, licence building

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

F-104 Starfighters for the West German Luftwaffe. In 1965, the company was absorbed by

Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW; English: "United Aviation Engineering Works") was a West German aerospace manufacturer. The company was formed by the 1964 merger of two German aerospace firms, Focke-Wulf and Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH (Weserfl ...

(VFW), which was in turn absorbed by

Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) was a West Germany, West German aerospace manufacturer. It was formed during the late 1960s as the result of efforts to consolidate the West German aerospace industry; aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt AG merged ...

in 1980 and later became part of

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

. Entwicklungsring Süd, a research and development conglomeration in a joint venture with Bölkow and Messerschmitt, designed the EWR VJ 101A/He 231, a VSTOL prototype, intended to protect West Germany's airfields against Soviet attack.

Products

Aircraft

;HD - ''Heinkel Doppeldecker'' * Heinkel HD 14 * Heinkel HD 15 * Heinkel HD 16 * Heinkel HD 17 * Heinkel HD 19 * Heinkel HD 20 * Heinkel HD 21 * Heinkel HD 22 * Heinkel HD 23 * Heinkel HD 24 seaplane trainer (1926) * Heinkel HD 25 * Heinkel HD 26 * Heinkel HD 27 * Heinkel HD 28 * Heinkel HD 29 * Heinkel HD 30 * Heinkel HD 32 * Heinkel HD 33 * Heinkel HD 34 * Heinkel HD 35 * Heinkel HD 36 * Heinkel HD 37 fighter (biplane) * Heinkel HD 38 fighter (biplane) * Heinkel HD 39 * Heinkel HD 40 * Heinkel HD 41 * Heinkel HD 43 fighter (biplane) * Heinkel HD 44 * Heinkel HD 55 reconnaissance flying boat * Heinkel HD 56 reconnaissance seaplane; built in Japan as the Aichi E3A ;HE - ''Heinkel Eindecker'' * Heinkel HE 1 low-wing floatplane (monoplane) * Heinkel HE 2 improvement on the HE 1 * Heinkel HE 3 * Heinkel HE 4 reconnaissance (monoplane) * Heinkel HE 5 reconnaissance (monoplane) * Heinkel HE 6 * Heinkel HE 7 *

Heinkel HE 8 The Heinkel HE 8 was a reconnaissance floatplane built in Germany in the late 1920s. It was developed at the request of the Danish Navy, which had noted the success of the Heinkel HE 5, HE 5 in Sweden, Swedish service, and wished to purchase a si ...

reconnaissance (monoplane) * Heinkel HE 9 * Heinkel HE 10 * Heinkel HE 12 * Heinkel HE 18 * Heinkel HE 31 HE 8 with a Packard 3A-2500 engine * Heinkel HE 57 ''Heron'', passenger flying boat (prototype); Heinkel's last flying boat and first all-metal aircraft * Heinkel HE 58 enlarged HE 12 ;He - ''Heinkel'' (RLM designator) * Heinkel He 42 seaplane trainer; originally HD 42 * Heinkel He 45 biplane light bomber; originally HD 45 * Heinkel He 46 reconnaissance/army co-operation monoplane; originally HD 46 * Heinkel He 47 trainer (project); existed as a mockup, but was lost in a factory fire in 1934 * Heinkel He 48 short-range reconnaissance (project); mockup inspected in 1935, but cancelled in 1936 * Heinkel He 49 biplane fighter; originally HD 49 * Heinkel He 50 reconnaissance + dive bomber (biplane); originally HD 50 * Heinkel He 51 biplane fighter developed from the He 49 * Heinkel He 52 high-altitude version of He 51 (prototype) * Heinkel He 59 multirole biplane; originally HD 59 * Heinkel He 60 ship-borne reconnaissance (biplane seaplane); originally HD 60 * Heinkel He 61 export version of He 45 for China; originally HD 61 * Heinkel He 62 reconnaissance seaplane; originally HD 62 * Heinkel He 63 prototype trainer biplane; originally HD 63 * Heinkel He 64 sports plane; originally HE 64 * Heinkel He 65 single-engine, high-speed mail plane (project) * Heinkel He 66 export version of He 50 for Japan; originally HD 66 *

''Blitz'' (Lightning), high-speed single-engine mail plane, 1932 * Heinkel He 71 single-seat monoplane; shrunken He 64 * Heinkel He 72 ''Kadett'' (Cadet), trainer * Heinkel He 74 biplane light fighter/advanced trainer (prototype); lost to the Fw 56 and Ar 76 * Heinkel He 100 fighter *

medium bomber/airliner * Heinkel He 112 fighter * Heinkel He 113 (fictitious alternative designation for He 100D-1) * Heinkel He 114 reconnaissance seaplane * Heinkel He 115 military seaplane * Heinkel He 116 long-range reconnaissance/mail plane * Heinkel He 118 prototype dive bomber; lost to the Ju 87 * Heinkel He 119 experimental single-engine high-speed reconnaissance/bomber, 1937 * Heinkel He 120 four-engine long-range passenger flying boat (project), 1938; cancelled in favor of the BV 222 * Heinkel He 162 ''Spatz'' (sparrow), ''Volksjäger'' (People's Fighter) design competition choice, fighter (jet-engined) * Heinkel He 170 export version of He 70 for Hungary * Heinkel He 172 He 72B with NACA cowling (prototype) * Heinkel He 176 pioneering liquid-fueled rocket-powered experimental aircraft (prototype) * Heinkel He 177 Greif, Heinkel He 177 ''Greif'' (Griffon), the Third Reich's only long-range

* Heinkel He 178 world's first jet-engined aircraft * Heinkel He 177, Heinkel He 179 variant of He 177 with four separate engines, not built * Heinkel He 219 Uhu, Heinkel He 219 ''Uhu'' (Eagle-Owl), night fighter * Heinkel He 220 four-engine long-range passenger flying boat (project), 1939; cancelled in favor of the BV 222 * Heinkel He 270 He 70 with DB 601 engine * Heinkel He 274 high-altitude heavy bomber, He 177 development, two prototypes completed post-war in France * Heinkel He 275 four-engine heavy bomber; project only * Heinkel He 277 heavy bomber, paper-only ''Amerika Bomber'' He 177 development (by February 1943) with four BMW 801E radial engines, never built * Heinkel He 278 four-engine turboprop bomber; project only * Heinkel He 280 jet fighter; first jet fighter to fly * Heinkel He 319 multirole aircraft (project); unrelated to the He 219 * Heinkel He 343 four-engine jet bomber (project), 1944 * Heinkel He 419 He 219 with longer wingspan and He 319 tail (project) * Heinkel He 519, high-speed bomber (He 119 derivative; project only), 1944 * Heinkel Type 98 Medium Bomber - He 111 for service with the IJNAS * Heinkel A7He He 112 development for the IJAAS * Heinkel Navy Type He Interceptor Fighter He 100 development for the IJNAS P - ''Projekt'' * Heinkel P.1041 - He 177 * Heinkel P.1054 * Heinkel P.1060 - He 219 * Heinkel P.1062 - fighter (project), 1942 * Heinkel P.1063 - mid-wing fast attack aircraft (project), 1942 * Heinkel P.1064 - long-range mid-wing bomber with BMW 801Ea engine (project), 1943 * Heinkel P.1065 - fighter-bomber designs * Heinkel P.1066 - ground attack aircraft with two BMW 801E or BMW Jumo 222C engines (project), 1942 * Heinkel P.1068 - He 343 * Heinkel P.1069 - mid-wing fighter with Junkers Jumo 004B engine (project), 1943 * Heinkel P.1070 - fighter-reconnaissance with two Junkers Jumo 004B engines (project), 1943 * Heinkel P.1071 - asymmetrical fuselage fighter with two Junkers Jumo 004B engines (project), 1943 * Heinkel P.1072 - Mid-wing bomber with four BMW 003A-0 engines (project) 1943 * Heinkel P.1073 - twin jet engine fighter (project); design evolved into the He 162 * Heinkel P.1074 - four engine fighter with BMW 801E engines (project), 1944 * Heinkel P.1075 - mid-wing long-range fighter with twin DB 603E engines (project), 1944 * Heinkel He 100, Heinkel P.1076, a nearly conventional 1944 design, with slightly forward swept wings and contra-rotating propellers at the front. * Heinkel P.1077 ''Julia''/''Romeo'' rocket-propulsion point-defense interceptor * Heinkel P.1078 jet-powered interceptor designs; Emergency Fighter Program candidate ** Heinkel He P.1078A, fighter (jet-engined) (project) ** Heinkel He P.1078B, tailless fighter (jet-engined) (project) ** Heinkel He P.1078C, tailless fighter (jet-engined) (project), 1944 * Heinkel P.1079 all-weather jet fighter designs ** Heinkel He P.1079A, two-engine night-fighter (jet-engined) (project) ** Heinkel He P.1079B/I, all-weather heavy fighter (flying wing design) (jet-engined) ** Heinkel He P.1079B/II, all-weather heavy fighter (flying wing design) (jet-engined), 1945 * Heinkel P.1080 ramjet fighter (project); Emergency Fighter Program candidate * Heinkel P.1084 - transport aircraft (project), 1942 * Heinkel Lerche (Lark) VTOL ground attack/fighter * Heinkel Wespe (Wasp) VTOL tail sitter interceptor

Microcar

Heinkel introduced the "Kabine" bubble car in 1956. It competed with the BMW Isetta and the Messerschmitt KR200. It had a unit body and a four-stroke engine, four-stroke single-cylinder engine.Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum: 1956 Heinkel Kabine
''www.microcarmuseum.com'', accessed 17 March 2021 Heinkel stopped manufacturing the Kabine in 1958 but production continued under licence, first by Dundalk Engineering Company in Ireland and then by Trojan (automobile), Trojan Cars Ltd., which ceased production in 1966.Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum: 1963 Trojan 200

Scooters

Heinkel introduced the "Tourist" Scooter (motorcycle), motor scooter in the 1950s which was known for its reliability. A large and relatively heavy touring machine, it provided good weather protection with a full Motorcycle fairing, fairing and the front wheel turning under a fixed nose extension. The "Tourist" had effective streamlining, perhaps unsurprising in view of its aircraft ancestry, and although it had only a , 9.5 Horsepower, bhp 4-stroke engine, it was capable of sustaining speeds of up to (official figures ), given time to get there. Heinkel also made a lighter scooter called the Heinkel 150.Heinkel 150
Faraway Montevideo Heinkel 150 site, ''www.faraway.htmlplanet.com'', accessed 17 March 2021

Mopeds

Heinkel built the Perle moped from 1954 to 1957.Biker Szene Interview with Ernst Heinkel's Son
/ref> The Perle was a sophisticated cycle with a cast alloy Monocoque, unit frame, rear suspension (motorcycle), suspension, a fully enclosed chain with part of the chain enclosure integral with the swingarm, and interchangeable wheels. This high level of sophistication came at a high cost.Wilson, H. "The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle" p. 77 Dorling-Kindersley Limited, 1995 CycleMaster PAGE 10. 1955 Earls Court Show: Debut of the ‘Mo-ped’ - "HEINKEL - Stand 96"
/ref> As with most mopeds, it had a two-stroke engine with a displacement of 50cc that operated on a mixture of gasoline and lubrication oil.Die Heinkel-Perle von Dieter Lammersdorf
''www.heinkel-club.de'', accessed 17 March 2021 Approximately twenty-seven thousand Perles were sold.

References

External links

Heinkel Motor ScootersHeinkel Scale ModelsThe official Erich Warsitz Website (world's first jet pilot), includes videos and audio commentaries
* {{Authority control Heinkel, Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany Scooter manufacturers Companies involved in the Holocaust