Heinkel HD 15
Heinkel · German Reich · first flew 1927 · airliner
The Heinkel HD 15 was an all-wood flying-boat prototype built to carry transatlantic mail, launched by catapult from ocean liners.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, wing-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 10.7 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Flying-boat hull with three separate open cockpits in a row
- Biplane wings braced above an all-wood hull rather than twin floats
- Built to be launched by shipboard catapult
Its flying-boat hull with three separate open cockpits sets it apart from Heinkel's more common twin-float HD reconnaissance biplanes.
Specifications
- The Heinkel HD 15 has a length of 10.7 m (35 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 12.43 m (41 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 172 km/h (107 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Built in 1927 to a German transport ministry specification for catapult-launched mail aircraft, the HD 15 combined a central hull with three separate open cockpits, one for the pilot and two for passengers or post. It was tested alongside the construction of a matching catapult aboard the Norddeutscher Lloyd liner Bremen.
Variants
Only the single prototype was completed; the concept did not proceed to a production catapult mail-plane.
Where you'll see it
As a one-off prototype tied to a single ocean-liner catapult scheme, no HD 15 survives today.
Related aircraft
- Heinkel HD 28
- Heinkel He 8
- Heinkel HD 16
- Heinkel HD 19
- Focke-Wulf A 17 Möwe
- Fokker F.VIII
- Ford 4-AT-B Trimotor
- Ford 4-AT-D Trimotor
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