Heinkel HE 12
Heinkel · Germany · first flew 1929 · transport aircraft
The Heinkel HE 12 was a pontoon-equipped mail plane built in Germany in 1929. It was designed to be launched by catapult from a liner at sea.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 11.56 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Strut-braced low-wing monoplane on pontoon floats
- Tandem open cockpits with the mail compartment behind
- Single radial engine in the nose
The pilot and radio operator sit in tandem in open cockpits, with 200 kg of mail carried in a compartment behind them. A 370 kW air-cooled radial drives the propeller.
Specifications
- The Heinkel HE 12 has a length of 11.56 m (38 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 16.8 m (55 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 216 km/h (134 mph).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Norddeutscher Lloyd wanted a seaplane to speed up airmail from its liners, and Heinkel designed both a catapult and the aircraft. The HE 12 was a derivative of the military HE 9, a conventional low-wing, strut-braced monoplane.
Variants
A second, slightly larger aircraft was built as the He 58 for the liner Europa. It had a bigger payload and side-by-side open cockpits.
Where you'll see it
On 22 July 1929 the liner Bremen launched the HE 12 while 400 km from New York, saving about 20 hours on the westward mail. It flew regularly from Bremen until severely damaged in an accident at Cobequid Bay on 5 October 1931.
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