Heinkel HE 8
# 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 HE 5 in Swedish service, and wished to purchase a similar aircraft as well as licensed production as the Orlogsvaerftet HM.II. Apart from its new Armstrong Siddeley engine, the HE 8 also differed from the HE 5 and previous members of the HE 1 family in having a conventional empennage. 22 aircraft were operated until the German invasion in 1940, after which one example was impressed into Luftwaffe service and the remainder placed in storage.

A single HE 8 was built with a Packard 3A-2500 engine and designated HE 31.

## Operators

### Denmark

* Royal Danish Navy

### Yugoslavia

* Royal Yugoslav Navy (One)

## Specifications (HM.II)

Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1931

General characteristics

* Crew: 3
* Length: 11.65 m (38 ft 3 in)
* Wingspan: 16.8 m (55 ft 1 in)
* Height: 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in)
* Wing area: 45 $m^2$ (480 sq ft)
* Empty weight: 1,675 kg (3,693 lb)
* Gross weight: 2,650 kg (5,842 lb)
* Powerplant: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled geared radial piston engine, 320 kW (430 hp)
* Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch metal propeller

Performance

* Maximum speed: 212 km/h (132 mph, 114 kn)
* Range: 1,290 km (800 mi, 700 nmi)
* Service ceiling: 5,600 m (18,400 ft)
* Rate of climb: 2.8 m/s (550 ft/min)
* Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 3 minutes 12 seconds: 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in 28 minutes'
* Wing loading: 61.8 $kg/m^2$ (12.7 lb/sq ft)
* Power/mass: 14.2 lb/hp (8.6 kg/kW)

Armament

* Guns: 1 × fixed, forward-firing 8 mm (0.315 in) Madsen machine gun, 1 × trainable, rearward-firing 8 mm (0.315 in) Madsen machine gun
* Bombs: 12 × 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) bombs
