Blohm & Voss Ha 139

The Blohm & Voss Ha 139 was a German all-metal inverted gull wing floatplane. With its four engines it was at the time one of the largest float-equipped seaplanes that had been built. The inboard engines were mounted at the joint between the inboard anhedral and outboard dihedral wing sections, above the pylon-mounted floats.

Further development of the Ha 139 led to the land-based version Blohm & Voss BV 142 which had its first flight in October 1938.

Operational history
The aircraft were flown by Deutsche Luft Hansa on transatlantic routes between 1937 and 1939, predominantly between Bathurst, The Gambia and Natal, Brazil. Catapult-launched from an aircraft tender they were able to transport 500 kg of mail over a distance of up to 5000 km.

On the outbreak of World War II, the planes were transferred to the Luftwaffe and used for transport, reconnaissance and minesweeping work over the Baltic Sea. They were not particularly suited for military use.

Variants
Data from: Aircraft of the Third Reich


 * Projekt 15
 * Catapult launched floatplane mail-carrier design for Deutsche Lufthansa (DLH), became the Ha 139.


 * Projekt 20
 * A reconnaissance-bomber derivative of Projekt 15 submitted to the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) (German air Ministry) which generated little interest.


 * Ha 139 V1
 * D-AMIE, named Nordmeer — First of two initial prototypes


 * Ha 139 V2
 * D-AJEY, named Nordwind — Second of two initial prototypes


 * Ha 139 V3
 * D-ASTA, named Nordstern — Third prototype with longer wingspan, increased wing area and modified engine mounts.


 * Ha 139B
 * The Ha 139 V3 was given new triangular fins, and re-designated while in service with DLH.


 * Ha 139B/Umbau
 * After service with DLH, the Ha 139B was modified as the Ha 139B/Umbau with an extended glazed nose accommodating a navigator and a spherical Ikaria mount for a machine-gun. Additional machine guns were mounted in the cockpit roof hatch and in lateral mountings on either side of the rear fuselage.


 * Ha 139B/MS
 * The Ha 139B/Umbau was later modified into a minesweeper (Minensuch) with a magnetic cable loosely run between the nose, wing-tips, and tail.