Heinkel He 45

The Heinkel He 45 was a light bomber produced in Germany in the early 1930s, one of the first aircraft adopted by the newly formed Luftwaffe. Its appearance was that of a conventional biplane and included seating for pilot and gunner in tandem, open cockpits. Developed in parallel with the He 46, it appeared in 1931 as a general-purpose biplane and was employed mainly as a trainer, but was also used by the Luftwaffe for reconnaissance and light bombing duties. Production of this plane totalled 512 aircraft, including those built under licence by Gotha, Focke-Wulf, and BFW.

Variants

 * He 45a
 * First prototype, powered by a BMW VI 7,3Z piston engine.


 * He 45b
 * Second prototype, fitted with four-blade propeller.


 * He 45c
 * Third prototype, armed with one 7.92 mm (.312 in) forward-firing MG 17 machine gun, and one 7.92 mm MG 15 machine gun in the rear cockpit.


 * He 45A
 * Initial production version.


 * He 45A-1
 * Training version.


 * He 45A-2
 * Reconnaissance version.


 * He 45B
 * Improved production version.


 * He 45B-1
 * Reconnaissance version, armed with a 7.92 mm (0.312 in) machine gun.


 * He 45B-2
 * Able to carry a 100 kg (220 lb) bombload.


 * He 45C
 * Production version of the He 45c.


 * He 45D
 * Slightly improved version. Similar to the He 45C.


 * HD 61a
 * Reconnaissance export version of He 45B intended for China, powered by a 492 kW (660 hp) BMW VI piston engine.

Operators

 * Bulgarian Air Force
 * One HD 61a tested and crashed during a demonstration on 22 August 1931.
 * 🇩🇪 Germany
 * Luftwaffe
 * 🇭🇺 Hungary
 * Royal Hungarian Air Force operated a single He 45C.
 * Spanish State
 * Spanish Air Force
 * Spanish State
 * Spanish Air Force