Немецкий пикирующий бомбардировщик Henschel Hs 123

1935 dive bomber series by Henschel

The Henschel Hs 123 was a single seat biplane dive bomber and close support aircraft flown by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early to middle of World War II. It proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. It continued to see front line service until 1944, only to be withdrawn due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts (production ended in the Autumn of 1938).

Henschel was a German locomotive manufacturer. Soon after Hitler's rise to power, Henschel decided to start designing aircraft, one of the first being the Hs 123. The aircraft was designed to meet the 1933 dive bomber requirements for the new Luftwaffe. Henschel and rival Fieseler (with the Fi 98) competed for the production contract requirement, which specified a single seat biplane dive bomber. The first prototype, the Hs 123V1, was cleared for its maiden flight on 1 April 1935; General Ernst Udet, a World War I ace, flew it on its first public demonstration flight on 8 May 1935. The first three Henschel prototypes, with the first and third powered by 485 kW (650 hp) BMW 132A 3 engines and the second by a 574 kW (770 hp) Wright Cyclone, were tested at Rechlin in August 1936. Only the first prototype had "smooth" cowlings; from that point on, all aircraft had a tightly fitting cowling that included 18 fairings covering the engine valves. The Henschel prototypes did away with bracing wires and although they looked slightly outdated with their single faired interplane struts and cantilever main landing gear legs attached to smaller (stub) lower wings, the Hs 123 was of all metal construction, clean lines and superior maneuverability. Its biplane wings were of a sesquiplane configuration, whereby the lower wings were significantly smaller than the top wings. The performance of the Hs 123 V1 prototype prematurely eliminated any chance for the more conventional Fi 98, which was cancelled after a sole prototype had been constructed. During testing, the Hs 123 proved capable of pulling out of "near vertical" dives but two of the first three prototypes subsequently crashed due to structural failures in the wings that occurred when the aircraft were tested in high speed dives. The first production Hs 123 were delivered in 1936. About 265 aircraft were produced. Production of the Hs 123A ended in Autumn 1938. Some were exported to China and 14 were transferred to the Spain Nationalist Air Arm.

A small pre production batch of Hs 123A 0s was completed in 1936 for service evaluation by the Luftwaffe. This initial group was followed by the slightly modified Hs 123A 1 series, the first production examples. The service aircraft flew with an armoured headrest and fairing in place (a canopy was tested in the Hs 123V6) as well as removable main wheel spats and a faired tailwheel. The main weapon load of four SC50 50 kg (110 lb) bombs could be carried in lower wing racks along with an additional SC250 250 kg (550 lb) bomb mounted on a "crutch" beneath the fuselage. The usual configuration was to install an auxiliary fuel "drop" tank at this station that was jettisoned in emergencies. Two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns were mounted in the nose synchronized to fire through the propeller arc. The aircraft entered service at StG 162 in autumn 1936. Its career as a dive bomber was cut short when the unit received its first Ju 87A the next year. Remaining Hs 123s were incorporated into the temporary Fliegergeschwader 100 at the time of the Munich Crisis. The Geschwader (wing) had been created as an emergency measure, equipped with obsolete aircraft and tasked with the ground attack role. With the signing of the Munich agreement, the crisis was over and the geschwader was disbanded, the gruppen being transferred to other established units. By 1939, despite its success in Spain, the Luftwaffe considered the Hs 123 obsolete and the schlachtgeschwader (close support wings) had been disbanded with only one gruppe, II. (Schl)/LG2 still equipped with the Hs 123.

During the same time, at the request of Oberst (later Generalfeldmarschall) Wolfram von Richthofen, chief of staff of the Legion Condor, five aircraft had been deployed to Spain as a part of the Legion Condor, intended to be used as tactical bombers.

At the outbreak of hostilities, the surviving 39 Hs 123s assigned to II. (Schl)/LG 2, were committed to action in the Polish Campaign. This single unit proved to be particularly effective. Screaming over the heads of enemy troops, the Hs 123s delivered their bombs with devastating accuracy. A frightening aspect of an Hs 123 attack was the staccato noise of its engine that a pilot could manipulate by changing rpm to create "gunfire like" bursts. In service use on the Eastern Front, the remaining aircraft had been field modified with the main wheel spats removed, additional armour and extra equipment fitted as well as mounting extra machine guns and even cannons in under wing housings. then commander in chief of Luftflotte 4, asked whether production of the Hs 123 could be restarted because the Hs 123 performed well in a theater where mud, snow, rain and ice took a heavy toll on the serviceability of more advanced aircraft. However, the Henschel factory had already dismantled all tools and jigs in 1940. No Hs 123s are known to have survived.

The success of the Hs 123 in the Spanish Civil War led the RLM to put out a request for a successor aircraft. At this point in history, the exact role of aircraft in support of the army was still being developed. This was perhaps the first dedicated attack aircraft design which was intended to fulfill the close air support role in the niche between the tactical bomber and the dive bomber. The successor chosen was the Henschel Hs 129.