The Henschel Hs 129 was a single-seat, close-support aircraft used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. It was the only aircraft in this armed conflict to be designed from the outset explicitly to attack and destroy enemy armored vehicles. Thus, it provided fire support to Wehrmacht front line ground forces during offensives. Its angular shape and small cross-section made the aircraft look aggressive and reduced to a minimum the risk of damage from enemy machine gun fire. As a result, it had a very narrow and cramped cockpit.
The Henschel Hs 129 prototype, the Hs 129V-1, performed its maiden flight on May 25, 1939. It was powered by two Argus As 410-A-1, air-cooled, inverted V-12, piston engines, each one delivering 470 horsepower. Eight prototypes would be built as they would be put through prolonged trials and evaluation programs. Because it was cheap to produce, with slightly better performance than its contender, the Focke-Wulf Fw 189, the Henschel prototype won the contract, entering service with the Luftwaffe on April 20, 1942, as the Hs 129A version. However, it proved to be underpowered. Thus, it would be upgraded into the Hs 129B variant, with the Argus As engines being replaced by two Gnome-Rhône 14M radial engines; each one of them could produce 700 horsepower. Aside from improved power plant, the cockpit of this variant was fitted with larger area of armored glass, giving the aircraft pilot better protection and vision.
At the end of Operation Barbarossa, it had become evident that the Henschel Hs 129 would be very important in the future to provide close support to ground units as an anti-tank aircraft, especially after the irruption in the battle field of the Soviet T-34 tank in December 1941. Therefore, the Hs 129B-3 would be developed. This aircraft had been equipped with a powerful 75-mm Pak anti-tank gun, which was mounted on a ventral turret. This gun replaced the 30-mm gun in the first versions. This is how this German combat aircraft became a flying artillery piece. Not only was it deployed on the Eastern Front but also in North Africa.
Technical Description
The Henschel Hs 129 was a two-seat, twin-engine monoplane. It had straight, cantilever, low wing, with a tapering trailing edge. It was built with a strong center section integral with the fuselage. The trailing edge flaps and ailerons were hydraulically operated. The tail assembly was of the conventional type, with the vertical fin having a broad rudder. The main landing gear wheels retracted backwards hydraulically into the rear portion of engine nacelles, partially remaining exposed.
The all-metal fuselage was remarkably slim, with a triangular section (narrow at the top and broad at the bottom). The front end held the cramped cockpit, which was surrounded by welded armor that ranged between 6 and 12mm in thickness, and with small panes of glass 75mm thick. The fuel was housed in a single cell in the fuselage and in a tank in each wing, inboard of the nacelles.
Specifications
Type: close-support and anti-tank aircraft
Length: 9.75 m (31 feet, 9 inches)
Wing Span: 14.20 m (46 feet, 5 inches)
Wing Area: 29 m² (312 square feet)
Height: 3.25 m (10 feet, 6 inches)
Power Plant: two 700HP, Gnome-Rhône 14M 4/5, 14-cylinder, air-cooled radial engines.
Maximum Speed: 407 km/h (253 mph)
Range: 688 km (427 miles)
Service Ceiling: 9,000 m (29,530 feet)
Crew: one
Armament: two 20-mm MG-151 guns in nose; one 30-mm guns in ventral turret; one 75-mm anti-tank Kanone (in the Hs 129B-3 version); two 7.92-mm MG-17 machine guns; four 50-kg bombs.
Below, a photo of the Henschel Hs 129B-1 version in 1943.
Rear view of the same aircraft.
Below, the Hs 129B-3, exhibiting its powerful 75-mm anti-tank gun set up on belly of aircraft.
The Hs 129B-1 on a road in Libya, North Africa, prior to take off.
The first variant of the German aircraft in flight: the Hs 129A, powered by the Argus As 410-A-1 engines.
