Heinkel HD 35

The Heinkel HD 35 was a German‑built biplane trainer developed in the late 1920s for the Reichswehr and later exported to several foreign air forces. Designed by Ernst Heinkel’s team as a successor to the earlier HD 21, the HD 35 first flew in 1928 and entered production the following year. It featured a conventional two‑bay, equal‑span biplane layout with wooden wings covered in fabric and a welded steel tube fuselage also fabric‑covered. Power was provided by a 230 hp (172 kW) Argus As 10 air‑cooled inline engine, driving a two‑bladed wooden propeller, which gave the aircraft a maximum speed of about 180 km/h (112 mph) and a service ceiling near 5,000 m. The cockpit accommodated a student and an instructor in tandem, with dual controls and a simple instrument panel, making it ideal for basic flight instruction. Though only a few hundred were built, the HD 35 saw service with the Swedish Air Force, the Spanish Republic, and the Royal Romanian Air Force, influencing their early pilot‑training programs. Its straightforward construction, reliable handling, and low operating cost helped establish Heinkel’s reputation as a designer of practical military trainers, a legacy that carried into the more advanced aircraft of the 1930s.

Heinkel

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