Hs 129 file photo [3094]

Hs 129

CountryGermany
ManufacturerHenschel & Sohn
Primary RoleGround Attack Aircraft

Contributor:

ww2dbaseThe Hs 129 aircraft were developed as ground attack aircraft with particular specialty in anti-tank operations. Because low-flying ground attack aircraft were vulnerable to small arms fire, these aircraft were designed with a single piece of steel enclosing the entire nose areas of the aircraft, protecting their pilots up to head level. Because there were so little room inside the cockpit. some instruments and the gun sight were mounted outside the cockpit in an unorthodox manner. In the end, because of the heavy armor, the aircraft maneuvered poorly, but the design was accepted anyway because the Luftwaffe decided the aircraft was cheap enough to become a base of a continuous experiment for a better ground support aircraft. By the time the war ended, only small numbers were built. Pilots of the few deployed Hs 129 aircraft nicknamed them Panzerknacker for their ability to take out enemy armor with a few well-placed shots with their armor-piercing cannons.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Mar 2007

SPECIFICATIONS

B1
MachineryTwo Gnome-Rhône 14M 14-cylinder radial engine rated at 700hp each
Armament2x7.92mm MG 17 machine guns, 2x20mm MG 151 cannons, up to 8x50kg bombs or 1x30mm armor piercing gun
Crew1
Span14.20 m
Length9.75 m
Height3.25 m
Weight, Empty4,060 kg
Weight, Loaded5,110 kg
Speed, Maximum408 km/h
Rate of Climb7.08 m/s
Service Ceiling9,000 m
Range, Normal880 km

Photographs

A Hs 129 ground attack aircraft with a 30mm armor piercing gun under nose at rest, date unknownA captured Hs 129 B1 aircraft with USAAF Foreign Evaluation markings, date unknown




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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Steve Hogan says:
9 Jul 2009 09:02:41 AM

That nose cannon looks suspiciously like the 75mm Variant ModelC of which onlt 25 were produced..
2. Anonymous says:
21 Jul 2011 06:55:22 AM

Agree. That's not the 30 mm cannon in photo #2
3. Anonymous says:
4 Nov 2021 06:27:19 AM

its aculy a 45 mm canon it was very hard o make a gun that is small for the shells

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Hs 129 Ground Attack Aircraft Photo Gallery
A Hs 129 ground attack aircraft with a 30mm armor piercing gun under nose at rest, date unknown
See all 2 photographs of Hs 129 Ground Attack Aircraft


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