|
|
The Hs 129 was designed solely for ground attack and first went into service on the Russian Front in 1942. The original Hs 129A was fitted with two Argus As 410A 12-cylinder inverted-Vee air-cooled engines driving Argus automatic controllable-pitch propellers. This was later superseded by the Hs 129B series with two French-built 492kW Gnome-Rhone 14M 04/05 radial engines driving Ratier propellers.
The Hs 129B-1 and B-2 were the major production variants, the latter fitted to carry a drop-tank. Some were equipped experimentally with the SG 113A recoilless gun installation: a battery of six 75mm smooth-bore tubes, each 1.6m long, mounted in the fuselage at an angle slightly beyond the vertical to fire downwards and rearwards. The weapon was intended for use against tanks and was triggered automatically when the aircraft flew over a tank at low altitude. A total of more than 800 Hs 129 were built.
| MODEL | Hs 129B-1/R2 |
| CREW | 1 |
| ENGINE | 2 x Gnome Rhone 14M 4/5, 522kW |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 5110 kg | 11266 lb |
| Empty weight | 3810 kg | 8400 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 14.2 m | 46 ft 7 in |
| Length | 9.75 m | 31 ft 12 in |
| Height | 3.25 m | 10 ft 8 in |
| Wing area | 29.0 m2 | 312.15 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 407 km/h | 253 mph |
| Ceiling | 9000 m | 29550 ft |
| Range | 560 km | 348 miles |
| ARMAMENT | 2 x 20mm cannons, 1 x 30mm cannon, 2 x 7.92mm machine-guns |
 | A three-view drawing (1000 x 750) |
| Endicott Road, endicottavenue(@)netscape.net, 07.09.2008 I have read where the fuselage of this plane was in the shape of an inverted triangle, and the cockpit was so cramped that pilots were not given nearly enough room to properly manouver the aircraft. It took an exceptionally strong pilot to work the control stick. The cockpit was so cramped that some of the instruments were mounted outside the canopy.
ER | | THE WHO, 25.03.2008 I HEARD THAT THE COCKPIT IS ALL ARMOURED. |
|
Do you have any comments about this aircraft ?
|
| |
