Heinkel He 50

He 50
A Heinkel He 50 of a night ground-attack unit on the Eastern Front.
Role	Dive bomber
Manufacturer	Heinkel
First flight	1931
Introduction	1935
Retired	1944
Primary user	Luftwaffe
Number built	78

The Heinkel He 50 was a German World War II-era dive bomber originally designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Serving in Luftwaffe pre-war dive-bombing units, the He 50 served almost until the end of World War II as a night harassment bomber.

In 1931, the Japanese Navy placed an order with the Heinkel aircraft company for a two-seat dive bomber capable of carrying 250 kg (550 lb) of bombs, stressed for catapult launches, and capable of using either wheeled or float undercarriages.

A prototype, the Heinkel He 50aW, was completed in the summer of 1931. It was a biplane of mixed construction. The aircraft had twin-floats for an undercarriage and was powered by a Junkers L5 inline engine. The engine was found to be underpowered. A second prototype, the He 50aL, was built, which was powered by a Siemens Jupiter VI radial engine and had a wheeled undercarriage. A second He 50aL was built and re-designated He 50b. Based on the He 50b, a third prototype designated Heinkel He 66 was completed for the Japanese Navy, and used as the basis of the Aichi D1A.

The He 50 was an equal-span biplane based on a rectangular-section fuselage with a primary structure of welded steel tube construction, faired out to an oval shape by wooden formers and stringers and covered with fabric except in the extreme nose, which was skinned in light alloy. The wings were fabric-covered wooden construction with a marginal stagger and very slight sweep, carrying ailerons on all four panels.

...
Wikipedia