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He51 No Photo Available
Manufacturer : Heinkel
The Heinkel He51 was a development from the He49 whicc was designed by Walter and Siegfried Gunter for Heinkel. This was their first aircraft designed for Heinkel and the first prototype flew in November 1932. The He49 although designed as an advanced trainer soon became a fighter. The Fist He51 was produced in secret for the Luftwaffe and the first prototype flew in May 1933 with the aircraft reaching the Luftwaffe in July. The He 51 was a conventional single-bay biplane, with all-metal construction and fabric covering. The He51 was powered by a BMW VI engine, with an armament of two 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine guns mounted above the engine. On 6 August 1936, six of the He51s were sent to Spain and fought during the Spanish Civil War The He51 gained some initial success when faced against the older biplanes of the opposition. The successes were two Nieuport Ni-52, a Potez 54 and a Breguet 19. All of these successes came on the first day of operations for the He51 on 18 August 1936. But soon the arrival of modern Russian aircraft made it impossible for the He51 to be effective so they were used for night duties and even in this role they did not do well. The He51 was therefore withdrawn from fighter duty and relegated to the ground-attack role by both the Legion Kondor and the Spanish Nationalists. When the He51 came into servcie it was soon evident that it was going be be obsolete very quickly. A total of 150 He51 were built, followed by 450 of the modified He51B and 46 of the floatplane version, the He51B-2, and a ground attack version He51C, of which a total of 100 were built. |
He51
| Top Aces for : He51 | ||
| A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown this aircraft. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name. | ||
| Name | Victories | Info |
| Adolf Galland | 104.00 | The signature of Adolf Galland features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available. |
| He51 Squadron details |
| He51 Pilot and aircrew signature details |
  General Adolf Galland Our estimated value of this signature : £80 Died : 1996 | General Adolf Galland Adolf Galland fought in the great Battles of Poland, France and Britain, leading the famous JG26 Abbeville Boys. He flew in combat against the RAFs best including Douglas Bader, Bob Stanford Tuck and Johnnie Johnson. In 1941, at the age of 29, he was promoted to Inspector of the Fighter Arm. In 1942 Hitler personally selected Galland to organise the fighter escort for the Channel Dash. He became the youngest General in the German High Command but open disagreements with Goering led to his dismissal at the end of 1944. He reverted to combat flying, forming the famous JV44 wing flying the Me262 jet fighter, and was the only General in history to lead a squadron into battle. With 104 victories, all in the West, Adolf Galland received the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Born 19th March 1912, died 9th February 1996. Born in 1911, Adolf Galland learned to fly at a state-sponsored flying club in the early 1930s. In 1933 he was selected to go to Italy for secret pilot training. Galland flew for a brief time as a commercial airline pilot prior to joining the clandestine Luftwaffe as a Second Lieutenant. In April of 1935 he was assigned to JG-2, the Richtofen Fighter Wing, and in 1937 he joined the ranks of the Condor Legion flying the He-51 biplane fighter in support of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Despite flying 280 missions, Galland attained no aerial victories, a rather inauspicious start for a pilot would go on to attain more than 100 aerial victories - the highest for any pilot who flew on the Western Front. During Germanys invasion of Poland, Galland was assigned to an attack squadron and he flew over fifty ground sorties. He was promoted to Captain for his efforts, but Galland was anxious to return to a fighter squadron, and he got his wish in October of 1939 when he was transferred to JG-27. It was with JG-27 that Galland first learned to fly the Bf-109. In May of 1940 JG-27 flew in support of the invasion of Belgium, and Galland achieved his first combat victory on May 12. Two months later his score had risen to more than a dozen, and at this time he was once again transferred to JG-26 situated on the Channel Coast. Engaging the RAF on a daily basis during the Battle of Britain, Gallands score rose steadily until it exceeded 40 victories by September. After a short leave Galland rejoined JG-26 in Brittany, where the squadron played a defensive role. Following Germanys invasion of Russia in June of 1941, JG-26 became one of only two German fighter squadrons left on the Channel Coast. This resulted in plenty of flying, and by late in 1941 Gallands victory totals had reached 70. Following a near brush with death when the fuel tank of his 109 exploded, Galland was grounded for a time, and sent to Berlin where he was made the General of the Fighter Arm, reporting directly to Goring and Hitler. Galland spent most of the next few years carrying out inspection tours, and was at odds with his superiors about the need for an adequate fighter defense to negate ever-increasing Allied bombing of Germanys cities. He continued to fly combat missions when the opportunity presented itself, despite Gorings orders to the contrary. In January of 1945 almost 300 fighters were lost in an all-out attack on Allied airfields in France, a mission Galland did not support. He was dismissed as General of the Fighter Arm for his insubordination, but reflecting his flying abilities Hitler ordered Galland to organize JV-44, Germanys first jet-equipped fighter squadron. By March of 1945 Galland had recruited 45 of Germanys best surviving fighter pilots, and this new squadron was given the difficult task of trying to counter the daily onslaught of 15th Air Force bombers coming at Germany from the South. Gallands final mission of the War occurred on April 26 when he attained his 102nd and 103rd confirmed aerial victories prior to crash landing his damaged Me262. Several days later the War was over for both Galland and Germany. General Galland died in 1996. |
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