Warplanes of Germany: Luftwaffe Henschel Hs 126

Henschel Hs 126

(SDASM Archives Photo)

The Henschel Hs 126 was a twin-seat parasol wing reconnaissance and observation aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Henschel.

The Hs 126 that was derived from the Henschel Hs 122. The pilot was seated in aprotected cockpit under the parasol wing and the gunner in an open rearcockpit. In the autumn of 1936, the first prototype made its maiden flight; itwas soon followed by two more prototypes and a batch of pre-productionaircraft. During early 1938, the Hs 126 underwent service evaluation; it waswell received for its good short takeoff performance and low-speed flight characteristics, attributes that proved to be frequently useful during itsoperational history.

The Hs 126 saw combat on numerous fronts, the first occasion being with theLegion Condor contingent that participated in the Spanish Civil War during thelate 1930s. It was active on numerous fronts of the Second World War, by whichpoint it had become the principal short-range reconnaissance aircraft of theLuftwaffe. Large numbers of Hs 126s flew during the Invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, and the Invasion of the Soviet Union. On 12 September 1943, anumber of Hs 126s were used to tow ten DFS 230 attack gliders from Pratica Di Mare airfield near Rome to the Gran Sasso on a raid to rescue Benito Mussolini.The Royal Hellenic Air Force also operated 16 Hs 126s, which saw action during the Greco-Italian War. It was withdrawn from Luftwaffe service in 1943, by which point the Hs 126 had been superseded by the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, a general-purpose STOL aircraft, as well as the twin-boom Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu. (Wikipedia)

(Ad Meskens Photo).

Henschel Hs 126, coded L2+37.

(Luftwaffe Photo)

Henschel Hs 126.

(Luftwaffe Photo)

Henschel Hs 126.

(Luftwaffe Photo)

Henschel Hs 126.

(Luftwaffe Photo)

Henschel Hs 126.

(Luftwaffe Photo)

Henschel Hs 126.

(Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-565-1425-11A / Schnitzer / CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Henschel Hs 126, Sicily, Italy, 1943.

(Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-566-1492-17A / Stocker, Dr. / CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Henschel Hs 126, Italy, 1943.

(IWM Photo, CNA 3632)

An abandoned Henschel Hs 126B reconnaissance aircraft on an Austrian airfield in June 1945. The Hs was commonly used as an artillery observation aircraft early on in the war but by 1942 had been relegated to training and glider towing duties. In the background of this photograph are an Arado Ar 96 trainer in Hungarian markings and a Siebel Si 204 liaison aircraft.

(Pavel Troshkin Photo)

Captured Henschel Hs 126, coded 2+BF, being examined by Soviet soldiers.

(Luftwaffe Photos)

Henschel Hs 126B-1 OK, reconaissance aircraft.

(RAAF Photo)

The Hs 126 was operated by Luftwaffe unit 2 [H] 14 in the North African campaign in 1941, this being the only unit to operate this type in that Theatre. Examples were left behind by crews as they were over-run by the Allied army units. Members of No 450 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Libya in 1942 captured and restored at least one example to flying duties, this aircraft being flown by Squadron crews and given the Squadron’s Code OK. This aircraft was located by Sqdn Ldr D H Clarke DFC AFC on 12 November 1942, he being the only British pilot serving with the Australian unit. On returning from a strafing attack on a large concentration of enemy transports near Tobruk in Libya in a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk he located the Hs 126 (probably an Hs 126B-1) about 64 km (40 miles) west of the unit’s temporary landing ground and about 48 km (30 miles) south-east of Sollum in Egypt. On the following day, as the unit was moving to Gambut in eastern Libya, 50 km (31 miles) east of Tobruk, Clarke with four other pilots, a fitter and a rigger, left early, proceeding in a 762 kg (15 cwt – 1,680 lb) truck with supplies in another 3,048 kg (3 ton – 6,720 lb) truck. At that time locating abandoned Axis aircraft and flying them was a popular past-time and they came across five South African Air Force (SAAF) pilots in a jeep with the same idea.

The Hs 126 was located with Luftwaffe markings 5G + CK and the ground crew prepared it for flight. Some painting was done on the aircraft to indicate it was a RAAF aircraft and painted across the tailplane was ‘Tripoli or Bust’. The following day, the 14th, following ground running of the engine, the Hs 126 was flown to Gambut where, for a period, it became part of the No 450 Squadron fleet of captured aircraft.  Eventually the aircraft was abandoned and it is assumed it was scrapped, along with other wartime wrecks. (aeropedia)

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(Lou Kemp Photo)

 (Mike Mirkovic Photo)

Henschel Hs 126B-1 OK, reconaissance aircraft captured by the RAAF and flown by No. 450 Squadron, Libya, c1942.

(Schmidt - Scheeder Photo)

Henschel Hs 126 with a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch in the background.