Written by
Michael Hyde

A Hs 126 of 9.(H)/LG 2 keeps a close eye on forward elements of 9. Panzer-Division as they advance towards the French coast in May 1940.

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Overview

The Henschel 126 Army Cooperation design evolved from an earlier aircraft, the Hs 122. Designed by Ing. Nicholas of Henschel Flugzeugwerke, the Hs 122 was the Luftwaffe’s second generation of purpose-designed ground cooperation aircraft. The first was the Heinkel He 46, which was in-service in late 1933. However it was felt that the elements of pilot/observer visibility, short field performance and equipment stowage could all be improved and Nicholas’s Hs 122 design proposal was accepted even before the He 46 commenced squadron operations.

The Hs 122b was a parasol-winged monoplane with a crew of two, and a single Siemens Sh22B nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine of 493 kW (660 hp) take off power. Although its flight characteristics and performance were generally excellent, its level cruise speed was only 240 kph (149 mph) and the Reichluftfahrtministerium (RLM) saw little urgency in replacing the only-recently introduced He 46. They did however, order that the Hs 122 be up-engined with a Bramo 323A-1 Fafnir nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine of 634 kW (850 hp) take off power and tested further.

In late 1936 an Hs 122B-0 pre-production aircraft was modified during construction to become the Hs 126 prototype and was designated Henschel Hs 126 V-1. As a Bramo engine was not available at the time, it was fitted with a Junkers Jumo 210C 12-cylinder liquid-cooled inverted-V engine of 447 kW (600 hp) take off power. The design was basically unchanged except for a small lengthening of the forward fuselage; minor changes to wing shape; undercarriage strut arrangement; and provision of a cockpit canopy. The excellent short-field and low speed flight characteristics were retained. The Hs 126 V-2 and V-3 aircraft incorporated tail control surface modifications and the originally planned Bramo 323A-1 engines. The Hs 126 V-2 also had an exhaust driven supercharger fitted, and the V-3 had right-angled undercarriage legs whereas those of the first two prototypes had been rearward angled. The V-2 and V-3 flew very well; had good stall characteristics; exceptional short field performance; and the fuselage size allowed a good equipment fit. Henschel were so encouraged that they commenced pre-production whilst testing of the prototypes continued.

Ten Hs 1260-1 aircraft were produced with Bramo 323A-1 engines, and by the end of 1937 they had been delivered to the Aufklärungsstafflen (H) for service trials. Trouble-free trials allowed rapid commencement of production and by early 1938 Hs 126A-1s were being delivered to the Luftwaffe.

Production Hs 126A-1s had BMW 132Dc nine cylinder air cooled direct injection radial engines of 657 kW (880 hp) take off power fitted due to supply restrictions of the Bramo 323A-1s. Three-bladed VDM controllable pitch propellers were fitted. The crew of two had a covered cockpit with a sliding hood and slipstream deflectors for the rearward facing observer/gunner. An equipment bay in the fuselage behind the observer position could alternatively carry a Zeiss Rb automatic vertical camera, or two containers each holding five 10 kg (22 lb) bombs. A single 50 kg (110 lb) bomb could also be mounted on the lower port fuselage side below the cockpit. Armament consisted of two 7.92 mm machine-guns: one fixed MG 17 with 500 rounds mounted on the forward starboard fuselage deck firing over the engine cowl; and a flexibly mounted MG 15 with 975 rounds (in 13 double drums) on the starboard side of the observer’s cockpit.

By late 1939 the Hs 126B-1 model was in production. It was fitted, as originally intended for the Hs 126, with a Bramo 323 engine, variously the Bramo 323A-1 or Q-1 models of 634 kW (850 hp) take off power, or the A-2 or Q-2 models of 672 kW (900 hp) take off power. These latter two engine variants gave the aircraft considerably better performance at altitude and for short take off and landings than the BMW engine of the Hs 126A-1 series. An improved radio, the FuG 17 was also introduced, enhancing air to ground communications.

The Hs 126 remained in operational use from late 1938 until April 1945. Six Hs 126A-1s were operated successfully in Spain by the Condor Legion and later passed on to the Nationalist Air Force. Sixteen Hs 126A-1s were delivered to Greece in 1940, where they performed well against invading Italian ground forces throughout late 1940 and early 1941. However, these Greek aircraft were quickly put out of action during the German invasion in April 1941 by the Luftwaffe, which itself used Hs 126B-1s to good effect.

Thirteen Stafflen of Hs 126s participated in the invasion of Poland where they obtained good operational results against only sporadic aerial resistance. In the west, Hs 126s had been doing reconnaissance over the Maginot Line, and 234 were servicable at the start of the invasion of France and the Low countries in May 1940. However, aklthough the Hs 126 performed its coordination tasks very well, it was increasingly vulnerable to effective air defence and losses mounted. This led to a decision to phase out production of the Hs 126 by 1941 in favour of the faster and more heavily armed and armoured Focke-Wulf FW 189.

A single unit of Hs 126s operated in North Africa, while the remaining units participated in the Balkans campaign of April 1941 and the invasion of the Soviet Union in July of the same year. Here they again performed well against sporadic air defence. By mid-1942 all had been replaced by FW 189s or other types and relegated to roles of either training or towing DFS 230 gliders. However, their suitability for close support saw them recalled to active service as night intruders with the Nachschactgruppen where they operated over the Eastern Front and on anti-partisan duties until the end of the war.

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Variants

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Specifications

Donald, David, editor, 1994, Warplanes of the Luftwaffe: a complete guide to the combat aircraft of Hitler’s Luftwaffe from 1939 to 1945, Aerospace Publishing, London.

Green, William, 1970, Warplanes of the Third Reich, Galahad Books, New York.

Vajda, Ferenc A and Dancy, Peter, (1998), German Aircraft Industry and Production 1933 – 45, SAE Publishing Ltd, PA, USA, p.209.

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