Experiments on a Heinkel He.70 Aeroplane

Another scarce pamphlet that came in with the Polish Resettlement Corps example we have just listed. The only other mention of this booklet we can find is through the National Archive listing at Kew. The Heinkel He 70 Blitz was designed in the early 1930's to serve as a mail delivery aircraft for Deutsche Lufthansa. The first prototype flew in 1932, and proved to have excellent performance, setting eight world speed records reaching a maximum speed of 377 kmh or 222 mph.

During the Spanish Civil War Twenty-eight aircraft joined the Condor Legion. Their high speed gave them the nickname 'Rayo' or 'Lightning'. The Luftwaffe operated He 70s from 1935, initially as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft but as soon as purpose built designs became available, it was relegated as a liaison and courier aircraft. It did however provided the design influence for the HE111 which effectively replaced it.

Our booklet was published as a paper report on 13th February 1936 and is bound in a soft card cover, issued by the Air Ministry and stamped Aeronautical Research Committee no 1709 and dated 1936. It was issued by His Majesty's Stationary Office (at a price of 1 shilling! Interestingly the cover is also ink stamped 19 Feb 1965. The booklet is made up of 5 pages plus card cover front and back and includes line drawings of the aircraft, tables, graphs and systems of axes on the control surfaces.

Clearly quite a specialist subject but from a layman's point of view it is interesting the Air Ministry was taking note of Germany's pre war development programme back in 1936. As an aside it is reported when a He70 was flown to England in 1936 or '37 to be fitted with a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine in lieu of the BMW VI, it inspired the designer of the Spitfire, R.J. Mitchell, to change the wing shape of his new aircraft! Another one off and when it is gone it is gone!