Unknown airplane, Help

I have no idea what airplane is. Any opinions? On the back is written "Turnu Severin, Octombrie 1941". Probably a flight school.

It's a Heinkel He 70 'Blitz' (see the flashes on the aircraft's nose).

The question: what did it do in Rumania? My bet would be that it was a liaison airplane, used as hack by a Luftwaffe combat unit.

There is an I.A.R. 27 visible in the background.

Nice catch, congratulations!

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on February 20, 2010 10:54 am

Thank you. So as you said it's probably just a German bird the guys wanted to have a photo with.

Btw, anybody knows where the airfield was at Drobeta Turnu Severin during the war?

Very interesting here :
http://www.drobetaturnuseverin.net/carte/i...-razboi-mondial
So, there they wrote : In early April 1941, the airfield of Severin hosts German bombers and reconnaissance planes preparing to attack Yugoslavia. The Air operation conducted by the Luftwaffe during the occupation of Yugoslavia and, in particular the bombing of Belgrade, will be led by General der Flieger, Chef der Luftflotte 4, Alexander Lohr, originating from Turnu-Severin.
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_L%C3%B6hr

This post has been edited by Petre on February 23, 2010 09:18 am

I found the airfield near Drobeta. I suppose it's the same as the one in the '40s. It's South of Garnita on DJ606A on the Balota Plateau, well above the Danube plain. I actually drove within 1-1.5 km of it a couple of years ago without knowing it, but who would have guessed there's an airfield over there?



The road however would make a good rally macadam trial.

Another one. Any idea what it is?


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

SET (3/31?).

Now that you mentioned it, I looked in Romanian Aeronautical constructions by Antoniu & Cicos and it looks like it's a SET-31. Thank you for the hint.

SET-7, motor Jaguar 365HP

Thanks MRX.

Never was a flight school in Drobeta Turnu Severin.
During the WW2 the airfield was situated in in NW part of the city.If you are still interested i try to find a old pictures and marking the airfield.

A lot was written about the Rolls-Royce engines given to Germany in the early 1930's, a kind of technology transfer that helped improving the German airplane engines of the era, but less is known that in exchange for the 4 Rolls-Royce engines, Germany offered a Heinkel He-70 Blitz.
If you'll look to the top view of this plane, you'll be surprised to see how close resembles with the top view of Spitfire (that was a later design).

Aerodrome Turnu Severin not Drobeta Turnu Severin.
Civil airfield used by Officers School Aviators.
Fail to post two pictures sketch and explanatory text.

Part of a letter that R J Mitchell wrote to Heinkel after seeing the aircraft perform with the Rolls Royce Kestrel engine fitted:
"We, at Supermarine Aviation, were particularly impressed, since we have been unable to achieve such smooth lines in the aircraft that we entered for the Schneider Trophy Races.... In addition to this, we recently investigated the effect that installing certain new British fighter engines would have on the He 70. We were dismayed to find that your new aircraft, despite its larger measurements, is appreciably faster than our fighters. It is indeed a triumph."
(Source: Wikipedia)

https://imageshack.us/scaled/large/10/64235265.jpg
(This one I put it together, with some notes added.)

P.S : It is not a shame to get inspired from a good design, as long you are improving it, not just copying it.

This post has been edited by Florin on May 25, 2013 03:16 pm

Rolls Royce was not an aircraft builder as such and had concerned itself with the pursuit of developing and building aero engines along with much associated technical work to make such engines perform better, last longer and, generally, lead the market. That Rolls Royce were achieving this goal of technical perfection was not doubted. The problem was that the aeroplane makers could not keep up with the standard of engineering available from Rolls Royce. Their engines were too advanced for the type of airframes then available, at least from British makers.

As Colin Gibson put it: "By the end of the first year, 1935, it was evident that with the introduction of new and more powerful engines the slow biplanes with fixed undercarriages and open cockpits were becoming an embarrassment so Rolls Royce started to look around for a more suitable aircraft. To do this they had to go to Germany. There they found the ideal aircraft, a Heinkel He70 - a very robust, passenger carrying all-metal aircraft which the company bought for £13,000 and a Kestrel V engine was sent to Rostock where the German firm carried out the conversion, the plane being flown back to Hucknall by Captain Shepherd on 27 March, 1936."

Rolls Royce technicians and engineers at Hucknall could not believe their luck as the aircraft was later thoroughly examined, for the Heinkel was ideal for the kind of work they wanted to carry out. They set to work immediately investigating such things as the effect of radiator positioning on drag, speed, coolant temperatures and much else. In fact this beautiful aeroplane, with its sleek streamlined look, became something of a mascot at Rolls Royce in the three-and­a-half years of its test life up to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Although the He 70 did not contribute to the final shape of the Spitfire, the numerous experiment carried out on it by RR on cooling and exhaust systems helped in the development of radiator design and coolants and exhaust manifolds. Registered G-ADZF it was delivered to RR Hucknall on 27th March 1936 with a water cooled Kestrel V which was replaced with a Kestrel XVI. The German oil cooler was also replaced , the new one being a honeycomb type manufactured by John Marston Ltd. The original propeller installation was considered dangerous and the Airscrew Company of Weybridge were asked to supply a replacement.

Initial trials were on the radiator, which had been designed for a water-cooled engine while the Kestrel XVI was glycol-cooled. The new Watts propeller was slightly better than the original but take-off performance showed no improvement. Under full load it was considered dangerous. A Hamilton three-blade VP propeller was then tested. It had an 11 ft diameter and two pitch-settings 35 ½ degrees course, 26 degrees fine. All round performance was greatly improved. A summary of results showed that with a Kestrel V engine 30% of power developed was wasted in overcoming radiator drag when the latter was fully exposed to the airstream. Improvements made to the radiator cowl (Kestrel XVI) showed a great improvement, with the redesigned cowl providing a much higher speed to the outgoing air. A new, cantilever engine mounting enabling the whole to be removed as one unit was installed.

The next series of trials on the exhaust manifolds with five types under test including, (1) stub pipes based on early production Spitfire installations, (2) streamlined blisters based on production Spitfire installations, (3) Ejector that fed exhaust gases directly into the line of flight. Five sizes of ejector nozzles were considered with 3 inches the best all round.



And the outcome of experimentation with this aeroplane was something of a turning point for the company who began to adopt the idea of not just building aero engines alone but of putting together a complete power plant; that is to say bolting on all the other necessary parts ready for a unit to be fitted straight into an aircraft. Up to this point Rolls Royce had only been supplying the bare engine, from now on they would be selling a more comprehensive product complete with radiators, pipework, aircraft mountings, exhaust systems, cowlings and so on.



About to circle over Hucknall Aerodrome to gain height after take-off. Today the M1 motor way runs diagonally across the centre of the photograph.