One example survived for a time in the USA, after being shipped there at the end of the war for foreign aircraft evaluation. As a consequence Hs 129 can't be said to have ever reached its full potential as it was always on the development back-foot until production ended in September 1944 with only 865 aircraft completed. In practice of course, each time a larger and hence heavier weapon is fitted, larger engines are needed (with larger fuel and oil tanks etc). In this configuration, the Hs 129 was an awesome weapon and should have enjoyed greater success than it did, had more examples been available. Improvements thereafter centred around weapons upgrades leading eventually to the Hs 129B-3 being fitted with a massive Bordkanone 7,5 which, with its 75 mm shells, its automatic loading, long barrel and high muzzle velocity made it the most potent forward firing weapon fitted to any production aircraft during WW-II (even including the canon of similar diameter used in the B-25H Mitchell). The pair of 700 hp Gnome-Rhone radials represented a vast improvement on the prototype's 465 hp Argus As 410s. The production versions were powered, ironically, by French engines. This would necessarily be of steel plate and therefore, very heavy. A key factor in its design, like the Russian IL-2 Sturmovik, was the creation of an armoured cockpit tub to protect the crew from ground fire, with additional protection around engine and coolant sytems. The Hs 129 was built as a ground attack aircraft. This must have been an impressive aircraft! On buying the model and taking it home to build, I was surprised that the Hs 129 was much smaller than I imagined. What stood out though was the massive canon slung beneath its belly and firing in anger along with a second machine doing the same thing in the dramatic box-art image. More significantly, I noticed that the aircraft was of an unusual configuration, being a twin engined machine with a single pilot, but obviously not a fighter. At first glance I thought they didn't know how to spell Heinkel, but I soon realised this was a company I had not been aware of before. I remember when the Airfix model of the Henschel Hs 129 came out.
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