| HD 39 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Newspaper delivery aircraft Type of aircraft |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Heinkel |
| First flight | 1926 |
| Primary user | Ullstein-Verlag |
| Number built | 1 |
TheHeinkel HD 39 was a special-purposecargo aircraft developed inGermany in the 1920s to distribute the Berlin newspaperB.Z.. It was a conventional single-baybiplane withstaggered wings of equalspan, and afuselage that nearly filled the interplane gap. The pilot sat in an opencockpit, and theundercarriage was of fixed, tailskid type with divided main units. The sole example of the type was built afterErnst Heinkel found out, by chance, thatB.Z. required such an aircraft and had ordered two machines fromAlbatros. Heinkel convinced publisherUllstein-Verlag to purchase a third aircraft from his firm.
The design was based on theHD 27mail plane, and had a specially-designed payload bay to carry newspapers in 50 kg (110 lb) bundles. 10 separate compartments in the bay could be individually opened in flight in order to air-drop newspapers in places where the HD 39 could not land.
The HD 39 entered service alongside twoAlbatros L 72s in April 1926 and remained in Service until 1931, when distribution ofB.Z. by air was taken over byDeutsche Luft Hansa.
Data fromJane's all the World's Aircraft 1928[1]
General characteristics
Performance
