He 115 W.Nr. 1868

[stephen f. polyak]

TOCH friends,

I have a simple data plate riveted to a small piece of aluminum sheet cut from a larger section. The plate's marked:

WNr 1868
EHF 115 BB
KM 4.39 SEE

By chance, is 1868 a He 115 airframe number?

Thank you,
Steve

[RT]

Match perfectly the He115 numbers, don't found that specific one but alot
around it

Remi

[Seaplanes]

He 115B W.Nr. 1868 was the fifth B-version aircraft to be built by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in the spring/summer of 1939. The number plate says 4.39 which should indicate April 1939, but that seems a bit early.
The aircraft was reported as a 100% loss on 18.04.40, then as M2+BH of Staffel 1./106. The plane crashed at the mountain of Storsalen in Rissa east of Örlandet near Trondheim in Norway. The cause was reported to be iceing. The aircraft was returning from a sortie to Narvik. It has also been reported as shot down by three Hudsons of 233 Sq. RAF.
Oblt.z.See Heinz Witt (B) killed, Fw. Otto Arnold (F) killed, Gefr. Karl Georg (Bf) first reported missing but later returned to unit.
On 07.02.44 a He 115 with W.Nr. 1868 was reported as allocated to Staffel 1./406 as Staffel-reserve.

[edNorth]

Hi All,

I may be nitpicing, but regarding ´Seaplanes´ saying this date (KM 4.39) ´but that seems a bit early´. Well, in my opinion, it is exact production month for that part, and should only be treated as such. Of course a plane can not be flying unless that part had been made prior to that!

My research into German/Luftwaffe part plates over many years, has shown that it takes apx. a month to three months, for an part to have been made (i.e. stamped and ´accepted´) untill an aircraft made up of that part/component to be flying and delivered. This is the ´lead-in-time´ of production that few researches really take into account. Gathering large amount of such data can prove (or dismiss) exact building history. This together with f.e. factory pilots logbooks, production plans and accepted months totals gives the ´real picture´ regarding production (but spares and stock-up building complicates also the picture).

In ´Seaplanes´ estimate, Spring/Summer 1939, this is then totally in agreement!

Best regards
ed

[edNorth]

http://ktsorens.tihlde.org/flyvrak/storsalen.html

[stephen f. polyak]

Thanks to all, especially Seaplanes (history) and Ed (link)!

A bit of further web searching turned up this gross production information for the He 115:

1938: Heinkel (Marienehe), 10
1939: Heinkel (Marienehe), 52; Weser Flugzeugbau (Einswarden), 10
1940: Weser Flugzeugbau (Einswarden), 66

Obviously the He 115 that fell in Norway never flew again. Any thoughts on how another He 115 might be allocated the same W.Nr. later? A reporting error perhaps, or could the number have been reused? The latter seems odd to me since so few He 115 were built and production apparently ended in 1940.

Will have a picture of the plate in a day or two.

Best regards,
Steve

[Seaplanes]

Hi Stephen,

A constructors number was never repeated so that possibility is out of the question. The most likely theory is that some clerk made a typo for the 1944 report.

Secondly, please do not believe everything you see on the net. The production of the He 115 was 100% done by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in Marienehe/Seestadt Rostock. "Weser" was only involved in a conversion programme to give the He 115 a longer range. Commencing in May 1940, a total of 97 aircraft were given encresed fuel capacity in the wing tanks.

There has also been published in several books that the He 115 was reinstated into production in 1944. This is utterly wrong. The last He 115 left the Heinkel production line in July 1940. The only exception being one replacement aircraft for Sweden and six aircraft for the second Norwegian contract. These seven aircraft were impressed by the RLM for Luftwaffe use and they might have been completed shortly after July 1940.

Please also note that by the end of 1938, only four He 115 prototypes had been delivered. Series production started in January 1939 with a single
He 115A-0. A total of 13 He 115A-0 and He 115A were delivered, some of them being given V-series designations like V-5, V-6 and V-7.

[markjsheppard]

Stephen

Similar part here!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chcmech...ream/lightbox/

regards

Mark

[markjsheppard]

Ed

With the W.Nr and date, I think this is an additional identity plate?

The He115 recently recovered had 9.39 on the main plate and 9.39 on the fairing/tailplane strut shroud exactly like this one. So possibly not a date for a part but the aircraft?

There again, 4.39 does seem early?

regards

Mark

[Seaplanes]

Dear Ed,

Having checked my records a little closer, the He 115B W.Nr. 1868 was most likely produced by EHF in late April or early May 1939. Series production of the He 115 commenced in January 1939 with 6 He 115A-0 and 7 He 115A aircraft. This was followed by 122 He 115B with first five delivered in April 1939. The very last He 115C came off the EHF Rostock production line in July 1940.