Huub made me do it ! (Heinkel He51)

It is almost amazing to see what Craig has achieved with this little information. There are a few images from manuals which show the instrument board, but I haven't been able to find a single picture showing the cockpit. The external pictures are in most cases poor pre-war quality. In in the many books I have the same pictures keep re-appearing!

Although I'm biased, I personally think this will be Craig's best model so far!

Cheers,
Huub
 
Hi Huub,

I did a little bit of searching, and there really is very little resource out there that I can see. I'm going to keep looking. One never knows. The more seeking, I may come up with something useful. Then again, maybe not. It never hurts to try to help even if the road leads back to the start. I'll do my best.
 
Great subject and nice modelling too!
Must be a pain in the rear to reconstruct that cockpit from the few available handbook photos and drawings.
Oh Huub, so far there has no photograph of the cockpit surfaced other than those few known handbook shots.
If I may make a few very picky commends:
Check the compass for the correct type, a Z4h which is mounted upside down under the wing and replace the KG2 stick with a proper fighter stick.
Looks pretty much like a KG12 type of stick to me.
 
I'm looking forward to this aircraft as well... so far, it looks great!

Some time within the last year I stumbled onto a website showing someone in Germany(as I recall) actually building a flightworthy replica He-51- Perhaps some of the information you seek might be available there?

-Mike
 
Mathias: Thanks for the information about the compass. Somehow I had missed that. However I have some second thoughts about the KG12 stick grip. One (set) of the pictures from the instrument panel indeed show a KG12 stick grip. However several drawings show the KG2 control stick. The prototype first flew in November 1932 and the first production aircraft were delivered in May 1933. I haven't been able to trace the first use of the KG12 stick, however as the Heinkel He100, the Ju87A and the first Bf109s were still using the KG2 I assume the KG12 stick grip was not introduced before 1937.
Therefore it seem logical to expect most He51s were equipped with the KG2 stick grip. These are of course all assumptions, but in my experience manuals aren't always the most reliable sources. I can give you several examples where pictures for the manual were taken from a prototype which was different from the actual production model. Although the pictures from the instrument panel are quite well known, I don't know from which manual they come from. When they were taken from a manual which was used on the "Jagdfliegerschüle" in the period 1940-1942, I think it is logical to expect a KG12 stick grip. However for the pre-1939 aircraft I have some doubts.

It is similar with the gun sight. One source states the Revi 1 was used on the He51. However this gun sight will not fit in the hole shown at the well known picture from the instrument panel, which is why Craig has modelled an extremely nicely detailed Revi 3a.

Mike: I have written to these guys, but so far I did not receive an answer.

Cheers,
Huub
 
huub vink said:
Mathias: Thanks for the information about the compass. Somehow I had missed that. However I have some second thoughts about the KG12 stick grip. One (set) of the pictures from the instrument panel indeed show a KG12 stick grip. However several drawings show the KG2 control stick. The prototype first flew in November 1932 and the first production aircraft were delivered in May 1938. I haven't been able to trace the first use of the KG12 stick, however as the Heinkel He100, the Ju87A and the first Bf109s were still using the KG2 I assume the KG12 stick grip was not introduced before 1937.
Therefore it seem logical to expect most He51s were equipped with the KG2 stick grip. These are of course all assumptions, but in my experience manuals aren't always the most reliable sources. I can give you several examples where pictures for the manual were taken from a prototype which was different from the actual production model. Although the pictures from the instrument panel are quite well known, I don't know from which manual they come from. When they were taken from a manual which was used on the "Jagdfliegerschüle" in the period 1940-1942, I think it is logical to expect a KG12 stick grip. However for the pre-1939 aircraft I have some doubts.


Cheers,
Huub
Click to expand...

Hi Huub, the sole available manual dates from 1935/36/37 and clearly shows a KG 12 style stick (note "style", I don't say it's an actual KG12).
Since many others of that time and class had a "single rod" stick as well (Fw44, He46, He72), I wouldn'd put my hand in fire to proof the KG2 theory, but as always, everything's possible.
Eitherway, I admire the research work you put into this one!
I've put up a drawing of the Z4h for you at "the other place", btw.
 
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