Heinkel HD 25

The Heinkel HD 25 was a two-seat shipboard biplane reconnaissance floatplane developed in Germany during the 1920s for production in Japan. It was meant to serve as a spotter aircraft for warships, taking off from a short ramp because the Japanese had not yet developed shipboard catapults. It was a conventional biplane with staggered wings and twin pontoons, the pilot and observer sitting in tandem in open cockpits. Heinkel built two prototypes, the first flying in 1926, and after trials the Japanese Navy accepted the type in March 1928 as the Type 2 Two-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane. Aichi built 16, which saw brief service aboard Imperial Japanese Navy cruisers. A modified civil version became the Aichi AB-1, and three surplus aircraft were converted to carry passengers for a newspaper.