Heinkel HE 8

The Heinkel H.E.8, written HE 8 here, was a reconnaissance monoplane floatplane built in Germany in the late 1920s. It was developed at the request of the Royal Danish Navy, which wanted an aircraft similar to the H.E.5 flown in Sweden. Seven German-built H.E.8a aircraft were bought, described as mailplanes to avoid the restrictions on military aircraft, and 16 H.E.8b were built under licence in Denmark by the Orlogsvaerftet naval shipyards, the last delivered in 1938. Apart from its engine it differed from earlier members of the H.E.1 family in having a conventional tail. Twenty-two aircraft served the Danish Navy as the HM.II until the German invasion of 1940, and one aircraft was built under licence in Yugoslavia by Zmaj. It had an Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar radial engine of 320 kilowatts.