World War II AircraftThe He 59 was one of the oldest aircraft to serve with the Luftwaffe during the Second World War; its landplane prototype first flying in 1931. Most were produced as floatplanes and the type served as such with the Legion Kondor in Spain; attacking shipping in Republican harbours. Its two 660 hp BMW VI engines gave it a maximum speed of about 125 mph when loaded with a maximum of 2;200 lbs of bombs or a 1;764 lb torpedo; and fuel tanks in the fuselage and floats with a total capacity of 594 Imperial gallons provided a range of about 580 miles. Two auxiliary tanks could be fitted in the bomb bay which enabled a maximum ferry range of about 850 miles. Normal crew was four men. Originally operated as a reconnaissance aircraft and bomber; its main use during the Battle of Britain was air-sea rescue; aircraft employed in this service being given civilian registrations and Red Cross markings; D-ASUO was one of these. Belief that the Luftwaffe was using the aircraft to report Allied shipping positions while undertaking these duties led to the RAF shooting them down despite protests that such actions broke the terms of the Geneva Convention; and consequently the aircraft was camouflaged and re-armed with the single 7.92 mm machine guns in nose; dorsal and ventral positions it had carried in Spain. The He 59 was superseded in the air-sea rescue role by the Dornier Do 24T and continued to serve as a bombing and navigation trainer; but all had been scrapped or destroyed by 1944.Illustration (Tim Brown); 2019.