Heinkel He-115 found in Norway

[MattP38]

I've only read a brief article in the lstest Aeroplane magazine about a sunken He-115 airframe found in Hafrsfjord, near Sola air port, in Norway.
It seems as though the airframe is in decent shape and outlook for restoration looks very positive. Plans to raise the airframe are underway.
It's an incredible find, and would be a fantastic to have an He-115 on display. If anyone has any further info, they would be willing to share,
I'd love to know.

[tom d. friedman]

1 was found in a norwegian fjord a few years ago. great news to hear of a 2nd find!!

[MattP38]

The article didn't specify it being an older find, but one OR two examples would be great to have around. Now if only we could get a 1:48th model of it.

[Aircraft Mech Paul]

Hi all,

I read the article also. It would very cool to see this rare type brought to the surface and restored. As I understand it, this is a very rare breed and bringing it up to show off the the technology of the time would be fantastic, as well as showing off a rare piece of German aviation heritage.

Paul

[MattP38]

Paul.

As you said a rare breed, indeed. In fact, a one of a kind example, as
no other I'm aware of has been found, aside from what Tom mentioned.
I agree completely. I hope it gets raised and restored...............And flown at air shows

[Jan]

One Heinkel He 115 was recovered from Russia over ten years ago, and is said to be "somewhere" in France in an unrestored state. This particular He 115 is said to be a former Royal Norwegian Navy aircraft, s/n F.60, which was captured by German forces during the invasion of Norway in 1940, and subsequently operated by the Luftwaffe.

Incidentally, the Swedish Air Force, Flygvapnet, operated 12 He 115s, with the last being withdrawn from use in 1952.

A general history of the He 115 can be found here: http://www.luftwaffe.no/SIG/Artikler/115.html

Regards,

Jan

[Flat 12x2]

Engines & props were recovered from one ( I assume from Holland) 18 months ago as reported on FP forum
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=40030&highlight=115

[Aircraft Mech Paul]

Paul.

As you said a rare breed, indeed. In fact, a one of a kind example, as
no other I'm aware of has been found, aside from what Tom mentioned.
I agree completely. I hope it gets raised and restored...............And flown at air shows

Matt,

Well, without getting into an involved debate about flying "one of a kind" aircraft. I agree with you. But, from my own PERSONAL perspective, I think that if there is only a single example of a particular aircraft, then it should be restored and preserved in a static state. The reason is a simple one. I feel that one of a kind aircraft should be kept "safe" from potential damages. But, the world and warbird community at large perhaps, would disagree with me in the respect that any plane that a person or group that puts signifigant funding into locating, salvaging, and restoring should do with it as THEY see fit. And I agree with that in principle. However, if an aircraft is a rare one of a kind, then it should be placed "under glass" so that damage or total loss of that rare aircraft can be minimised to the smallest degree.

But...as we live in a world where we have freedoms to with whatever we own...then it is, of course, up to the owner and his or her conscience to do with THEIR aquisition as they see fit.

Just my two cents worth though,

Paul

[tom d. friedman]

the he 115 previously found & i talked about is flat 12 x 2's reply to what i'm referring to. see his link.

[airnutz]

Back at the end of June a fella named Eriho told us here of his dive on and
He-115 at Trondheim. She was sunk by an Allied attack in the war and damaged additionaly from boat anchors hitting her in later years. In the
same thread DaveM2 gave us a heads-up on the Sola He-115. Eriho also
mentioned the floats had sunk down in the clay, which leads me to believe
they may be in a better preserved state. I wonder if it is possible to combine
all of the current He-115's....to
get more than one example of the type?
http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... ight=he115

The divers in that area of the world are very active and combined with the
availability of reasonably priced sonar systems it is concievable that other
discoveries will be forthcoming in the future.

There is also another He-115 in northern Norway, though in the sea at Haltenbanken..she is rough, so i dunno about her as a viable candidate..
http://www.nuav.net/haltenbank.html

Here's a neat map giving a relation and scale of the 2 areas...
http://ww.math.uio.no/~bjorng/tidevanns ... tendyp.gif
(EDIT-dead link)

Speaking of the Swede He-115's, I found this site which has some realllly
nice photos(7 pages) of those idyllic days 1938-40 just prior to the more complicated times...
http://www.avrosys.nu/aircraft/Torped/192t2/192T2.htm
(EDIT-corrected link)

Last edited by airnutz on Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:25 am, edited 2 times in total.

[paulmcmillan]

The Werk Nummer of the recently found He-115 of 1./906 lost on 28.12.42 is 2398, code 8L+FH It was a landing accident with no personal fatalities or injuries.

The werk nummer was not in the article

Paul

[eknutso]

For detail pictures try this link

Great for modellers i think

http://www.flickr.com/photos/108070235@N05

[RMAllnutt]

I wrote the Aeroplane article. I found details out after I submitted the article which I forwarded to Aeroplane for inclusion, which may, or may not have made it into the finished piece (I haven't seen it yet). Basically, the second, more recently discovered He-115 was set afire by the crew who put it down on the fjord, but substantial parts survive in what appears to be very good condition (at least according to the video I saw). The guys who discovered it are hoping to recover the remains, which might perhaps be used in the restoration of the aircraft recovered last year. I hope this helps clear a few details up.

Cheers,
Richard

[airnutz]

I corrected the failed link of the photo pages of Swede He115's in my former post.

[eknutso]

We have now started on the nose section. The conserved tail wil go into the exhibiton next week.
For detail pictures use this links.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/108070235 ... otostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/108070235@N05/sets

Regards ernst