Heinkel He 114

The Heinkel He 114 was a sesquiwing reconnaissance seaplane produced for the Kriegsmarine in the 1930s for use from warships. It replaced the company's He 60, but did not remain in service long before being replaced in turn by the Arado Ar 196 as Germany's standard spotter aircraft.

While the fuselage and flotation gear of the He 114 were completely conventional, its wing arrangement was highly unusual. The upper set of wings was attached to the fuselage with a set of cabane struts, as in a parasol wing monoplane, whereas the lower set was of much lesser span while having approximately the same chord. 

(Note that this general layout isn't especially unusual, and is known as a "Sesquiplane", or a biplane which has a smaller lower wing. Typically, the lower wing is about 3/4 of the span of the upper wing, and has a smaller chord as well. The He 114 has a much shorter lower wing than usual, but has the same chord as the upper wing, which keeps the wing area ratio similar.)

The He 114 was never a great success, was not built in large numbers, and served with the Luftwaffe for only a short time. While the He 60 had handled very well on the water but been sluggish in the air, the He 114's handling while afloat was poor and its performance in the air scarcely better than the aircraft it replaced.

12 aircraft were exported to Sweden (where they were designated S 12) and 24 to Romania, where the last 8 remained in service until 1 May 1960.

On 27 June 2012, two divers Pascale Roibu and Iulian Rusu found a wrecked Heinkel 114 underwater in Lake Siutghiol near Mamaia, Constanta, Romania. Near the Heinkel 114, the two divers have also found pieces of two other seaplanes; a Savoia-Marchetti S.55 and a Junkers W 34.

General characteristics
Crew: two, pilot and observer
Length: 11.65 m 
Wingspan: 13.60 m 
Height: 5.23 m 
Wing area: 42.3 m² 
Empty weight: 2,300 kg 
Loaded weight: 3,670 kg 
Powerplant: 1 × BMW 132K 9-cylinder radial engine, 716 kW (960 hp)
Maximum speed: 335 km/h 
Range: 920 km 
Service ceiling: 4,900 m 
Rate of climb: 5.5 m/s 
Wing loading: 86.8 kg/m² 
Power/mass: 0.20 kW/kg 
Climb to 1,000 m: 4.5 min
Armament: 1 × 7.92 mm MG 15  in flexible mount for observer, 
Bombs: 2 × 50 kg