Heinkel He 51

Does anyone know what happened to this project?
Thank you in anticipation!

Thanks for posting, Peter. It really is a tremendous project and I can’t fathom the amount of work you put in before lifting a tool. Thanks for sharing your progress and all the best for your next steps.

Hi Jeepman,

many thanks for your interest in my project but there’s nothing really worth reporting for the time being.

Regards
Peter

Has there been any recent news on how this exciting project is progressing?

Thanks for your enthusiastic replies Folks,

I have been to see it, it is a BMW VI Series 9 and even has the correct carburetor. It has been standing out in the open for a while and the exhaust covers are starting to desintegrate. The owner has now moved the engine into a heated Workshop. It has an inspection plate from 1944 and is still on ist original shipping-cradle.

Peter

Fascinating project, Peter!

I could venture a guess this was destined for a Do-17E or F, as the Luftwaffe operated those until the very end of war for anti-partisan action where chance of encountering enemy aircraft was very remote.

Getting an engine is a major milestone in any project so I wish you the best of luck!

A spectacular project, if there was one……….!!

PM

Agree absolutely, it’s a real privilege to be able to follow the restoration process, made possible by the posters.

Thanks for posting those pictures Peter.
I’m in the middle of rebuilding a Gipsy Major.
Compared to the challenge you must have, well……
……what can I say?
This is such a fantastic project. I know that people are always focused on the end, but, I find it quite important to enjoy the whole process.

Cheers
Andy

Thanks for your enthusiastic replies Folks,

Andy, I sent pictures of the engine to another thread recently. For those who haven’t seen them; here they are:

This is the engine we have our sights on. It is not in Germany. I have been to see it, it is a BMW VI Series 9 and even has the correct carburetor. It has been standing out in the open for a while and the exhaust covers are starting to desintegrate. The owner has now moved the engine into a heated Workshop. It has an inspection plate from 1944 and is still on ist original shipping-cradle. Our hope is that the engine was shipped to BMW for repairs and an inspection; was then shipped back but never used. It might have zero-hours.

This is what the interior looks like:

It isn’t all pure fun and joy though. Parts of the mangnesium engine casings are in a really rough shape.
I haven’t heard from the owner for a while (there really is no need to confirm receipt of every email I sent him) but I have every reason to believe he’s still got it.

The same engine was built under licence by Mikulin in Russia. I know of at least three. I was offered one once for in return having this ones owner’s other two Mikulin engines refurbished to flying condition. No thanks! The Aviation Museum in Madrid has three BMW Vis, but I don’t see any great chances in getting one of those.

Peter

Thanks for the update Peter!
Very nice work. 🙂

Fantastic project!
Thanks for the update.
Have you had any more luck finding engine bits?

Andy Scott

Fantastic work, thanks for the detailed update.

Have to agree with Mark B ,Peter, it is very impressive. Saw an R/C model one of these flying some 20 years ago and that flew beautifully and looked the part. Very best of luck with the project.

Bill T.

Superb project – really look forward to seeing it finished!

Splendid! Well done Peter and good luck with your fascinating project.

Thanks for the update, Peter! Excellent work!!

A few weeks ago I switched the belt-saw back on and got back to working on the Heinkel again. Before then I had visitors here which were owners of classic aircraft, they were thinking about purchasing the Heinkel. With them was an inspector of the German Civil Aviation Authority to inspect the Heinkel and all were in agreement that a professional job has been done so far. I didn’t really intend to sell the aircraft but instead decided to continue working on it. It was clear while the visitors were here that the inspector knew exactly what he was talking about so I later decided that I wanted him as inspector for the Heinkel even though I already had one. A couple of weeks later I called him an asked him if he would want to take on the Job and he immediatly agreed to do so.
I have 80sqm of Workshop-space here in which I ran my own Company till autumn 2013 when I took on a full-time Job as a technical-draftsman/advisor at a local Company. In the past year I’ve been clearing out the workshops which really gives me the room needed to continue work on the Heinkel. The fuselage is now back in the largest workshop and the two other smaller rooms are used as an office and for wood-working. So to get back into it, I sorted things out to assess what I’ve got. I knew that almost all upper wing ribs have been built and after I had got the lower ones out I noticed that there was still a lot that needed to be done here. I completely rebuilt the interplane ribs as I wasn’t very pleased with the first ones and all upper leading edge ribs have also been rebuilt.

Here are some of the lower wing-ribs:

I am now completing the lower wing-ribs

Even though these have progressed very well during the past weeks the lower wing-ribs will still keep me very busy for the next few months. Once these are done, I’ll start building the wing-spars.

The fuselage is now back in the large workshop where it belongs.

Here are some of the upper wing-ribs. The pale-coloured leading edge ribs are the new ones:

More soon
Peter

Glad it´s coming forwards. Excellent project.

Thanks very much indeed for the update! Very best of luck!