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| Hs 126 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Reconnaissance |
| National origin | Nazi Germany |
| Manufacturer | Henschel, AGO |
| Status | Retired |
| Primary users | Luftwaffe |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1937–1941 |
| Introduction date | 1937 |
| First flight | August 1936 |
| Retired | 1943 |
The Henschel Hs 126 was a twin-seat parasol wing reconnaissance and observation aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Henschel.
The Hs 126 that was derived from the Henschel Hs 122. The pilot was seated in a protected cockpit under the parasol wing and the gunner in an open rear cockpit. In the autumn of 1936, the first prototype made its maiden flight; it was soon followed by two more prototypes and a batch of pre-production aircraft. During early 1938, the Hs 126 underwent service evaluation; it was well received for its good short takeoff performance and low-speed flight characteristics, attributes that proved to be frequently useful during its operational history.
The Hs 126 saw combat on numerous fronts, the first occasion being with the Legion Condor contingent that participated in the Spanish Civil War during the late 1930s. It was active on numerous fronts of the Second World War, by which point it had become the principal short-range reconnaissance aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Large numbers of Hs 126s flew during the Invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, and the Invasion of the Soviet Union. On 12 September 1943, a number of Hs 126s were used to tow ten DFS 230 attack gliders from Pratica Di Mare airfield near Rome to the Gran Sasso on a raid to rescue Benito Mussolini. The Royal Hellenic Air Force also operated 16 Hs 126s, which saw action during the Greco-Italian War. It was withdrawn from Luftwaffe service in 1943, by which point the Hs 126 had been superseded by the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, a general-purpose STOL aircraft, as well as the twin-boom Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu.