The Heinonen HK-1 Keltiäinen[1] is a Finnish single-seat, single-engined sport aircraft of the 1950s. Three examples were built. The first was used by its designer to set a class distance record in 1957 that stood for 18 years before being beaten.
HK-1 | |
---|---|
Role | Sport aircraft |
National origin | Finland |
Designer | Juhani Heinonen |
First flight | August 1954 |
Status | Sole example in the Finnish Aviation Museum |
Number built | 3 |
Juhani Heinonen, an aeronautical engineer who had previously worked for the Valmet aircraft factory at Tampere, and then for Finnair, designed a single-seat, single engined aerobatic sport aircraft, the Heinonen HK-1. It was a low winged monoplane of all-wooden construction, powered by a Walter Mikron air-cooled inline engine rated at 48 kilowatts (65 hp) driving a two-bladed propeller. Split flaps were fitted to the wings, while the aircraft had a fixed tailwheel undercarriage, with a steerable tailwheel but no brakes. The pilot sat under a sliding perspex canopy.[2][3] A prototype was built at the glider school at Jämi,[4] first flying in August 1954.[2]
The HK-1 was displayed at the 1955[5] and 1957 Ypenburg airshows.[6] On 10 July 1957, Heinonen flew the HK-1, fitted with an additional ventral fuel tank,[3] non-stop between Madrid, Spain and Turku in Finland, covering a distance of 2,844 kilometres (1,767 mi) in 17 hours 1 minute, setting a class world distance record for aircraft of less than 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) take-off weight.[7][8] For this flight, Heinonen was awarded a Louis Blériot medal by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.[9] This record was not broken until 2 July 1975.[10]
The aircraft is now preserved at the Finnish Aviation Museum near Helsinki Airport.[1]
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1956–57[2]
General characteristics
Performance
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
[1] https://www.flyfinland.fi/view/14967