D-2305 – Heinkel 64

Date	Registration	Owner	Comments
Aug 32	D-2305	He GmbH, Warnemünde	Participation European Tourist plane contest, pilot Junck/mechanic Beese
Apr 33	G-ACBS	Handley-Page	Flight tests at Handley Page, name-giver of the high lift devices
	K3596	Royal Aircraft Establishment	Flight tests, reconstruction of the landing gear, detailed evaluation of performance data
1935	VP-YBI	C.H. Perrem, Umtali, Rhodesia	Private aircraft
Feb 50	VP-YBI	Neville 'Bowks' Bowker, Umtali, Rhodesien	Private aircraft, reconaissance for grounds to grow tobacco
1951	VP-YBI	Louis Malloch	Private aircraft
1952			Laid up after landing crash

In the tourist plane contest

In the 1932 tourist plane contest, Werner Junck and his ‘mechanic’ Beese scored 14. on the D-2305. Thereafter, the aircraft was retrofitted with a DH Gipsy III-engine

D-2305 with GipsyIII-engine — D-2305 mit Gipsy III-Motor aber noch dem normalen Fahrwerk

D-2305 nach der Umrüstung — D-2305 vor der Überführung nach England

Sold to England

and in december 1932 sold to england, where it initially was flight-tested as G-ACBS by Handley-Page.

Slowflight of G-ACBS in front of Handley Page — Slow flight in front of Mr. Handley Page

Capt. Cordes landing the G-ACBS — Capt. Cordes makes a picture book landing

Between April and October 1934 it was examined by the Royal Aircraft Establishment, registered as K3596. The results have been published 1935 as a 10-page-study ‘full scale tests of slots & flaps Heinkel He.64’ by the scientist Herbert Brian Squire (1909-1961). On September 23rd 1935 it was re-registered G-ACBS by the Royal airforce. Somewhen between 1935 and 1937 the aircraft was painted in the blue colour it had until its end.

Registration sheet of G-ACBS — Registration of G-ACBS

Leaving Europe

1937 the aircraft was sold into private hands and left Europe towards Rhodesia: C.H. Perrem, a businessman from Rhodesia aquired the aircraft which was ferried to Umtali by his friend, Mr. Elton, a farmer in the vicinity of Umtali. Mr. Elton wrote an interesting contemporary report about his flight to Rhodesia. There, it got the registration VP-YBI. Its new owner modified the aircraft further: He removed the closed cockpit and replaced it with a windscreen:

“I have fitted ample sliding cockpit windscreens to the kite which enables it to be used as either a fully open cockpit machine or by pulling the large windscreens back on the rails when the edges come behind the shoulders it becomes to all intents and purposes a closed machine without the vibrational drumming one gets in a small cabin, and ventilation is good.”
Letter H. Perrem to “The Aeroplane spotter”, 11th February 1948

Mr. Perrem visited England together with his wife in 1938 flying the Heinkel.

During worldwar II, the aircraft was laid up in Rhodesia.

1945, Mr. Perrem and his wife undertook a 6000 mile trip with it around Southern Rhodesia, South West Africa (now Namibia) and South Africa. According to Mr. Perrem, obviously the first private aircraft in southern africa after the war.

Mr. Perrem wrote, that the Heinkel always was a dependable companion, which did not only serve well on his touristic flights, but also at his business appointments.

He mentioned especially the excellent slow-flying capabilities which enabled him to take-off and land ad the smallest airfields safely.

The Bowkers acquire the Heinkel

Mr. Perrem sold his Heinkel in february 1950 to Neville ‘Bowks’ Bowker, who used her to explore grounds for a new farm in Northern Rhodesia to grow Tobacco. Especially his wife, Colleen, loved the aircraft:

“In my mind she was unique and I loved her and it caused a big problem between us when he sold her to a Mr. Louis Malloch, in 1951, who promptly crashed her.”
Exchange with the author

He64 Nr.427 in Mkoko, Rhodesien — Heinkel at Mkoko about 1950

“I regarded her as a plane built for women because she was different, light and fast, and safe, and elegant (I had renamed her Lili Marlene because of her long legs) but unfortunately I never got the opportunity to take her on as mine as I was too busy with a very young family, and packing and moving to even think of obtaining my licence.”
Exchange with the author