He 51 B-1

He 51 B-1

He 51 A-1

He 51 C-1

He 51 B-1

He 51 A-1

He 51 C-1

Germany

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

Fighter

Research:Free

Purchase:Free

Show in game

This page is about the German biplane He 51 B-1. For other uses, see He 51 (Family).

Description

The He 51 B-1 in the garage

The He 51 B-1 is a Rank I German fighter with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). This aircraft has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29.

The He 51 B-1 is one of the first planes a player playing in the German aircraft tech tree will be able to fly. Being an early pre-WWII plane, it carries all the characteristics one would expect from such a plane. It has an excellent turn radius, thanks to the biplane design, even at low speeds, and has a remarkably low stall speed. However, these positives only outweigh the negatives if the pilot is new to War Thunder. Biplanes are made entirely from wood and thus, are very fragile. In addition, they are slow, and their armament is limited, and while the He-51 series may not have the worst, it still gets outperformed significantly as soon as it faces newer plane designs which are much faster and better armed.

While the He-51 B-1 may have an excellent turn radius in the grand scheme of things, it shouldn't be relied on, as any remotely experienced pilot will able to exploit it's weaknesses to full effect if they are flying virtually any non-reserve plane.

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 4,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
297	287	7700	15..	15.7	11.8	11.7	294
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 4,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
320	310	7700	14.4	14.7	17.0	14.3	294

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	✓

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
550	550	520	~13	~6

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 180	< 300	< 300	> 190

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
0 m	750 hp	No WEP

Survivability and armour

• No armour plating
• No armour glazing
• All critical components located at the front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)

Armaments

Offensive armament

The He 51 B-1 is armed with:

• 2 x 7.92 mm MG 17 machine gun, nose-mounted (500 rpg = 1,000 total)

Usage in the battles

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Controllable	Combined	Not controllable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator		Offensive 7 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe
III	Wings Repair	Engine		New 7 mm MGs
IV		Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Free repairs
• Excellent turn rate
• Freely available at the start of the game in the German aircraft tech-tree

Cons

• Slow, and as a consequence lousy at climbing
• Pathetic armament for a fighter with only 2 x 7.92 mm machine guns
• Bad forward visibility in cockpit, noticeable while dogfighting in simulator battles
• Any success a player may have in the plane can largely be attributed to being pitted against similarly shabby aircraft and inexperienced pilots due to it's battle rating

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• page on aircraft encyclopedia;
• other literature.