British He 115A-2, ex-Norwegian
Following the record-breaking flight of the V1, Norway became the first export customer, purchasing six He 115A-2s for its Marinens Flyvevaben. When Germany invaded Norway, three of these planes managed to escape to Britain, along with a captured German aircraft, and were converted for clandestine RAF operations. After receiving RAF serial numbers BV184-187, all planes continued flying until either they were destroyed or ran out of spares. They underwent modifications, such as replacing the long “glasshouse” with metal panels and fitting British armament. Two of the planes, 185 and 187, were altered for covert operations, with four Browning machine-guns mounted to fire forward from the wings’ leading edge and four more firing to the rear. In October 1941, BV185 was flown via Gibraltar to Malta, where it flew numerous missions to North Africa, inserting and picking up Allied agents by day and night, even landing in broad daylight in Tripoli harbor to take on two agents before returning to Malta. Eventually, it was destroyed by bombing at Malta. The former Luftwaffe B-1, BV187, flew several long missions between Woodhaven and points in Norway but was deemed too risky due to the danger of being shot down by RAF fighters.