The Blohm und Voss Ha139 was a large German floatplane designed to fly air mail services across the Atlantic. They began service in the late 1930s and were taken over by the Luftwaffe at the beginning of World War II.

In 1935 Lufthansa issued a specification for a seaplane capable of serving on trans-Atlantic mail routes, strong enough to take off and land on rough water or to be catapult launched.

Blohm und Voss responded with the Ha139 and the first one, the Ha139V-1, made its first flight in October 1936.

Tests of this and a second prototype led to an improved version, the Ha139V-3, which began flying in 1938.

These floatplanes flew on Lufthansa’s trans-Atlantic routes between 1937 and 1939, primarily to South America.

Catapult launched from an aircraft tender, they were able to carry 500kg of mail over a distance of up to 5000km.

During World War II they were taken over for military uses.

This model represents D-ASTA, ‘Nordetern’ flying with Lufthansa in 1939.

Air Craft Models 1/144 kit. Completed in September 2011.