Farman F.170 Jabiru

Last updated
F.170 Jabiru
Farman F.170 photo NACA Aircraft Circular No.12.png
Roleairliner
ManufacturerFarman
First flight1925
Produced1925-1929
Number built18

The Farman F.170 Jabiru was a single-engine sesquiplane airliner designed and built by the French aircraft company Farman Aviation Works. It is a derivative of the F.121 Jabiru.

Contents

The F.170 could carry up to eight passengers and had a somewhat ungainly appearance. Since the aircraft was quite low on its wheels, it was often derisively called the ventre-à-terre (belly to the ground). The maiden flight took place in 1925.

Development

The F.170 Jabiru was a single-engine evolution of the 1923 F.3X/F.121. During the early 1920s, there was a strong preference amongst operators for single-engine airliners.[ citation needed ] Since even multi-engine aircraft could not keep flying in the (likely) event of a mid-flight engine failure, it was considered that a single engine offered just as much security while offering a greater ease of maintenance. At the time, Farman's engines were held in high regard, having demonstrated their endurance with multiple record-breaking flights (during 145, one aircraft equipped with a Farman engine was able to fly continuously for 45 hours. [1]

Farman's design team prioritised the achievement of a high level of flight efficiency, which would permit the aircraft to travel at relatively high speeds while carrying heavy payloads while requiring the minimal amount of engine power and fuel capacity. Furthermore, the F.170 was designed to be as economic as possible from an operational perspective. [2]

The improved F.170bis, which was introduced in 1927, incorporated some metal construction and could carry up to nine passengers. The F.171bis was joined by the one and only F.171.

Design

The Farman F.170 Jabiru was a single-engine sesquiplane airliner. It possessed relatively favourable flight qualities, particularly in terms of its range of speed and manoeuvrability, while contributed to overall safety. [1] The aircraft was also relatively durable for the era, in part due to its materials having been carefully selected; extensive measures were taken to protect against fire hazards, including the isolation of engine components, the positioning of the fuel tanks, the adoption of a metal engine bed, the provision of fire extinguishers, and rapid draining facilities. [1] To minimise noise within the aircraft, particularly the passenger cabin, two lengthy exhaust pipes extended to the rear of the aircraft. [1]

The forward section of the fuselage's interior contains the engine bay and the cockpit; the pilot being fully insulated from both the engine and the passenger cabin, even being provided with a separate door for exiting and entering the aircraft. [3] The main cabin was relatively spacious for the era, being l.lm (3.6 ft.) wide by 1.8 m (5.9 ft.) high, its base being very near to the ground, which eased access. It was often comfortably furnished, being occupied by eight seats in a standard configuration. The sides of the cabin were lined with large windows that permitted the passengers to have an unobstructed view of the landscape below. [3] Passengers were able to regulate the climate of the cabin, somewhat, via the use of a series of trap doors, the opening and closing of which altering the rate of aeration; other passenger convenience features included a hot-water heating system. The baggage compartment was located directly behind the cabin; it was accessed via a separate door. [3]

The F.170 is powered by a single Farman 12 We, which is installed at the front of the aircraft on an easily-removable metal bed. [3] The engine drove, via a 2:1 reduction gear, a four-bladed tractor propeller. Unusually, cooling was achieved via a honeycomb radiator unit located at the read of the fuselage; this permitted a cleaner shaped engine hood. [4] For ease of inspection and maintenance, the engine hood could be quickly removed in its entirety. To start the engine, an electric starter could be used by the pilot at any moment. [5] Typically, the engine would have been operated at a moderate speed while the excess power capacity of the engine remained available to the pilot for occasional use, such as when the aircraft was flying close to the ground. While carrying 370 kg (816 lb.) of fuel and a payload of 850 kg, it was capable of flying non-stop for up to five hours, traversing roughly 900 km (560 miles) during this time. [6]

The F.170 had a semi-thick wing, which was rigidly braced using a series of oblique struts that were indirectly secured to the base of the fuselage. [7] This wing, which was integrated into the top of the fuselage, had a perfectly rectangular shape and a uniform cross-section; this latter attribute eased construction as it permitted the use of uniform ribs across its entire length. It was furnished with unbalanced ailerons that were actuated via a series of externally-ran wooden horns. [7] The wing was primarily composed of wood which the covering was fabric. The empennage was equipped with a two-part unbalanced elevator and a balanced rudder. [3]

A relatively wide undercarriage was used. The main legs were located between the wing struts at the outer portions of the small plane secured to the base of the fuselage; both the axles and shock absorbers were streamlined by this plane. A robust tail skid was mounted underneath the fuselage in line with the leading edge of the vertical stabiliser. [4]

Variants

F.170
An 8-passenger sesquiplane powered by a 370 kW (500 hp) Farman 12 We engine, 13 built. [8]
F.170bis
9-passenger airliner; an F.170 incorporating some metal construction, four built. [9]
F.171
A long-range derivative developed for a crossing of the North Atlantic, one built. [10]

Operational history

The F.170 and F.170bis were used exclusively by Société Générale des Transports Aériens (SGTA) from May 1926 and used on the Paris-Cologne-Berlin route. When the SGTA was incorporated in the newly created Air France airline on 7 October 1933, some five F.170 were still being used.

Operators

Flag of France.svg  France

Specifications (F.170)

Farman F.170 3 view drawing from NACA Aircraft Circular No.12 Farman F.170 3 view NACA Aircraft Circular No.12.png
Farman F.170 3 view drawing from NACA Aircraft Circular No.12

Data fromJane's all the World's Aircraft 1928, [11] Histoire Mondiale des Avions de Ligne [12] Aviafrance: Farman F-170 [8]

General characteristics

Performance

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.220</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.220 and its derivatives were thick-sectioned, high-winged, four engined French monoplanes from Farman Aviation Works. Based on the push-pull configuration proven by the F.211, design started in August 1925 and the first flight of the prototype was on 26 May 1932. The largest bomber to serve in France between the two world wars was the final F.222 variant. One variation was intended to be an airliner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.60 Goliath</span> French airliner and bomber

The Farman F.60 Goliath was a French airliner and bomber produced by the Farman Aviation Works from 1919. It was instrumental in the creation of early airlines and commercial routes in Europe after World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.120</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.120 and its derivatives were a family of multi-engine airliners and bombers of the 1920s built by the Farman Aviation Works in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.180</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.180 Oiseau Bleu was a 1920s French biplane airliner. The F.180 was designed to fly non-stop between Paris and New York, but when the crossing attempt was cancelled three aircraft were built as luxury transports to operate from Paris to nearby European capital cities for the company's own airline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.70</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.70 was a 1920s French passenger and mail transport aircraft designed and built by the Farman Aviation Works. It was a smaller counterpart to the company's popular F.60 Goliath. The F.70 was an unequal-span two-bay biplane with a wooden fuselage and was powered by a Renault 12Fe piston engine. The pilot was seated in an open cockpit behind the nose-mounted engine. Behind the open cockpit was a cabin for four passengers or freight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.160</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.160 was a heavy bomber aircraft developed in France in the late 1920s. It was essentially an attempt by Farman Aviation Works to modernise its tremendously successful F.60 Goliath design of the immediately postwar years. The most noticeable external difference was the larger tailfin of the new aircraft. Like its predecessor, it was a large three-bay biplane of conventional configuration with unstaggered wings of equal span. Initially conceived as a heavy night bomber, most examples built were float-equipped torpedo bombers for the Aéronautique Maritime, which operated some 40 of the F.165 variant and 200 of the F.168. One of the original F.160 night bombers was exported to Italy, and one to Japan. Plans to develop airliner versions did not progress past the prototype stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.190</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.190 was a utility aircraft built in France in the 1920s and 1930s. It was a high-wing, strut-braced monoplane of conventional configuration with a fully enclosed cabin and fixed, tailskid undercarriage. Popular both as a private aircraft and in the air taxi role, some 30 examples were also operated by airlines in France and elsewhere in Europe. Fifteen of these joined Air France's fleet in 1933 from the fleets of the smaller airlines it had absorbed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.200</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.200 was a civil utility aircraft produced in France in the 1930s. Derived from the F.190, it featured a revised fuselage that did away with its predecessor's enclosed cabin. Instead, it was a parasol-wing monoplane with open cockpits in tandem for the pilot and one or two passengers. Intended primarily as a trainer, it was also marketed as being suitable as a photographic platform or a mail plane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.300</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.300 and F.310 were airliners built in France in the early 1930s. They were high-wing strut braced monoplanes with fixed tailskid undercarriage with a trimotor layout popular with several manufacturers of the time. The cockpit and passenger compartment were fully enclosed. Most saw service in Farman's own airline, whose twelve F.300 variants made up half its fleet in 1931.

The Nieuport-Delage NiD 640 was a four-passenger transport monoplane designed and produced by the French aircraft manufacturer Nieuport-Delage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levasseur PL.7</span> Type of aircraft

The Levasseur PL.7 was a torpedo bomber developed in France in the late 1920s. It was a development of Levasseur's PL.4 reconnaissance aircraft and intended to replace their PL.2 then in service with the Aéronavale. It was a single-bay biplane of largely conventional design, but incorporating safety features for naval operation, including jetissonable main undercarriage units, a watertight, boat-shaped fuselage, and small floats on the undersides of the lower wings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman A.2</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.160 A.2 was a 1920s French sesquiplane designed as a military reconnaissance and observation aircraft. Only one was built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sikorsky S-35</span> Type of aircraft

The Sikorsky S-35 was an American triple-engined sesquiplane transport later modified to use three-engines. It was designed and built by the Sikorsky Manufacturing Company for an attempt by René Fonck on a non-stop Atlantic crossing for the Orteig Prize. It was destroyed in the attempt.

The Farman F.280 was a three engine, cantilever wing monoplane designed in France as a mail carrier in the early 1930s. Underpowered and slow, only two were built and briefly used.

The Farman F.30A C2 was a two-seat biplane designed as a fighter in France in 1916 and powered by a single, water-cooled radial engine. It showed poor flight characteristics and only one was built, though it was modified twice. It should not be confused with the similarly named Henry Farman HF.30 of 1915, a completely different aircraft which was used in large numbers by the Imperial Russian Air Service.

The Farman F.250 was a small, four passenger single engine low cantilever wing airliner built in France in 1931. The single example built was bought by an airline but was little used, owing to stability issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman Sport</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman FF 65 Sport was a French built light biplane, with a single engine and tandem seats, intended for sport and touring. First flown in 1919, it achieved modest sales at home and abroad in the early 1920s. Two unusual modifications produced a biplane glider and a low aspect ratio parasol wing machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.90</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.90 was a single engine biplane transport, carrying 6 passengers. It was built and developed in France in the early 1920s. Though it had some competition successes, it was not put into production

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potez XVIII</span> 1920s French airliner

The Potez XVIII was a French airliner from the early 1920s, a three-engine biplane carrying up to twelve passengers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman HF.14</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman HF.14 was a French two seat reconnaissance type produced by Farman Aviation Works before World War I.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 NACA 1926, p. 2.
  2. NACA 1926, p. 1.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 NACA 1926, p. 3.
  4. 1 2 NACA 1926, p. 4.
  5. NACA 1926, pp. 3-4.
  6. NACA 1926, pp. 1-2.
  7. 1 2 NACA 1926, pp. 2-3.
  8. 1 2 Parmentier, Bruno (30 May 1999). "Farman F-170" (in French). Paris. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  9. Parmentier, Bruno (30 May 1999). "Farman F-170bis" (in French). Paris. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  10. Parmentier, Bruno (30 May 1999). "Farman F-171" (in French). Paris. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  11. Grey, C.G., ed. (1928). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1928. London: Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd. pp. 18d–19d.
  12. Pelletier, Alain (1908). Histoire mondiale des avions de ligne depuis 1908. Boulogne-Billancourt, France: ETAI. ISBN   978-2-7268-9367-8.

Bibliography