Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.1

Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.1
	M.F.1
Role	Maritime reconnaissance
Manufacturer	Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk [1]
Designer	Maurice Farman
First flight	4 June 1915 [2]
Introduction	1915
Primary user	Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
Produced	1915–1917
Number built	5

Last updated August 26, 2019

The Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.1 was a two-seat biplane floatplane, the first aircraft produced by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service's aircraft factory Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk in Horten, built after Maurice Farman's MF.7 design.^[1]^[3] The construction began in the summer of 1915, with plans borrowed from the Norwegian Army Air Service's aircraft factory at Kjeller.^[4]

A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage over a monoplane, it produces more drag than a similar unbraced or cantilever monoplane wing. Improved structural techniques, better materials and the quest for greater speed made the biplane configuration obsolete for most purposes by the late 1930s.

A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, making the vehicle an amphibious aircraft. British usage is to call "floatplanes" "seaplanes" rather than use the term "seaplane" to refer to both floatplanes and flying boats.

The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service was alongside the Norwegian Army Air Service the forerunner to the modern-day Royal Norwegian Air Force.

Background

Until the delivery of the M.F.1s the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service had operated a Farman given to the Norwegian Army by Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen on 3 August 1914. Amundsen had intended to use the aircraft for an expedition through the North-East Passage and the Arctic Ocean. The Norwegian Army had lent Amundsen's Farman to the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service to enable it to carry out neutrality protection duties during the First World War. The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service was very pleased with the performance of Amundsen's Farman and wanted to produce aircraft of the same model. The delivery of M.F.1s allowed the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service to hand Amundsen's Farman back to the Norwegian Army Air Service.^[4]

The Norwegian Army is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The Army participated in various continental wars during the 17th, 18th and 19th century as well, both in Norway and abroad, especially in World War II (1939-1945). It constitutes part of the Norwegian military contribution as a charter member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) since 1949, as well as the European Union.

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions and a key figure of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. He led the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passage in 1906 and the first expedition to the South Pole in 1911. He led the first expedition proven to have reached the North Pole in 1926. He disappeared while taking part in a rescue mission for the airship Italia in 1928.

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Sea. It is classified as an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, and it is also seen as the northernmost part of the all-encompassing World Ocean.

Production

At the time Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk consisted of a 30 square metres room and the production of parts was done at the navy yard at Karljohansvern. Only the assembly and minor work was done at the factory itself.^[3] The first M.F.1 F.2 was launched on 26 May 1915 and tested on the water in Horten harbour. The first flight of the M.F.1 occurred on 4 June 1915 when Captain Halfdan Gyth Dehli made two flights in the aircraft.^[2] The type was armed with one Krag–Jørgensen carbine with 120 rounds and one Colt M1911 pistol. The M.F.1 had a 100–130 horsepower Hall-Scott eight-cylinder engine and a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph).^[5]

Halfdan Gyth Dehli Norwegian businessperson and aviator

Halfdan Gyth Dehli was a Norwegian businessperson and aviator.

The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Denmark, the United States and Norway. About 300 were delivered to Boer forces of the South African Republic.

The M1911, also known as the "Government" or "Colt Government", is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It served as the standard-issue sidearm for the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1986. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The pistol's formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam War era.

Three M.F.1s were operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service's First Aerial Group based at the Royal Norwegian Navy's main base at Karljohansvern in Horten between 4 August 1915 and 15 July 1918.^[6] Three aircraft were built in 1915 (F.2, F.4 and F.6) one in 1916, F.8 and one in 1917 F.8 (II). The first four were lost in accidents in the period 1916–1918. The last aircraft of the type to be built, F.8 (II), was constructed to replace the original F.8, which had crashed at Karljohansvern on 20 May 1916 due to engine failure. F.8 (II), delivered on 2 June 1917, was rebuilt to type M.F.4 with new wings and nacelle in the autumn of 1918 and decommissioned on 13 July 1922 after flying for 322 hours and 15 minutes.^[7]

Karjohansvern at Horten was the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1819 to 1963.

The Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.4 was a biplane floatplane built by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service aircraft factory Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk from 1918. The aircraft was the first purpose-built trainer aircraft in Norwegian service and served until retired in October 1924.

A nacelle is a housing, separate from the fuselage, that holds engines, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. In some cases—for instance in the typical "Farman" type "pusher" aircraft, or the World War II-era P-38 Lightning—an aircraft's cockpit may also be housed in a nacelle, which essentially fills the function of a conventional fuselage. The covering is typically aerodynamically shaped.

Specifications

Data fromMarinens Flygevåpen 1912–1944.^[5]

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 19.02 m (62 ft 5 in)
Height: 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in)
Empty weight: 980 kg (2,161 lb)
Gross weight: 1,340 kg (2,954 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Hall-Scott A-4 V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 97 kW (130 hp) ^{[ citation needed ]}
Propellers: 4-bladed wooden fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 100 km (62 mph, 54 kn)
Cruise speed: 80 km (50 mph, 43 kn)
Range: 480 km (300 mi, 260 nmi)
Rate of climb: 0.8 m/s (160 ft/min)

Armament

1 × Krag–Jørgensen carbine
1 × Colt M1911 pistol

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References

1 2 Henriksen 1994: 63–65
1 2 Hafsten 2003: 30
1 2 Hafsten 2003: 29
1 2 Hafsten 2003: 19
1 2 Hafsten 2003: 208
↑ Hafsten 2003: 21
↑ Hafsten 2003: 208–209

Bibliography

Hafsten, Bjørn; Tom Arheim (2003). Marinens Flygevåpen 1912–1944 (in Norwegian). Oslo: TankeStreken AS. ISBN 82-993535-1-3.
Henriksen, Vera (1994). Fra opptakt til nederlag. Luftforsvarets historie (in Norwegian). 1. Oslo: Aschehoug. ISBN 82-03-22068--1.

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

Vera Margrethe Henriksen was a Norwegian novelist, playwright, and non-fiction writer. She was particularly known for her historical novels and plays set in the Middle Ages.

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[henriksen-1] 1 2 Henriksen 1994: 63–65

[Hafsten30-2] 1 2 Hafsten 2003: 30

[hafsten29-3] 1 2 Hafsten 2003: 29

[haftsten19-4] 1 2 Hafsten 2003: 19

[Hafsten208-5] 1 2 Hafsten 2003: 208

[6] Hafsten 2003: 21

[7] Hafsten 2003: 208–209