Farman HF.20 – Fotod ja videod

2007 Farman HF.20 and its derivatives were a family of reconnaissance aircraft produced in France shortly before and during the First World War. It was a refined version of the Farman MF.11 “Shorthorn” that did away with the type’s distinctive landing skids, and incorporated design features from Henri Farman’s designs. It entered service with the French, Belgian and Serbian armies in 1913 (two aircraft conducted reconnaissance during the Siege of Shkodër in the First Balkan War and one crashed), and with the British RFC and RNAS shortly after the outbreak of war. The type was also licence-built in the UK by Airco and Grahame-White. The HF.20 was seriously underpowered, and a variety of engines were trialled in the hope of correcting this, none with much success. The problem was eventually solved only when an engine of twice the power of the original powerplant was fitted to the HF.27 variant, by which time the aircraft was already obsolete. Nevertheless, the performance of the HF.20 made it adequate for use on secondary fronts.

Allikas: Farman HF.20 Vikipeedias

Farman HF.20 oli kahekohaline biplaani luurelennuk, mille projekteeris ja ehitas Prantsuse lennunduse pioneer Henri Farman 1913. aastal. Prantsuse armee ja teised Euroopa õhujõud kasutasid seda laialdaselt Esimese maailmasõja ajal. HF.20-l oli kangaga kaetud puitraam ja pöörleva mootoriga juhitav tõukur-propeller. Selle tiibade pikkus oli 14, 2 meetrit ja pikkus 9, 5 meetrit. See võib kanda pilooti ja vaatlejat tandemina avatud kabiinides, samuti masinapüstolit ja mõningaid pomme. HF.20 maksimaalne kiirus oli 105 km/h ja sõiduulatus 300 km. Seda kiideti stabiilsuse, manööverdusvõime ja vastupidavuse eest, kuid see oli ka haavatav vaenlase tule suhtes ja tal oli piloodi jaoks halb nähtavus. HF.20 asendati sõja edenedes järk-järgult arenenumate lennukitega, kuid see jäi kasutusele kuni 1918. aastani.