Farman Sport
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=FF 65 Sport | image=20180328 Farman Sport Udvar-Hazy.jpg | caption=Farman Sport at the Udvar Hazy Center }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Sport tourer | national origin=France | manufacturer=Farman Brothers | designer= | first flight=1919 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=34 production +2? prototypes | program cost= | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Farman FF 65 Sport is 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.
Design and development
Generally known as the Sport, Farman's post World War I light biplane tourer carried the maker's designation FF 65. FF stood for Farman fréres and the FF 65 was one of only two Farman aircraft to use it; it distinguished the Sport from the F 65, its very large airliner contemporary, one of the Farman Goliath series. The prototype was named the David to contrast this small aircraft with the Goliath and this name is sometimes used for the type.
The Sport was a single bay biplane with staggered wings of equal span and rectangular plan. There were outboard ailerons on the upper planes only. The interplane struts were of N-shape and the centre section was supported by two pairs of vertical struts from the fuselage. The fuselage was a rectangular structure with four longerons interconnected by vertical and diagonal braces skinned in 3-ply wood. An open cockpit began just aft of the first pair of centre section struts, with two low seats in tandem, spaced so closely together that the passenger's feet surrounded the pilot. At the rear, the tailplane was attached to the top of the fuselage and wire braced to the rudder post. This latter carried a tall rudder with a curved top which extended to the bottom of the fuselage, moving in a gap between the elevators; there was no fixed fin. It had a fixed conventional undercarriage, with its main wheels on a single axle mounted on V struts to the lower longerons.
David was powered by a {{convert|60|hp|abbr=on}} Le Rhône 9Z rotary engine, neatly enclosed within an aluminium cowling and driving a two blade propeller. It underwent official testing early in 1920 at Villacoublay. Sports fitted with extended upper wings gained first and second prizes at a speed range competition that year. The production version, first displayed in September 1921 in Brussels, gained its certificate that December. It was powered by an {{convert|80|hp|abbr=on}} Anzani 6Bbis two row radial. This engine was fitted with its cylinder heads exposed for cooling.
In 1922 the Sport was modified to compete in the first French national gliding competition. Modifications had to be made to accommodate the change in centre of gravity once the engine had been removed and the unusual biplane glider had a lengthened nose and wings without stagger, the upper plane moved rearwards. The wing span was increased by {{convert|2.69|m|abbr=on}} and the N-form interplane struts were replaced by parallel pairs.
Another seriously modified Sport appeared in 1926 when Farman fitted a F 65 with a new, monoplane parasol wing. This rectangular plan wing, with a span of {{convert|8|m|abbr=on}} and a chord of {{convert|3.065|m|abbr=on}} was built out a portion of the wing of a Goliath airliner. The original Sport centre section struts were retained but new streamlined lift struts, two on each side, took the forces from the high wing to the lower fuselage longerons. Because of the low aspect ratio of its wing (2.6) the new machine acquired the nickname the Flying Postcard. Formally, it remained a Sport. It was designed for, and entered into, the Zenith Cup fuel consumption competition of 1926. Farman did win this Cup, though not with the Sport but with their F.91.
The Farman F 209 began as a Sport which had been in the Farman store from 1924 to 1931. When it finally flew again in 1933 its structure had been revised and modified, though details are sparse. There were no changes to the major dimensions.
Operational history
34 production aircraft were built, several of which were exported. Wallace Kennett established a US agency in Kansas City and imported about 10 Sports. Others were sold into Canada, Australia and Spain.
The Sport took part in several competitions to promote the brand. It had an early success in Brussels in September 1921, where Bossoutrot won the Simonet Cup. In May 1922 he was at Le Bourget and was runner-up in the "quick getaway" competition. A Sport was present, if not competing at the 1923 St Louis Air Race Meeting and another took part in the 1924 "On to Dayton" race, which involved flying over the Allegheny Mountains.
In August 1922 the first national French glider meeting, the Congrės expérimental d'aviation sans moteur, organised by the Association of French Flyers (AFF) and partly government funded, was held in Combegrasse, Puy-de-Dôme. Farman entered two aircraft, the de-motorised Sport and an Aviette glider; overall there were 17 contestants. The Sport was much less successful than the Aviette, making only a few take-offs.
Charles Townsend Ludington used a Farman Sport airplane for demonstration aerial displays in the 1920s.{{sfn|Trimble|1982|p=120}}
Variants
;David
:Original, Le Rhône powered aircraft.
;Sport
:Production aircraft, Anzani engine.
;Sport glider
:Glider version for the Combegrasse competition.
;Sport parasol
:Parasol winged aircraft for the Zenith competition.
;F 209
:1933 structurally modified machine.
Aircraft on display
A Sport is on display in the National Air and Space Museum in the USA. It is the one which took part in the "On to Dayton" race in 1924 and has a modified undercarriage with coupled wheels and skids.
Specifications (Le Rhône engine)
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units?=met
|genhide=
|crew=
|capacity=2
|length m=6.13
|length ft=
|length in=
|length note=
|span m=7.11
|span ft=
|span in=
|span note=
|upper span m=
|upper span ft=
|upper span in=
|upper span note=
|mid span m=
|mid span ft=
|mid span in=
|mid span note=
|lower span m=
|lower span ft=
|lower span in=
|lower span note=
|height m=2.47
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=19.66
|wing area sqft=
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=220
|empty weight lb=
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=420
|gross weight lb=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=le Rhône 9Z
|eng1 type=9-cylinder rotary
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=60
|eng1 kn=
|eng1 lbf=
|eng1 note=
|power original=
|thrust original=
|eng1 kn-ab=
|eng1 lbf-ab=
|prop blade number=
|prop name=
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop note=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=140
|max speed mph=
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=
|max speed mach=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed kmh=50
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|minimum control speed kmh=
|minimum control speed mph=
|minimum control speed kts=
|minimum control speed note=
|range km=190
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|range note=
|combat range km=
|combat range miles=
|combat range nmi=
|combat range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range miles=
|ferry range nmi=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=
|ceiling m=4000
|ceiling ft=
|ceiling note=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=
|climb rate ms=2.44
|climb rate ftmin=
|climb rate note=to 2,000 m (6,560 ft)
|time to altitude=
|sink rate ms=
|sink rate ftmin=
|sink rate note=
|lift to drag=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|disk loading kg/m2=
|disk loading lb/sqft=
|disk loading note=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=
|more performance=
}}
{{aircontent
|see also=
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
}}
References
{{commons category}}
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite magazine |title= The Paris Aero Show 1919|magazine= Flight|issue=8 January 1920 |pages=40–1 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1920/1920%20-%200042.html }}
{{cite magazine |title= French speed range competition|magazine= Flight|issue=22 July 1920|page=813 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1920/1920%20-%200813.html }}
{{cite magazine |title="Jupiter" wins French Zenith Cup|magazine= Flight|issue=22 July 1926|page=444 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1926/1926%20-%200506.html }}
{{cite magazine |title=Le Bourget|magazine= Flight|issue=1 June 1922|page=311 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1922/1922%20-%200311.html}}
{{cite magazine |title=St Louis Air Race Meeting|magazine= Flight|issue=8 November 1923|page=683 |url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200683.html}}
}}
Sources
- {{cite book |last1=Liron |first1=Jean |title=Les avions Farman |year=1984 |publisher=Éditions Larivière |location=Paris |oclc=37146471|series=Collection Docavia|volume=21}}
- {{cite book|last=Trimble|first=William F.|title=High Frontier |url=https://archive.org/details/highfrontierhist00trim|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/highfrontierhist00trim/page/120 120]|date=15 June 1982|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Pre|isbn=978-0-8229-7426-0}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Hirschauer |editor1-first=Louis |editor2-last=Dollfus |editor2-first=Charles |title=L'Année Aéronautique: 1919-1920 |date=1920 |publisher=Dunod |location=Paris |page=18 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553380s/f30.item}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Hirschauer |editor1-first=Louis |editor2-last=Dollfus |editor2-first=Charles |title=L'Année Aéronautique: 1920-1921 |date=1921 |publisher=Dunod |location=Paris |page=25 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65534129/f37.item}}
{{Farman aircraft}}
Category:1910s French civil aircraft