Thulin LA
{{short description|1917 Swedish biplane}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name=LA
|image=Thulin LA.jpg
|caption=
|type=Trainer aircraft
|manufacturer=AB Thulinverken
|designer=Enoch Thulin
|first_flight=
|introduction=1917
|retired=1920
|status=
|primary_user=
|more_users=Finnish Air Force
Dutch Air Force
|produced=
|number_built=15
|unit cost=
|developed_from=
|variants=
}}
The Thulin LA was a Swedish two-seat, single-engine biplane designed by Enoch Thulin in 1917 and made by his company AB Thulinverken in Landskrona. It was based on the earlier Thulin L and E aircraft, with a new engine, fuselage and empennage. The L and E types were in turn based on the German Albatros B.II aircraft, like the NAB Albatros. The Thulin LA was used in Sweden, the Netherlands (10) and Finland (1). This type also made the first passenger transport flights between Sweden and Denmark in 1919. Altogether there were 15 Thulin LAs built.
Engine
The engine used was a Thulin G, which was an 11-cylinder {{convert|100|hp|kW|abbr=on|disp=flip}} Le Rhône 11F (bore x stroke {{convert|105|x|140|mm|abbr=on}}),The Le Rhône 11F was essentially an enlarged 9-cylinder Le Rhône 9C with two extra cylinders, developing {{convert|20|hp|abbr=on|disp=flip}} more. manufactured under licence by Thulinverken in Sweden. Thulin had journeyed to France in 1915 and acquired the licence to manufacture it from Gnome et Rhône, as well as the Le Rhône 9C, which was sold as the Thulin A.{{cite web |url=http://www.bjorns-story.se/private/Enoch%20Thulinhtm/thulinrummet_eng.htm |title=The museum of Landskrona: The Thulin room |first=Björn |last=Bellander}} The Thulin-built engine, with a dry weight of {{convert|168|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, replaced the much heavier original engine of the Albatros B.II, a Mercedes D.II {{convert|120|hp|abbr=on|disp=flip}} 6-cylinder inline water-cooled engine weighing {{convert|240|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.
Use in Finland
The Finnish Air Force (The Whites) received one aircraft as a gift from Sweden from the grocery magnate G. Svensson in the spring of 1918.
The aircraft arrived by ship at Turku on 5 May 1918, where it was used at the Turku Flying School (Turun Lentokoulu), established on 1 May 1918. The flying school was renamed V Flying Detachment (V Lento-osasto) of the Finnish Air Force on 1 October 1918.{{cite book |author1-last=Keskinen |author1-first=Kalevi |author2-last=Kyösti |author2-first=Partonen |author3-last=Stenman |author3-first=Kari |title=Suomen ilmavoimat I [Finnish Air Force vol. I] 1918 - 1927 |language=Finnish |publisher=Kari Stenman |isbn=952-99432-2-9 |year=2005}}{{cite web|url=http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=85140&start=105 |publisher=forum.axishistory.com |title=FINNISH Army in 1920s-1930s (organization, equipment) |accessdate=15 December 2016}} The aircraft was mainly used as a trainer aircraft and was destroyed in a crash due to engine malfunction outside Helsinki's Pohjoissatama harbour in February 1919.
Variants
Thulin also made a floatplane version of the LA, based on the Albatros B.II-W ("Wasserflugzeug").
Operators
Specifications (LA)
{{Aircraft specs
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|crew=2
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|span m=11.5
|height m=3.4
|wing area sqm=36
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|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Thulin G
|eng1 type=11-cylinder rotary piston engine
|eng1 kw=75
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|max speed kmh=120
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See also
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References
{{commons category|Thulin LA}}
Notes
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Sources
{{reflist}}
- Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus: Suomen ilmavoimien lentokoneet 1918-1939, Tietoteos, 1976.
{{Thulin aircraft}}
Category:1910s Swedish military trainer aircraft
Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1917