The first Farman engine was a water-cooled V-8 rated at 200 hp. It weighed 700 lb, or 3.5 lb/hp. The built-up, welded-steel cylinders were made in pairs. Push rods and rockers operated the valves, were enclosed by aluminum covers and fed directly with oil. The oil supply was carried in the crankcase base chamber.
Magnetos provided dual ignition and a Ragonet electric starter and an impulse magneto were fitted. The propeller was driven through bevel planetary gears of the well-known Farman design, which included one fixed crown bevel, a differential spider with four satellites, and a crown bevel wheel. A water-cooled V-12 of similar design was rated at 400 hp.
This engine soon was supplanted by a water-cooled W-12 with a 130 mm (5.118″) bore, 160 mm (6.299″) stroke, 28.485 l (1,555.2 in³) displacement and 5.5:1 compression ratio was rated 400 hp at 1,880 rpm and weighed 1,100 lb. Fuel consumption was 0.484 lb/hp/hr and oil consumption was 0.022 lb/hp/hr.
The Farman David was a light sport biplane introduced to the aviation world via the 1919 Paris Salon. Power was provided by a 37 kw (50 hp) Gnome rotary engine and the type was quite successful. Although publicised as a single-seater, it had accommodation for a pilot and passenger in cramped conditions. It was placed in production by Farman and soon became known as the Farman Sport, the name by which it was usually known. The 1920 model became available with a 45 kw (60 hp) Gnome engine, but eventually the Anzani engine seems to have become the norm.
A number were exported to Australia. The first of the type was imported by Shaw-Ross Engineering & Aviation Company Ltd of Port Melbourne, VIC. This aircraft G-AUBV (c/n 8 – later VH-UBV) arrived on 4 March 1921 and was registered from June 1921 but was destroyed by a fire at Essendon, VIC on 7 August 1931, the same fire which destroyed VH-UDL (c/n 24).
Farman Sport G-AUBV (c/n 8) in the mid-1920s at Port Melbourne, VIC, Australia
A further aircraft VH-UFX (c/n 7085) was registered to Industrial Indent Pty Ltd of Melbourne on 29 June 1927. It was damaged when it undershot landing at Essendon on 24 November 1930.
Another aircraft VH-UDC (c/n 25) was registered on 28 June 1921, also to Shaw-Ross Engineering & Aviation Company Ltd of Port Melbourne. It was destroyed in a crash at Cowes, VIC on 9 February 1923.
VH-UDL (c/n 24) was registered to Shaw-Ross Engineering & Aviation Company, also on 28 June 1921. Ownership was transferred to Shaw Aviation on 27 June 1930. It was destroyed in a fire at Essendon, VIC on 7 August 1931.
Two Farman Sports were obtained by Airgold Ltd in Papua New Guinea, G-AUHL (c/n 30) and G-AUHM (c/n 31). In May 1928 the two Farmans arrived in Port Moresby in crates. The intention was to assemble and then fly them to Lae to be operated in the freight role. However, on examination of the aircraft they were found to be too frail for the conditions prevalent in Papua New Guinea.
VH-UHL, named ‘Butterfly’, was assembled at Lae and flown to Wau. Fitted with a 34 kw (45 hp) Anzani radial engine, although Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) records indicated it, and VH-UHM, were fitted with the 60 kw (80 hp) Anzani 6A engine, the Farman Sport VH-UHL swung on landing on its first flight and a wheel collapsed. A further flight to Wau was made nine days later and on this occasion the undercarriage collapsed on landing. As well, many problems were experienced with the engine and VH-UHL was re-crated and shipped south for disposal. The second Farman Sport aircraft VH-UHM was never assembled and flown in Papua New Guinea and was also shipped back to Australia.
After returning from New Guinea VH-UHL had a number of owners, including L Mitchell of Wycheproof, VIC in May 1929, H Sweeney of East St Kilda, VIC in July 1930, C H Frazer of St Kilda, A H Wilkins of Blackwood, SA in November 1934, and R J Weston of North Adelaide, SA in October 1938. It was struck off the register in December 1947.
Farman Sport VH-UHM eventually ended up with Mr G N Wikner of Brisbane, QLD who loaned it to the Aero Club of NSW at Mascot for a period in 1929. He eventually rebuilt it, making various improvements to the airframe, the aircraft eventually being written off in an accident on 20 March 1930 at Dayboro in Queensland. Later a wing was used in the construction of a glider known as the Golden Arrow.
A catastrophic fire wiped out three of the Australian registered Farman Sport aircraft on 7 August 1931 when it broke out in the Shaw Aviation Company hangar at Port Melbourne, four aircraft, including three Farman Sports (VH-UBV, VH-UDL and VH-UFX) and a de Havilland DH.6 (VH-UBW) being destroyed.
Engine: Anzani 52 kw (70 hp) Wingspan: 7.11 m (23 ft 4 in) Wing area: 26 m² (279.87 sq ft) Length: 6.13 m (20 ft 1¼ in) Empty weight: 200 kg (441 lb) Loaded weight: 400 kg (882 lb) Max speed: 140 km/h (87 mph) Service ceiling: 2,000 m (6,560 ft) Endurance: 4 hrs 20 mins Seats: 2
The Farman F.1020 was built to test a novel wing design, the study of which had begun in 1926. Its plan was essentially semicircular, with the straight edge leading. The chord was thus broad and the aspect ratio very low. Such a wing has high induced drag but was thought to offer good transverse stability and low speed behaviour. It has such features in common with some tailless and delta designs.
The wing of the F.1020 had a near circular trailing edge which squared off into straight tips. The leading edge was a little further forward than the diameter of the idealised semicircle would have been and was slightly swept; it was also extended beyond the rest of the wing, carrying conventional ailerons. The maximum chord, at the wing root, was 5 m, compared with a span of 7.2 m; the aspect ratio was 2.1. The trailing edge carried deep chord control surfaces, two per side: the outer pair were used differentially like ailerons and the inner ones as flaps.
This wing was mounted on the fuselage of a Farman F.402, retaining the empennage, undercarriage and the 110 hp (82 kW) Lorraine 5-cylinder radial engine. As on the F.402, the wing was placed on top of the cabin with two square windows in the roof for upward visibility. The control system enabled the pilot to switch between conventional (aileron, elevator, rudder) control and that provided by the trailing edge surfaces.
The first flight of the F.1020, nicknamed the Pelle-bêche (en:Digging-shovel or Spade) and registered as F-AMOG, was in December 1933, piloted by Lucien Coupet. Thereafter it was only flown by Henry Farman who found it almost impossible to spin, but without any other particular merits. A design study was made for a variant with a shorter, 4 m, chord, designated F.1021, but this was not built.
Powerplant: 1 × Lorraine 5 Pb, 82 kW (110 hp) Wingspan: 7.50 m (24 ft 7 in) Wing area: 27 m2 (290 sq ft) Aspect ratio: 2.1 Length: 8.27 m (27 ft 2 in) Height: 2.22 m (7 ft 3 in) Maximum speed: 200 km/h (120 mph, 110 kn) Crew: 2
Shortly after the end of World War I, Farman introduced a low powered single seat monoplane for sport and tourism. It flew for the first time in May 1919 and was named the Moustique (in English, Mosquito). A little later, aircraft of this kind became known in the United Kingdom as motor gliders, the subjects of the first Lympne Trials of 1923. In 1922 one Aviette, without its engine, had already won prizes at a national glider competition. Three months before the Lympne Trials several Aviettes competed in an equivalent French meeting for moto-aviettes at Buc. The design was revived, over 17 years after its first appearance, as the F 450 Moustique and was one of the aircraft purchased by the French government as part of l’Aviation Populaire programme.
The original Moustique, later known as the Moustique I, was a shoulder wing monoplane. The wing was rectangular in plan, fabric covered and was wired braced from above and below. The upper wires were attached to a king post protruding from the raised, curved decking ahead of the cockpit and lower wires went to the undercarriage structure. The wings carried full span ailerons.
Behind the cockpit the fuselage, which reached up only to the pilot’s waist, was slender. It was square sectioned and covered with thin plywood. The parallel chord horizontal tail had separate elevators with the deep rudder moving between them. These surfaces were fabric covered and the rudder was round topped; there was no fixed fin. The undercarriage consisted of two parallel spruce panels mounted on the fuselage, bearing two mainwheels on a single axle. This first aircraft was powered by a 30 hp (22 kW) flat twin ABC Scorpion engine.
The first Moustique flew in May 1919, but by the following year its span had been reduced from 7.65 m to 5.0 m (from 25 ft 1 in to 16 ft 5 in), saving a little weight, and was known as the HF 206 or the HF206 Moustique I. No other Moustique had so short a span.
In 1922 a glider version called the Aviette had flown. This had an extended span of 10.50 m (34 ft 5 in) and an unladen weight of only 43 kg. It also had a deeper fuselage, allowing the pilot to sit with his head just clear of the upper surface, and a new upper wing bracing system with the bracing wires attached to the top of a tall, three post pylon, just in front of the pilot. It also had a reshaped rudder with a linear, rising top. It was the only Moustique type glider, but the fuselage, wing bracing and rudder modifications were carried forward into all later variants.
In 1923 three powered Aviettes were entered for the competition at Buc, Yvelines. All had an 18 hp (13 kW) engines but one aircraft had a 3-cylinder radial Salmson 3 Ad and the other two, 4-cylinder inline Sergant As. The Moustique II or F 21 of 1924 was powered by a 35 hp (26 kW) 3-cylinder Anzani 3 A2 radial and had a wing with a span of 8.20 m (26 ft 11 in), fitted with short span ailerons. Two took part in the 1924 Tour de France.
In the mid-1930s there was a government-driven revival of interest in low cost flying with the introduction of the Aviation Populaire programme. In response, Farman relaunched the Moustique with a slightly shorter span of 8.07 m (26 ft 6 in) and a longer fuselage. It first flew in December 1935. The first five prototypes were designated F 450 Moustique. The first was initially powered by a 35 hp (26 kW) Poinsard 2 Ca flat twin engine; later it, like the others had Mengin engines of the same type and power. A visual difference between this and earlier Moustiques was the presence of a normal fin, carrying a round-topped rudder. The production version, the F 451 Moustique, had a 25 hp (19 kW) AVA 4A-00 flat-four two-stroke. This variant was produced in much greater numbers (46) than any other Moustique.
Farman F.451
The last Moustique development was the two seat F 455 Super Moustique, initially called the Moustique III, which first flew in 1936. Its span was increased by 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) and it had a more powerful 35 hp (26 kW) Mengin 2 A-01 engine. Only one was built; its performance in the climb was poor. The light aircraft section of the Farman works was shut down when the company was nationalised in March 1937.
During the early 1920s Farman entered Moustiques into several competitions. 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 Aviette glider and a biplane (a de-motorised Farman FF 65); overall there were 17 contestants. The Aviette, piloted by Lois Bossoutrot, won several prizes in the competition between catapult-launched gliders, achieving the lowest sinking speed, the greatest altitude (80 m or 262 ft) and longest over-launch site duration of 3 min 30 s. The Aviette was placed second in the distance-covered contest, flying 5.28 km (3.28 mi). Over the fortnight-long event, the Aviette was in the air for 48 min 25 s.
In July 1923, three powered Aviettes competed at Buc, Yvelines for the Grand Prix de Motoaviette against eighteen other entrants. The competition was open to all aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of less than 250 kg (551 pounds). There was a 125,000 FF prize for the fastest flight of 30 laps around a 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) course. The winner was Lucien Coupet in the Salmson-powered Aviette, covering 310 kilometers (192.5 miles) in 4 hours 37 minutes 19 seconds. No other aircraft could overcome the wind and rain.
Farman 455 Super Moustique, F-AOYL
A year later, Farman entered two MF 21 Moustique IIs into the Tour de France, an eight-stage contest organised by the AFF. Initial elimination trials in bad weather reduced the 15 entrants to a starting group of three for the Tour proper. The MF 21 flown by Maurice Drouhin was the only survivor by the end of the second stage, and he was declared the winner, having covered 1,807 km (1,123 mi) in 20 hr 40 min 27 s. Drouhin also won the Prix Solex, worth 50,000 FF in April 1925, flying the Salmson-powered Aviette. This required a flight from Paris to Rouen (about 120 kilometres or 75 miles) using less than 3 kg (6.6 lb) of petrol and oil.
In 1938 the first F 450 was used to test-fly a device called a gouvernes autoptères, invented by Marcel Granoli. Its purpose was to provide automatic lateral and longitudinal stability in the event of a momentary sideslip. The test showed only limited success.
Farman 455 Super Moustique, F-AOYL
Thirty-six of the 46 production F 451 Moustiques were bought by the state under their Aviation Populaire programme, intended to bring people from all walks of life into aviation and make pilots of them. Other F 451s were bought by individuals, partly attracted by the low costs: the aircraft sold at just under 20,000 FF. To make the Moustique attractive to the hunting fraternity, Farman advertised an optional rear locker “for the transport of a dog.”
Farman F.455 Moustique III
Variants:
Moustique Later Moustique I, one only. Engine: Anzani, 25-30 hp Wingspan: 7.65 m / 25 ft 1 in Wing area: 10 sq.m / 107.64 sq.ft Length: 5.5 m / 18.04 ft Height: 2 m / 6.56 ft
HF 206 The original Moustique with wings cropped to a 5.0 m (16 ft 5 in) span.
Aviette 4 built with Salmson or Sergant engines. 10.50 m (34 ft 5 in) span. One converted to glider for Combegrasse competition. 3 entered for the competition at Buc
F 21 Moustique II 2 built with Anzani engines. 8.20 m (26 ft 11 in) span. Entered into Tour de France.
F 450 Moustique 1936 revival. 5 built with Poinsard or Mengin engines. 8.07 m (26 ft 6 in) span.
F 451 Moustique Production version of F 450; 46 built Engine: 1 × Ava 4A-00, 19 kW (25 hp) Propeller: 2-bladed wooden Merville Srs.639 Wingspan: 8.07 m (26 ft 6 in) Wing area: 10.50 m2 (113.0 sq ft) Length: 6.40 m (21 ft 0 in) Height: 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Empty weight: 151 kg (333 lb) Gross weight: 285 kg (628 lb) Maximum speed: 130 km/h (81 mph, 70 kn) Range: 350 km (220 mi, 190 nmi) Capacity: 1
F 455 Super Moustique Initially known as the Moustique III. Two side-by-side seat, dual control version. 1 built with Mengin engine. 9.72 m (31 ft 11 in) span.
The Farman F.280 was a three engine, cantilever wing monoplane designed in France as a mail carrier in the early 1930s. The F.280 was the response to a program that aircraft to fly on two engines, without descending to an altitude equal to or greater than 1 000 m, while bearing 300 kg of mail and maintaining a speed of 145 km / h. Underpowered and slow, only two were built and briefly used.
The F.280 used an F.190 wing, though, modified to carry two of the F.280’s three engines on its upper surface; its span of 14.38 m (47 ft 2 in) made it a smaller aircraft than the near contemporary three engined F.300.
Structurally, the wing was built around two spars. Over most of the span the wings had parallel chord but the outermost section, where the ailerons were carried, tapered to straight tips. A pair of parallel aluminium struts inside streamlined spruce fairings took lift and drag loads to the lower fuselage longerons. There were additional vertical struts, small ones as on the F.190 but more sturdy ones under the outboard engines. The empennage of the F.280 was also similar to that of the F.190, with a double strutted rectangular tailplane carrying separate elevators, with a rudder cut-out between them. This deep rudder, tabbed and horn balanced was likewise square edged, mounted on a very wide chord, shallow, straight edged fin.
The F.280 had a flat sided fuselage with the pilot’s cabin under the wing, the windscreen just forward of the wings, with the third engine mounted in the nose. Square windows lit the interior. The conventional undercarriage had main legs attached vertically to the forward wing struts as extensions of the struts between the latter and the engines and with slimmer bracing to the upper fuselage longerons. Spilt axles hinged at the lower fuselage centre and radius arms from the lower longerons took the longitudinal loads. The single mainwheels were spatted.
The F.280 flew for the first time in February 1931, piloted by Jean Liron. With one of its three engines out, it could maintain altitude at 1,000 m and 145 km/h, carrying a load of 300 kg. It was slow to climb to 300 m, though, so in August 1932 the Salmson radials were replaced by the newer Renault 4Pb, aircooled, inline engines. These produced the same power but turned faster, and the resulting model F.281 was 40 kg (88 lb) lighter.
In October1932, the aircraft ended its tests, have demonstrated a speed of 182 km / h at 2000 m above sea level and 800 km range with a payload of 400 kg and 550 lt of fuel. It took off in 250 m and stops in 185 m. At full load, with a stopped engine, it climbs from 1350 m to 1750 m altitude. It achives in the first series an hour flight to 1000 meters with one engine stopped.
It was purchased by SGTA as a night mail carrier and delivered on 26th October 1932 and was tested on the Paris-Berlin route, which connected via Cologne to Sweden. Journey time was 4 h 55 min.
In mid-1933 several airlines, SGTA amongst them, joined together to form Air France. The F.280 flew little if at all with the new organisation; by 31 April 1935 it had only logged 24 hours of flight, with just 4 hours since January 1933. It never received a route certificate and was always too slow but it was used to investigate aspects of the continental network. It was equipped with dual controls to serve at the PSV for training of Air France pilots.
In the hope of higher speeds Farman built a second F.280 series aircraft, the F.282, which had 105 kW (140 hp) Renault 4Pei Bengali engines, inverted and uprated versions of those of the F.281. Despite the extra power, maximum speed was only increased by 10 km/h (6 mph). It was tested by the Société Central pour l’Exploitataion de Lignes Aériennes in July 1933, who found it precise to fly but still underpowered. As a result no more F.280 series were built and development of the two existing machines ceased. Records from Air France show the F.282 as still on their books in December 1934, but says nothing of its use.
F.280 Engines: 3 × Salmson 7Ac, 71 kW (95 hp) Propellers: 2-bladed Length: 10.50 m (34 ft 5 in) Wingspan: 14.38 m (47 ft 2 in) Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in) Wing area: 40.20 m2 (432.7 sq ft) Empty weight: 1,360 kg (2,998 lb) Gross weight: 2,240 kg (4,938 lb) Maximum speed: 220 km/h (137 mph; 119 kn) Range: 575 km (357 mi; 310 nmi) Service ceiling: 5,000 m (16,404 ft) Crew: 3
F.281 Engines: 3 x Renault 4PB, 95 hp Wingspan: 14.38 m Wing area: 40.20 sq.m Height: 3.65 m Length: 10.50 m Empty weight: 1321 kg Total weight: 2200 kg Max speed: 230 kph Ceiling: 5000 m Range: 575 km Crew: 3
The Farman F.230 and its derivatives were a family of light touring aircraft first flown in France in 1930. They were low-wing cantilever monoplanes of conventional configuration, with fixed tailskid undercarriage and two open cockpits in tandem. The thick-section wing used on these designs was a distinguishing feature.
During the course of the 1930s decade, aircraft of this family held various world records in their class for speed, altitude, duration, and distance; the F.356 model alone held no fewer than 18 such records.
Typical of these exploits was Marcel Lalouette and Jean de Permangle’s long-distance flight on 12 January 1931, where they flew an F.231 from Istres, France, to Villa Cisneros, in colonial West Africa during which they covered 2,700 km (1,690 mi) in 22 hours and set a new distance record. In another feat, Jean Réginensi and André Bailly set three world airspeed records in October 1933 (over 100 km, 500 km, and 1,000 km) flying a F.239.
A Farman F.231 was featured in the Cigars of the Pharaoh, the fourth volume of The Adventures of Tintin comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé.
F-231
One of the first version with the Salmson 9ad 40 hp engine was flown by the then famous French aviator Lena Bernstein.
One of the F.231 flown by Marcel and Jean de Lalouett Permangl on January 12, 1931 broke the world distance record by flying 2700 km in 22 hours.
F.234
A float equipped F.231 crashed in 1931 while trying to break the world record and the F.239 (1 Pobjoy R) piloted by Jean Redzhinensi and Andre Baylli, set three world speed records for light aircraft.
F.230 – initial version with Salmson 9Ad engine, (11 built) F.230bis – conversion of F.230 (1 converted) F.231 – version with Renault 4Pb engine (47 built) F.231bis – seaplane version of F.231 (1 converted) F.232 – version with Michel IV-AT3 engine (4 built) F.233 – version with de Havilland Gipsy I engine (1 built) F.234 – version with Salmson 7Ac engine (16 built) F.235 – version with Hispano-Suiza 6Pa engine (1 built) F.236 – version with Salmson 9Ad engine (4 built) F.237 – similar to the F.235, but powered by a 100-hp (75-kW) Renault engine. F.238 – version with de Havilland Gipsy III engine (1 built) F.239 – version with Pobjoy R engine (1 built) F.350 – version with Renault 4Pb engine (2 built, plus 4 converted from F.231) F.351 – version with Renault 4Pb engine and enclosed cabin (1 built, plus 1 converted from F.231) F.352 – version with Salmson 7Ac engine (1 built, plus 1 converted from F.234) F.352H – seaplane version of F.352 (1 built, plus 1 converted from F.234) F.353 – version with de Havilland Gipsy III engine (1 built) F.354 – version with de Havilland Gipsy I engine (1 built) F.355 – version with Renault 4Pdi engine (1 built) F.356 – version with Renault 4Pc engine (1 built) F.357 – version with Renault 4Pdi engine (1 built) F.358 – version with Hispano-Suiza 6Pa engine (1 built) F.359 – version with de Havilland Gipsy III engine (1 built) F.360 – version with Salmson 9Ad engine (1 built) F.361 – version with Salmson 9Adr engine (2 converted from F.236)
Specifications:
F.230 Engine: Salmson 9Ad , 40 hp Wingspan: 10.8 m Length: 5.58 m Take-off weight: 445 kg Top speed: 150 km / h Range: 450 km
F.230bis Engine: Salmson 9Ad , 40 hp Wingspan: 10.31 m
F.231 Engine: 1 × Renault 4Pb, 71 kW (95 hp) Length: 6.13 m (20 ft 1 in) Wingspan: 9.14 m (30 ft 0 in) Height: 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Wing area: 15.8 m2 (170 ft2) Empty weight: 411 kg (906 lb) Gross weight: 678 kg (1,495 lb) Maximum speed: 186 km/h (116 mph) Range: 450 km (280 miles) Service ceiling: 5,000 m (16,400 ft) Crew: One pilot Capacity: 1 passenger
In May 1929, the Service Technique Aeronautique issued a requirement for a BN5 aircraft (Bombarde-ment de Nuit, 5 seat) to replace the ageing LeO 20 series then in service with the Avia¬tion Militaire. The result was the prototype Farman 220 01, which flew for the first time on May 26, 1932. It was powered by four Hispano Suiza 12 Lbr, V type engines, mounted in tandem pairs in nacelles beneath the wings, each driving one tractor and one pusher three blade propeller. This prototype later flew for many years as F ANLG Centaure with Air France on air mail services to South America.
In the sum¬mer of 1933, a second bomber prototype, the F221 01, was flown with 800 hp / 596kW Gnome-Rhone 14Kbrs radial engines, armed with three manually operated gun turrets in nose, dorsal and ventral positions, and a more extensively glazed nose permitting a better field of view for the pilots. The number of crew members in the F221 was increased to seven. Ten examples of the F221 Bn5-series bombers (some later converted into F.222) were built at Billancourt from 1934. On June 16 of that year, the prototype set up a new international payload to height record by lifting 5000 kg (11025 lb) to an altitude of 7000 m (22 970 ft). The first five production F221s were delivered to the 15e Escadre de Bombardement of the Armee de l’Air (as the Aviation Militaire had by then been retitled) in April 1936.
F.222
The F.221 were followed by 11 F.222 with retractable undercarriage, designated F222/1; seven were delivered in April 1937 to GB I/15, and the other four to the 4e Eseadre at Tong, French Indo China. The final bomber version was the F.222/2, 24 of which were built during 1937-38 with a lengthened and redesigned front fuselage sections and dihedral on the outer wing sections, and the step beneath the bomb-¬aimer’s position removed. The last 16 machines had 685.6kW engines. The first eight (with Gnome Rhone 14 Kirs engines) were manufactured by Farman factories and the other 16 by the SNCA du Centre. These latter aircraft had 860 hp Gnome Rhone 14N 11/15 powerplants, and the first official trials began in November 1937. The aircraft were of all metal construction, with a rectangular¬ section fuselage. A manually operated turret, fitted with a single 7.5 mm (0.29 in) MAC 1934 machine gun, was positioned in the extreme nose, and single guns of the same calibre were installed in the manually operated dorsal turret and in a ventral housing. The bomb bay, in the undersides of the wings, comprised four compartments for up to 4200 kg (9260 lb) of bombs of varying sizes.
F222 Bomber
Escadre GB 11/15 operated F.221 from November 1936, then F.222 from April 1937. These were the largest bombers to serve in France between the world wars. After the outbreak of World War II the bombers flew leaflet raids over Germany, but night bombing raids during May and June 1940 led to three losses. About two dozen Farman 221s and 222s remained in service in September 1939. Dur¬ing the early stages of the Second World War, they flew on antisubmarine and ship¬ping patrols along the West African coast. Night sorties were made to Germany and Czechoslovakia in late 1939, but mainly on reconnaissance or leaflet dropping missions. Two were allocated to the Aeronavale for maritime reconnaissance in November 1939, and were subsequently transferred with their unit to Casablanca in January 1940. Fitted with two 1000 litre (220 Imperial gallons) auxiliary fuel tanks occupying half of the bomb bay, they were used for Atlantic patrol duties. On May 14, 1940, Groupement 15 utilized F 222s on night bombing raids over the Rhine, Wurtternburg and Bavaria; this unit moved to North Africa a month later.
The French navy came up with the idea to attack Berlin during the French campaign. At 3.00pm on 7 June 1940, one of France’s three Farman F.223.4 long-range naval reconnaissance aircraft, F-ARIN, the ‘Jules Verne’, was cleared for take-off at Bordeaux-Merignac airfield. The four-engined high-wing monoplane, painted dull black, had already logged several missions. At 3.30pm the Jules Verne rolled u for take-off carrying a bombload of 2000 kg. this was the first bomb assault of the war made on the German capital. The crew commander was Captain de Corvette Dailliere, a former professor of aerial navigation at the Ecole de Guerre. With him flew Paul Comet, an ex-chief navigator of the Air France airline. “t once we set a northern heading for the English Channel. I flew the plane visually; the weather was clear and I was completely familiar with the first route via Pas de Calais and Holland. We did not meet with a single aircraft; we came under heavy anti-aircraft fire only over Sylt. By sunset we were flying over Denmark, some time later the Baltic Sea lay beneath us. When Stettin appeared on our right, we took a southern heading, flew at high altitude over the Meckleburg lake district, and reached the northern outskirts of Berlin at exactly the appointed time. I got ready to release the bombs and realised that someone had failed to install our bombsight, so I pressed my nose to the glass of the cockpit. Visibility was good, but I could not identify any of the numerous lakes around Berlin and the city lay in complete darkness. Suddenly, as if on command, countless searchlights lit up the night and all calibre of flak opened fire. We circled over he city centre for a while, throttled the engines, let them run again full blast, then repeated the process. We wanted to create the impression that a whole formation was over Berlin. Then we turned off toward a northern suburb and dropped our payload there on one of the numerous factories. The attack certainly did not cause any great destruction, but after all we were more concerned with the psychological effect.”
Farman F.223.4 Jules Verne
The Jules Verne then set course for Leipzig, crossed all of Germany unmolested by either fighters or flak, and landed at Paris-Orly at around 5.00am, after a 13.5 hr flight of almost 3000 miles. Next day the French Admiralty announced “On the night of June 7-8, a formation of French long-range bombers bombed an industrial quarter in north Berlin as retaliation for the German air attack on Paris. All our aircraft came back”.
F222 Bomber
The Vichy authorities disbanded most Groupes de Bornbardement after the French armistice in 1940, but F221s and 222s formed part of a transport and communications unit which was based in Morocco in late 1942. Although Allied attacks destroyed many aircraft, operations continued in the Mediterra¬nean and North Africa and the type was still in use as late as January 1944, but by September of that year the few survivors had been withdrawn from service and scrapped.
The improved F.223 had a more streamlined fuselage, slimmer wings, simplified strutting and twin fins and rudders. Originally fitted with radial engines, eight were re-engined during 1939-40 with 820kW Hispano-Suiza water-cooled 12Y50/51. After June 1940 a number of F.222 and F.223 bombers were used as military transports.
F.223
Civil passenger/mailplane versions of the F.220 family included Le Centaure, the converted F.220.01, four F.2200 and a single F.2220 – all with in-line engines and intended for the South Atlantic service. Six radial-engined F.224, with new deep fuselages for 40 passengers, were rejected by Air France and subsequently went to the Armee de l’Air. The F.2231 and F.2232 were civil equivalents of the F.223 bomber; the F.2231 made a spectacular flight to South America in November 1937 piloted by Paul Codos.
Three F.2234 built during 1938-39 had the thin tapering wings of the F.223 and F.2231/2, but featured a new streamlined fuselage with a pointed nose section. All were requisitioned by the French Navy in September 1939. One (“Jules Verne”) made the first Allied air raid on Berlin in June 1940. After the French collapse in June 1940 these three machines were returned to Air France. “Le Verrier” was shot down in the Mediterranean on 27 November 1940.
F.221 Engine: 4 x G+R 14 Kbrs, 715kW Max take-Off Weight: 15200-18700 kg / 33510 – 41227 lb Empty Weight: 10488 kg / 23122 lb Wingspan: 36.2 m / 118 ft 9 in Length: 21.5 m / 70 ft 6 in Height: 5.2 m / 17 ft 1 in Wing Area: 188.0 sq.m / 2023.61 sq ft Max. Speed: 320 km/h / 199 mph Cruise Speed: 280 km/h / 174 mph Ceiling: 8000 m / 26250 ft Range W/Max.Fuel: 1995 km / 1240 miles Armament: 3 x 7.5mm machine-guns, 4200kg of bombs Crew: 5-6
F 222/2 Span: 36 m (118 ft 1.25 in) Length: 21.45 m (70 ft 4.5 in) Gross weight. 18 700 kg (41230 lb) Maximum speed. 325 km/h (202 mph)
