The 1911 Farman HF 6 Type Militaire 2-seat pusher biplane was designed and built by Henri Farman.

Span: 36′
Length: 29’6″
Gross Weight: 1100 lb

The most widely used and popular ‘Farman’ in Russia during 1909-1916. Hundreds of Russian aviators made their first flight on Farman-IV.
Only few Farman-IV’s were purchased in France. But many hundreds were built at various workshops and factories, ranging from homebuilts to large batches from ‘Dux’ and other serious manufacturers. As a result total number of built aircraft and its modifications are unaccountable. Most of them were powered by 50hp Gnome engine.

The 1910 Farman “Coupe Michelin” biplane was designed and built by Maurice Farman.

A two-place Farman biplane won the Michelin Grand Prize for landing atop Puy de Dome.

A 3-strut biplane with tail frame. Engine is mounted on the lower wing, driving pusher propeller. Ailerons had only lower control cables and were hanging down while aircraft is in rest. Aircraft is built of wooden elements, connected by very basic joints and enforced by bracing wires.

Wing was covered with fabric only from below. But it was fine, thanks to very small wing load.

The most common modification of F-4 included two-side fabric cover on the wing and ribs with more advanced airfoil. Those basic improvements, first performed by Russian aviators, allowed pilot M.A.Gaber-Vlynskij to set several ceiling records (April 13, 1913) : pilot with 5 passengers – 1120m
# pilot with 4 passengers – 1350m
# pilot alone – 3000m
Some Russian Farman-IV’s were built of bamboo instead of pine. During winter season wheels were replaced by skis.# Modifications: Farman-IV by ‘Dux’ factory had substantially increased wingspan, single rudder, landing skis were much longer (like on Farman-III). Wing airfoil was not revised, but cover was on both sides. This aircraft was built in series under supervision of engineer V.V.Bartoshevich.

# ‘Farman’ by French aviator Christians (?) was presented on the First Petersburg Aviation Week in 1910. It differed by additional small wheels on forward-extended skis. Aircraft was purchased by the Military Department as a trainer for Gatchina Aviation School. Speed was 57km/h.

# ‘Farman-IV’ with 60hp liquid-cooled ENV engine was flown in the School of Turkestan Aviation Society by Shavrov, officer of the Central Headquarters. It was the first aircraft built by ‘Dux’ factory.

# Few were built in 1910 with 55hp l.c. Renault engine.

# ‘Novgorod The Great’ – built at Novgorod section of the Russian Aeroclub. Had 2-side wing and tailplane/elevator cover, lower wing had smaller than usual size.

# ‘Farman-IV’ by A.K.Tikhomirov was built in Moscow, 1912. Trainer with switchable second set of controls.

# ‘Farman-IV’ of Odessa Naval Battalion was built in April 1911. Upper wing was larger than lower one and supported by upper kingpost. One of Odessa Farmans was flown by aviator S.Utochkin (1876-1916).

# ‘Farman-IV’ by B.S.Maslennikov was built in 1911 for flight Petersburg-Moscow. Differed by pinpointed nose shell, covering controls and pilot’s legs.

# ‘Farman-Aviata’ was built in Warsaw by Aviata Enterprise. 60hp Argus engine provided speed up to 80km/h. Struts were replaced by upper kingposts, landing skis extended forward, lower wing is smaller than usual. Few were accepted by Military Department. Note that at the time Poland was part of Russia.

# ‘Farman-IV’ by A.V.Shiukov had pilot’s seat moved 1.5 forward. Front elevator was removed. Performance was not harmed.

# German built ‘Farman-Albatros’ with minor changes in upper wing design served in Gatchina Aviator School near St.Petersburg.

# ‘Farman-Bristol’ aka ‘Farman-V’

# ‘Farman Militer’ was almost identical to Farman-IV. Few obtained by Russia in 1911. First (actually flying) aircraft built on Polish soil (at the time under Russian rule) was French-designed Farman IV made by Warszawskie Towarzystwo Lotnicze “Awiata” (Warsaw Aeronautical Society “Awiata”) starting from April 1910. 10 of such aircraft were made there and used for pilot training until 1912 when tsarist authorities dissolved the institution.

Replica:
Zolotow, Pawel
Farman F.4

Gallery

Engine: 1 x 50hp Gnome
Wingspan: 10.5 m
Wing area: 41.0 sq.m
Length: 12.5 m
Empty weight: 400 kg
Loaded weight: 580 kg
Speed: 60km/h
Crew: 2

1910 Coupe Michelin 2-seat
Span: 54’2″
Length: 38’3″

1910 Farman “Coupe Michelin”
Span: 36’1″
Length: 41’10”
Weight: 660 lb gross
Speed: 50 mph

Originally, George White of Bristol Aeroplanes wanted to build licensed copies of the Zodiac biplane designed by Gabriel Voisin, after one was bought by White to show at the 1910 London Aero Meet. On May 28, 1910, pilot Maurice Edmond was able to achieve a short flight, but on June 10, 1910, an accident that damaged its undercarriage had the frustrated crew give up on the Zodiac… even with five other such copies being built by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company at its headquarters at Filton.

White was advised to take a look at the Farman III plane, designed by Henri Farman. White was unable to grab the rights to build the Farman III biplane because George Holt Thomas—founder of the Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) had a head start in doing the same thing with Farman.

Unable to grab the rights to the Farman Brother’s Farman III, White and the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company based the Bristol Boxkite on the Farman III biplane, but Challenger and his staff made significant achievements to have their plane be its own design. Farman, not surprisingly, sued the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company for patent infringement. However, White was able to show Farman that they had made significant alterations to Farman’s design to improve it… so Farman dropped the suit.

The Farman III set a record of 112 miles in 3 hrs 15 mins.

Gallery

Engine: One 50 hp Gnome.
Length 39 ft 4 in (12 m)
Wing span 34 ft 5 in ft (10 m)
Weight empty 990 lb (450 kg)
Gross weight: 1280 lb
Speed: 37 mph (60 kph).
Ceiling: 360 ft (110 m) fully loaded.
Range: 112 + miles (180 + km).
Seats: 1.

In 1909 Farman designed and built his own machine, which he entered at the great Rheims meet. On July 18, 1909, he flew for one hr. 23 mins, at Chalons, and on August 27 he made a 180-km flight in 3:04:56.4 at Rheims, official world record for distance and duration, winning first prize. On the twenty-eighth, he flew 10 km in 10:39 with two added passengers, the first time three were carried in airplane.

He next flew prominently at Blackpool meet, England, and won first duration and distance prize of $10,000, on October 20, 1909. On November 3 he flew 232 km in 4:17:53 at Mourmelon, another new world duration and distance record.

Span: upper 65’7″ lower 50’10”
Length: 42’8″
Weight: 2200 lb gross

Two identical pusher biplane machines, with Antoinette engines, had been built by the Voisin brothers for two early aviation pioneers, one for Léon Delagrange in March 1907, and the second for his friend and rival the Anglo-French pioneer Henry Farman (1874-1958) in October 1907. The latter biplane became known as the Voisin-Farman I and Farman made a number of modifications of his own during the autumn of that year. Thus, the Voisin-Farman 1 became the Voisin-Farman 1bis; it was flown by Farman on 13 January 1908 to win the Archdeacon’s Grand Prix d’Aviation prize for making the successful first one-kilometer closed-circuit flight.

Built for Farman by Voisin Frères, Charles and Gabriel – often referred to as the Voisin-Farman 1 or Voisin HF-1 – yet sometimes called the Farman HF-1, since after delivery from the Voisin Factory, Henry Farman made significant modifications to the machine. This Voisin-built Farman had no ailerons and no wing warping, the only thing to do was to fly a very steady level turn.

In this form it became the first aeroplane, after the Wright Flyer No. 2, 1904, to remain airborne for over a minute and turn a complete circle. The latter flight, made on 13th January, 1908, won Farman the Deutsch Archdeacon prize of 50,000 francs for completing the first official circle of one kilometre in diameter.

The photograph shows Farman at the moment he crosses the start/finish line at Issy-les-Moulineaux in completing, on January 13, 1908, the first 1 km circuitous flight, thus winning the Grand Prix d’Aviation that had been offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe. Although the two points (start and return) were exactly at 500 m distance, Farman was unable to fly the aeroplane in that way. Observers in the photo from left to right are: René Demanest, André Fournier, Louis Blériot (commissaire au départ et à l’arrivée) and Charles Voisin. In the car are Ernest Archdeacon (one of the prize sponsors) and his wife.

Farman had modified hid Voisin machine in January-February 1908 and with it made flights of nearly 45 minutes duration.

Farman again modified his Voisin in October 1908 as the Voisin-Farman I-bis, making it the first European machine to incorporate successful ailerons.

Gallery

Engine: One 50 h.p. Antoinette.
Wing span: 33 ft. (10.2 m.)
Wing area: 49.8 sq.m / 525 sq.ft
Length: 10.41 m / 34 ft
Weight empty: 1145 lb (520 kg.)
Weight gross: 1280 lb
Speed 40 mph (64 km.p.h.)
Range 1,640 yds. (1,500 m.)
Seats: 1

The Farman MF.1 was a cellular biplane with a 20m / 66 ft wingspan, powered by a 40 hp REP engine.

In 1911, piloted by Fourny, it beat the world record for flight duration with a flight of 2 hr 1 min 29 sec.