Friedrichshafen FF.19
FF.19 | |
---|---|
A side view of the first FF.19 | |
Role | Maritime reconnaissance floatplane |
Manufacturer | Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen |
First flight | April 1914 |
Introduction | 1914 |
Primary user | German Imperial Navy
|
Number built | 16 |
Developed into | Friedrichshafen FF.29 |
The Friedrichshafen FF.19 was an unarmed
Background and description
The German Naval Air Service was impressed by a demonstration of the British Avro 503 single-engined floatplane in 1913 and bought the prototype. It then ordered a batch of five aircraft, plus one airframe for static testing, of similar performance and configuration in February 1914. The first airframe completed passed the static load requirement on 2 May when its wing failed at a loading of 7.02 times the force of gravity (g)s.[1]
The FF.19 was a two-seat
Operational history
The first batch of aircraft were delivered in May–June 1914 and the FF.19 became the first German aircraft to conduct successful tests with wireless telegraphy. When World War I began in August, the five Friedrichshafens and three AGO floatplanes were the only combat-worthy aircraft in the Naval Air Service.[3] A batch of 10 more floatplanes was ordered shortly after the start of the war and were delivered beginning in September through November.[4] The FF.19's activities during the war are not well documented, but one aircraft was interned by the Dutch after it was forced to make an emergency landing near the island of Schiermonnikoog on 14 August.[5][Note 1]
Several months later the British made their second attempt to attack the
The British returned for another try the following month with the carriers to be in a position north-east of Heligoland to hoist out their floatplanes on the morning of 25 December. The Germans had been alerted to the possibility of an imminent attack on their North Sea ports and were launching Zeppelins to search for any attackers that morning. A FF.19 on patrol spotted the Harwich Force after they had begun to move westward and had to return to Heligoland to deliver its report since it lacked a radio. The base alerted L.6 via searchlight to the presence of the British ships.[8] As the Zeppelin attempted to close the range on the British, the carrier Empress, the slowest of the carriers, was lagging behind. It was unsuccessfully attacked by a FF.19 with six 4.5-kilogram (9.9 lb) bombs from an altitude of about 2,000 feet (610 m) and then by a Friedrichshafen FF.29 with two 10-kilogram (22 lb) bombs that landed closer, but failed to inflict any damage before the airship could attack.[9]
Later that morning, after the carrier Riviera had recovered the only aircraft to return to the carriers, the Harwich Force was again attacked by FF.19s from Heligoland. One aircraft dropped five bombs on destroyers and the other attacked a cruiser with two bombs, none of which hit their targets. During this operation one FF.19 remained airborne for five hours and 52 minutes.[10]
Operators
Specifications
Data from Friedrichshafen Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes;[2] Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH: Diplom-Ingenieur Theodor Kober[3]
General characteristics
- Length: 10.4 m (34 ft 1 in)
- Upper wingspan: 15.3 m (50 ft 2 in)
- Lower wingspan: 13.8 m (45 ft 3 in)
- Wing area: 48 m2 (520 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 860 kg (1,896 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,160 kg (2,557 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.I water-cooled straight-six engine, 75 kW (100 hp) Originally measured as 100 PS (74 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed
Performance
- Maximum speed: 95 km/h (59 mph, 51 kn)
- Cruise speed: 85 km/h (53 mph, 46 kn)
- Time to altitude: 500 m (1,600 ft) in 8 minutes
See also
Related development
Related lists
Notes
- ^ The aircraft received the serial number R-1 when the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service was formed in 1917.[5]
- ^ They were actually at Nordholz Naval Airbase, 8 miles (13 km) south of Cuxhaven.[6]
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Borzutzki, Siegfried (1993). Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH: Diplom-Ingenieur Theodor Kober [Friedrichshafen Aircraft Company: Diploma-Engineer Theodore Kober] (in German). Berlin: Burbach. ISBN 3-927513-60-1.
- Castle, Ian (2011). The Zeppelin Base Raids, Germany 1914. Oxford. ISBN 978-1-84908-244-0.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Herris, Jack (2016). Friedrichshafen Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 21. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-35-3.
- Klaauw, Bart van der (March–April 1999). "Unexpected Windfalls: Accidentally or Deliberately, More than 100 Aircraft 'Arrived' in Dutch Territory During the Great War". Air Enthusiast (80): 54–59. ISSN 0143-5450.
- Layman, R. D. (1985). The Cuxhaven Raid: The World's First Carrier Air Strike. London: Conway. ISBN 0-85177-327-3.