The Farman HF.20 and its derivatives were a family of reconnaissance aircraft produced in France shortly before and during the
First World War. It was a refined version of the
Farman MF.11 "Shorthorn" that did away with the type's distinctive landing skids, and incorporated design features from
Henri Farman's designs. It entered service with the French, Belgian and Serbian armies in 1913 (two aircraft conducted reconnaissance during the
Siege of Scutari in the
First Balkan War and one crashed), and with the British
RFC and
RNAS shortly after the outbreak of war. The type was also licence-built in the UK by
Airco and
Grahame-White.
The HF.20 was seriously underpowered, and a variety of engines were trialled in the hope of correcting this, none with much success. The problem was eventually solved only when an engine of twice the power of the original powerplant was fitted to the HF.27 variant, by which time the aircraft was already obsolete. Nevertheless, the performance of the HF.20 made it adequate for use on secondary fronts.
15.5 m (51 ft) span and increased wing area version with
Gnome Lambda engine. At least one of the few built, entered service with the
Fliegertruppe of Switzerland.
HF.22
15.58 m (51.1 ft) span and increased wing area version with Gnome Lambda engine.
HF.22 floatplane
(aka HF.22bis or Savoia-built HF.22-H)
HF.23
18.08 m (59.3 ft) span version with Gnome Lambda engine
HF.24
11.5 m (38 ft) span aerobatic version with Gnome Lambda engine
HF.27
155 hp (116 kW)
Canton-Unné R9 engine or 240 hp (180 kW)
Renault engine with a revised undercarriage that included nose wheels similar to the
Voisin III.
Time to altitude: 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 22 minutes
Wing loading: 18 kg/m2 (3.7 lb/sq ft)
Armament
Guns: 1 × machine gun on flexible mount for observer
Bombs: small load of 75 mm (3.0 in) bombs
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Farman HF.20.
^Davilla, Dr. James J.; Soltan, Arthur M. (January 2002). French aircraft of the First World War. Flying Machines Press. pp. 207–212.
ISBN1891268090.
Bibliography
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.
ISSN0143-5450.
Liron, Jean (1984). Les avions Farman. Collection Docavia. Vol. 21. Paris: Éditions Larivière.
OCLC37146471.
Thomas, Andrew. "In the Footsteps of Daedulus: Early Greek Naval Aviation". Air Enthusiast, No. 94, July–August 2001, pp. 8–9.
ISSN0143-5450
Further reading
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 380–381.
World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 894 Sheet 14–15.