Henri Farman HF.36

The Henri Farman HF.36 (sometimes identified simply as the Farman F.36) was a prototype French fighter aircraft built by Farman during the First World War.^[1][2][3] An unusual design, especially for Farman, it had a troubled development and was not selected for French Army service.^[2][3]

HF.36
Role	Fighter
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Farman
Designer	Henri Farman
First flight	July 1916
Number built	1

Design

The HF.36 was a two-bay, unstaggered sesquiplane of overall conventional configuration that seated the pilot and gunner in tandem, open cockpits.^[3] However, in an era when aircraft were built mostly of wood and fabric, the HF.36 was unusual in being of metal construction.^[2][3] Although its tailskid undercarriage was the norm for its day, its quadricycle main undercarriage was not.^[2][3] Finally, while biplane fuselages are usually attached to the lower wing, and the upper wing is carried on struts about the fuselage, the HF.36 reversed this pattern, with a fuselage suspended from the upper wing, with the lower wing braced beneath it.^[2] The tail unit was of conventional design.^[2][3] Although tractor-engined designs were not unusual by this time, the design nevertheless represented a departure for Farman, a firm which had previously produced mostly pusher designs.^[3]

Development

The first flight was in July 1916,^[4] but serious problems were found.^[3] A series of modifications were unable to overcome its deficiencies, and development was abandoned with only one prototype built.^[2][3]

Specifications

Data from Liron 1984, p.46

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 8.60 m (28 ft 3 in)
• Wingspan: 19.82 m (65 ft 0 in)
• Height: 3.49 m (11 ft 5 in)
• Wing area: 66.5 m² (716 sq ft)
• Powerplant: 1 × Renault 12Fa liquid-cooled, twelve-cylinder V engine, 160 kW (220 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 175 km/h (109 mph, 94 kn)