VEF JDA-10M

The VEF JDA-10M was a Latvian twin-engine, multipurpose aircraft built in 1939 by VEF. It remains the only twin-engine aircraft ever built in Latvia. The builder of JDA-10M was Latvian-American engineer Jānis Akermanis (John D. Akerman), a professor at the University of Minnesota.

VEF JDA-10M
VEF JDA-10M at the Spilve airport, Riga.
Role	Multi-purpose, light bomber
Manufacturer	VEF
Designer	Jānis Akermanis
First flight	1939
Primary user	Latvia
Number built	1

Design and development

Construction started in 1937, but the first flight of the JDA-10M was on September 4, 1939. After the beginning of the Second World War it was planned to transform the airplane into a light bomber for military purposes. This work was halted by the Soviet occupation of Latvia in June 1940. Only one prototype was built, and its fate remains unknown.

The VEF JDA-10M was of primarily wooden construction, with fixed conventional landing gear.^[1][2]

Specifications (JDA-10M)

Data from Latvia's Little Hawk ^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 6
• Length: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 12.4 m (40 ft 8 in)
• Height: 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 24 m² (260 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,680 kg (3,704 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,800 kg (6,173 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX 7-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines, 261 kW (350 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 350 km/h (220 mph, 190 kn)
• Range: 560 km (350 mi, 300 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 6,800 m (22,300 ft)
• Rate of climb: 3.85 m/s (758 ft/min)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Airspeed Oxford
• Avro Anson