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weight and performance calculations for the Henri Farman HF.27
Henri Farman HF.27
role : light bomber
importance : ***
first flight : operational : May 1915
country : France
design : Henri Farman
production : unknown (200+)
general information :
There is not too much information on the Internet about the HF.27. Nevertheless, this was an important successor to Henri Farman's previous designs. To make the aircraft firmer and more resilient, the wooden frame was replaced by steel tubes. Henri was influenced by the Voisin designs and also provided his device with a four-wheeled landing gear with no tail praise. The lower and upper wing got an equal wingspan. The F.27 was deployed on almost all fronts, in the West, the Dardanelles, in Africa and Mesopotamia where it participated in the siege of Kut-el-Amara (Iraq)
The plane with which Reginald Warneford crashed was a Henri Farman H.F. 27.
Reginald Warneford was responsible for bringing down the Zeppelin LZ37 over Ghent, he did so while flying a Morane Saulnier L on June 7, 1915
In the afternoon of June 17, 1915, Warneford flew the brand new Farman H.F.27. A two-set pusher biplane.This type of device had the engine and propeller at the back, allowing to mount a machine gun in front.
Warneford flew with journalist Beech-Needham as a passenger. This journalist was writing an article series about the pilot's heroism and would have liked to have illustrated it with some action photos.
Loopings were made, they turned climbed and dived, and in the meantime the journalist knew about his pilot's abilities and took pictures for his article. Presumably the journalist bent too much back to take a picture of Warneford and was grabbed by the airscrew, after which the plane suddenly crashed ungovernable. Neither aviator was happy to wear his belts, as they were both thrown out of the plane. First Beech-Needham, later Warneford. Beech-Needham didn't survive the fall. Warneford was badly injured and was taken by Lieutenant Marsden to the British military hospital of Versailles in his private car. On the way to the hospital they made a small detour to pick up Barones de Laroche, the girlfriend of Warneford.
Warneford’s crashed H.F.27
Warneford was awake to the last minute, but died shortly after arriving at the hospital. The H.F.27 was designed and made by the 'Société Henri et Maurice Farman'. The H.F. 27 double-decker push-glider was an improved version based on the H.F. 20. These latter types could not carry enough bombs for a successful mission. The H.F. 22's had problems with the weather conditions. That's why the H.F. 27 was developed with a full metal frame. Due to its greater weight, a more powerful engine had to be built in. It became a Gnome or a Canton-Unné R9 of 140 hp. The greater weight also meant that the wing surface had to be increased and that four landing wheels were needed. The plane did a test flight in February 1915. The aircraft also served in Russia. It reached a speed of 145 km/h and was able to carry a load of 400 kg. In some tests, 600 kg were managed to lift the air.
users : France, RNAS (80), Romania (6), Russia
crew : 2
armament : 1 movable 8.00 [mm] (0.315 in) Hotchkiss M1909 machine-gun for the
observer
engine : 1 Salmson Canton-Unne R.9 liquid-cooled 9 -cylinder radial engine 140 [hp]
(103.0 KW)
dimensions :
wingspan : 16.15 [m], length : 9.21 [m], height : 3.4[m]
wing area : 60.6 [m^2]
weights :
max.take-off weight : 1050 [kg]
empty weight operational : 700 [kg] bombload : 245 [kg]
performance :
maximum speed : 132 [km/hr] at sea-level
service ceiling : 4500 [m]
endurance : 4.0 [hours]
estimated action radius : 238 [km]
description :
3-bay biplane with fixed landing gear with nosewheel
two spar upper and lower wing
tail supported by two open tail booms
engines, landing gear, fuel and bombs in or attached to the fuselage
airscrew :
fixed pitch 2 -bladed pusher airscrew with max. efficiency :0.63 [ ]
estimated diameter airscrew 2.69 [m]
angle of attack prop : 15.52 [ ]
reduction : 1.00 [ ]
airscrew revs : 1250 [r.p.m.]
pitch at Max speed 1.76 [m]
blade-tip speed at Vmax and max revs. : 180 [m/s]
calculation : *1* (dimensions)
mean wing chord : 1.88 [m]
calculated wing chord (rounded tips): 2.04 [m]
wing aspect ratio : 8.61 []
estimated gap : 1.54 [m]
gap/chord : 0.82 [ ]
seize (span*length*height) : 506 [m^3]
calculation : *2* (fuel consumption)
oil consumption : 3.6 [kg/hr]
fuel consumption(cruise speed) : 25.8 [kg/hr] (35.3 [litre/hr]) at 62 [%] power
distance flown for 1 kg fuel : 4.60 [km/kg]
estimated total fuel capacity : 160 [litre] (117 [kg])
calculation : *3* (weight)
weight engine(s) dry : 272.9 [kg] = 2.65 [kg/KW]
weight 22 litre oil tank : 2.8 [kg]
oil tank filled with 0.8 litre oil : 0.7 [kg]
oil in engine 6 litre oil : 5.1 [kg]
fuel in engine 1 litre fuel : 0.5 [kg]
weight 15 litre gravity patrol tank(s) : 1.5 [kg]
weight radiator : 14.8 [kg]
weight exhaust pipes & fuel lines 14.0 [kg]
weight cowling 4.1 [kg]
weight airscrew(s) (wood) incl. boss & bolts : 19.0 [kg]
total weight propulsion system : 333 [kg](31.7 [%])
***************************************************************
weight tail boom : 13 [kg]
fuselage skeleton (wood gauge : 4.07 [cm]): 39 [kg]
bracing : 2.7 [kg]
fuselage covering ( 10.4 [m2] doped linen fabric) : 3.3 [kg]
weight controls + indicators: 7.1 [kg]
weight seats : 6.0 [kg]
weight other details, lighting set, etc. : 5.1 [kg]
weight bomb storage : 17.2 [kg]
weight 145 [litre] main fuel tank empty : 13.9 [kg]
weight engine mounts & firewalls : 5 [kg]
total weight fuselage : 99 [kg](9.5 [%])
***************************************************************
weight wing covering (doped linen fabric) : 39 [kg]
total weight ribs (46 ribs) : 62 [kg]
load on front upper spar (clmax) per running metre : 240.1 [N]
load on rear upper spar (vmax) per running metre : 156.0 [N]
total weight 8 spars : 35 [kg]
weight wings : 136 [kg]
weight wing/square meter : 2.25 [kg]
weight 12 interplane struts & cabane : 13.3 [kg]
weight cables (99 [m]) : 5.5 [kg] (= 55 [gram] per metre)
diameter cable : 3.0 [mm]
weight fin & rudder (3.0 [m2]) : 7.3 [kg]
weight stabilizer & elevator (5.8 [m2]): 13.5 [kg]
total weight wing surfaces & bracing : 176 [kg] (16.7 [%])
*******************************************************************
weight machine-gun(s) : 12.0 [kg]
weight pivot mounting mg :6.0 [kg]
weight armament : 18 [kg]
********************************************************************
wheelpressure/m3 : 126.0 [KN/m3] wheelstress : 2143.0 [Nm/kg]
wheel density : 287 [kg/m3] wheelvolume : 0.036 [m3]
wheel pressure : 462.0 [kg]
weight 4 wheels (730 [mm] by 86 [mm]) : 30.9 [kg]
weight tailskid : 0.0 [kg]
weight undercarriage with axle 26.9 [kg]
total weight landing gear : 57.8 [kg] (5.5 [%]
*******************************************************************
********************************************************************
calculated empty weight : 684 [kg](65.1 [%])
weight oil for 4.8 hours flying : 17.3 [kg]
weight cooling fluids : 21.2 [kg]
weight 8 drums empty : 0.9 [kg]
weight ammunition (192 rounds) : 6.4 [kg]
weight automatic pistol with spare magazines : 1.2 [kg]
*******************************************************************
calculated operational weight empty : 730 [kg] (69.5 [%])
published operational weight empty : 700 [kg] (66.7 [%])
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weight crew : 162 [kg]
weight fuel for 2.0 hours flying : 52 [kg]
********************************************************************
operational weight : 943 [kg](89.8 [%])
bombload could not be carried with fuel for 2 hours flying time
fuel reserve : 66 [kg] enough for 2.54 [hours] flying
possible additional useful load : 41 [kg]
operational weight fully loaded : 1050 [kg] with fuel tank filled for 100 [%]
published maximum take-off weight : 1050 [kg] (100.0 [%])
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calculation : * 4 * (engine power)
power loading (Take-off) : 10.20 [kg/kW]
total power : 103.0 [kW] at 1250 [r.p.m]
calculation : *5* (loads)
manoeuvre load : 3.2 [g] at 1000 [m]
limit load : 3.0 [g] ultimate load : 4.5 [g] load factor : 1.2 [g]
design flight time : 3.20 [hours]
design cycles : 141 sorties, design hours : 450 [hours]
wing loading (MTOW) : 170 [N/m^2]
wing stress (3 g) during operation : 227 [N/kg] at 3g emergency manoeuvre
calculation : *6* (angles of attack)
angle of attack zero lift : -1.15 ["]
max. angle of attack (stalling angle) : 11.98 ["]
angle of attack at max. speed : 1.00 ["]
calculation : *7* (lift & drag ratios
lift coefficient at angle of attack 0° :0.10 [ ]
lift coefficient at max. angle of attack : 1.14 [ ]
lift coefficient at max. speed : 0.19 [ ]
induced drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0023 [ ]
drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0351 [ ]
drag coefficient (zero lift) : 0.0328 [ ]
calculation : *8* (speeds
stalling speed at sea-level (OW): 53 [km/u]
landing speed at sea-level (OW without bombload): 64 [km/hr]
min. drag speed (max endurance) : 76 [km/hr] at 2250 [m](power :33 [%])
min. power speed (max range) : 82 [km/hr] at 2250 [m] (power:35 [%])
max. rate of climb speed : 78.2 [km/hr] at sea-level
cruising speed : 119 [km/hr] op 2250 [m] (power:63 [%])
design speed prop : 125 [km/hr]
maximum speed : 132 [km/hr] op 100 [m] (power:99 [%])
climbing speed at sea-level (without bombload) : 234 [m/min]
calculation : *9* (regarding various performances)
take-off distance at sea-level : 76 [m]
lift/drag ratio : 10.77 [ ]
max. practical ceiling : 5200 [m] with flying weight :816 [kg]
practical ceiling (operational weight): 4600 [m] with flying weight :943 [kg]
practical ceiling fully loaded (mtow- 1 hour fuel) : 4225 [m] with flying weight :1024 [kg]
published ceiling (4500 [m]
climb to 1500m (without bombload) : 7.22 [min]
climb to 3000m (without bombload) : 18.18 [min]
max. dive speed : 334.5 [km/hr] at 3225 [m] height
load factor at max. angle turn 2.15 ["g"]
turn radius at 500m: 29 [m]
time needed for 360* turn 7.9 [seconds] at 500m
calculation *10* (action radius & endurance)
met deze bomlading kan er geen piloot meer mee !!!!!!
operational endurance : 5.36 [hours] with 2 crew and 20 [kg] useful load and 118.0 [%] fuel
published endurance : 4.00 [hours] with 2 crew and possible useful (bomb) load : 55 [kg] and 88.1 [%] fuel
action radius : 318 [km] with 2 crew and 20[kg] photo camera/radio transmitter or bombload
max range theoretically with additional fuel tanks for total 337 [litre] fuel : 1135 [km]
useful load with action-radius 250km (with no gunner/observer) : 138 [kg]
useful load with action-radius 250km : 50 [kg]
production : 5.90 [tonkm/hour]
oil and fuel consumption per tonkm : 4.99 [kg]
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°°_I>-/
° °
Literature :
Bombers 1914-19 page 102
Praktisch handboek vliegtuigen deel 1 page 135
http://www.luchtschipontploftboven.gent/fatale-vlucht
DISCLAIMER Above calculations are based on published data, they must be
regarded as indication not as facts.
Calculated performance and weight may not correspond with actual weights
and performances and are assumptions for which no responsibility can be taken.
Calculations are as accurate as possible, they can be fine-tuned when more data
is available, you are welcome to give suggestions and additional information
so we can improve our program. For copyright on drawings/photographs/
content please mail to below mail address
(c) B van der Zalm 23 January 2020 contact : info.aircraftinvestigation@gmail.com python 3.7.4