Friedrichshafen FF.29

FF.29
	U-12 with FF.29 on deck
Role	Two-seat coastal patrol floatplane
Manufacturer	Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen
First flight	1910s
Introduction	1914
Primary user	German Imperial Navy
Number built	44

The Friedrichshafen FF.29 was a German lightweight two-seat floatplane of the 1910s produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.

Development and design[]

The FF.29 was designed as a lightweight floatplane, a biplane powered by a Mercedes D.II inline piston engine. Five FF.29s were built at the Orlogsværftet Flyvemaskineværksted in Denmark, designated Orlogsværftet HB.I

Operational history[]

The FF.29 entered service with the German Imperial Navy in November 1914, it was used for coastal patrol and reconnaissance and had the ability to carry a small load of bombs. On 24 December 1914 an FF.29 was the first aircraft to drop a bomb on British soil, a single bomb landed in the garden of a house in Leyburn Road, Dover. There were no injuries and little damage beyond a crater in the lawn and smashed windows. On 15 January 1915 a FF.29 was the first plane to be launched from a submarine, the SM U-12.

Variants[]

FF.29: Production aircraft.
FF.29A: A similar aircraft with improved floats and tail surfaces.

Operators[]

Denmark

Royal Danish Navy

German Empire

German Imperial Navy

Netherlands

Royal Netherlands Navy

Specifications (FF.29)[]

General characteristics

Length: 10.40 m (34 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 16.30 m (53 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 57.5 m² (619 sq ft)
Empty weight: 928 kg (2,046 lb)
Gross weight: 1,400 kg (3,086 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.II , 90 kW (120 hp)

Performance

References[]

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. ISSN 0143-5450.