TheFarman III, also known as theHenry Farman 1909 biplane, was an early French aircraft designed and built byHenry Farman^[1][2] in 1909. Its design was widely imitated, so much so that aircraft of similar layout were generally referred to as being of the "Farman" type.

Farman III
Louis Paulhan in hisFarman III at theDominguez Field, Los Angeles 1910
Role	Pusher biplane
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Farman
Designer	Henry Farman
First flight	April 1909

Henry Farman's first aircraft had been bought from theVoisin brothers in 1907. Soon after his first flights Farman began to modify and improve the design of the aircraft, which was known as either the Farman I orVoisin-Farman I. During 1908 Farman re-covered the aircraft with 'Continental' rubberized fabric and added the side-curtains, and it was re-designated the Farman I-bis.^[3]Following theWilbur Wright-piloted flying demonstrations atLe Mans in August 1908, Farman fitted ailerons to the aircraft.

The Voisin brothers built another aircraft, to be called the Farman II, incorporating refinements of the design to Farman's specification. Voisin later sold this aircraft toJ.T.C. Moore-Brabazon.^[4] Brabazon subsequently exported the aircraft to England, where it became known as theBird of Passage. This episode angered Farman, and caused him to sever his association with Voisin in early 1909 and start aircraft construction for himself.

The Farman III was, like the Voisin, an equal-spanpusher biplane with a single forwardelevator and biplane tail surfaces carried on booms. Farman's design eliminated the coverednacelle for the pilot which also carried the elevator in the Voisin: instead the elevator was mounted on two pairs of converging booms. Lateral control was effected byailerons on both upper and lower wings. The undercarriage also differed considerably, replacing the pair of wheels with a pair of skids each carrying a pair of wheels sprung usingbungee cord and restrained byradius rods.

As first flown in April 1909 the aircraft had vertical fixed surfaces carrying twin rudders on their trailing edges and very broad-chord ailerons. The airframe was made of wood, mainlyash, with members joined usingaluminium sockets. Wing and tail surfaces were covered with a single fabric surface, with theribs and twospars enclosed in pockets. The fixed vertical surfaces had been removed and the ailerons replaced with smaller ones by the time the aircraft appeared at Reims in August. The original engine was a 50 hp (37 kW) 4-cylinder inline water-cooled Vivinus.^[2] Farman replaced the engine with the new and more reliable 50 hp (37 kW)Gnome Omegarotary engine while the aircraft was at theGrande Semaine d'Aviation at Reims, and the new engine's reliability contributed towards his success there. The aircraft had been entered with the Vivinus engine, and the last-minute engine replacement caused some of his competitors to try to get him disqualified. Production aircraft were fitted with a variety of engines, including the Gnome and theE.N.V. water-cooled V-8 engine.^[5] In 1910 the design was modified by adding an elevator to the upper tailplane surface.^[6]

The Farman III had enormous influence on European aircraft design, especially in England. Drawings and details of the aircraft were published in England byFlight,^[7] and it was so widely imitated that its layout became referred to as the "Farman Type". Among these aircraft are theBristol Boxkite, theShort S.27 and theHoward Wright 1910 Biplane. The Bristol aircraft was so similar to Farman's design that he considered legal action.^[8]

Farman was rewarded by commercial success, and many examples of the type were sold. Farman III aircraft were also built in Germany by theAlbatros Flugzeugwerke atJohannisthal as the Albatros F-2.

• Type de Course

Examples of a racing variant were built in 1910. This had a reduced wingspan, with the upper wing spanning 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in) and a monoplane tail.^[5]

• 1910 Michelin Cup biplane

Produced to make an attempt to win the 1910Michelin Cup long-distance competition, this aircraft had the same basic configuration but differed in having 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) extensions on the upper wing, giving a total wing area of 70 m² (750 sq ft) and a longnacelle to protect the pilot from the cold. Ailerons were fitted only on the upper wing, and fuel and oil tankage was increased to 230 lt and 80 lt respectively to give an endurance of 12 hours.^[9]

One of the first examples built was bought byRoger Sommer, who only two months after learning to fly set a new French endurance record with a flight of 1 hour 50 minutes on 1 August 1909,^[10] bettering this with a flight of 2hr 27min 15sec made a week later: this would have qualified as a new world record had it been officially observed. Sommer later went on to manufacture aircraft himself, his first design derived from the Farman.

Sommer's performance was easily beaten by Farman at theGrande Semaine d'Aviation held at Rheims later that month, where he won the prize for distance with a flight 180 km (110 mi) in just under 3 hours 5 minutes atRheims on August 27. Farman also won the passenger carrying prize, and came second in the altitude competition.^[11]

Two examples took part in the aviation meeting held inBlackpool in September 1909, one flown by Farman and the second byLouis Paulhan, winning first and third prizes for distance flown and first and second prizes in the speed contest,^[12] and at the end of October 1909 Paulhan made the first exhibition flight atBrooklands in his Farman, watched by a crowd of 20,000 people. In early 1910 Paulhan travelled to America to take part in theLos Angeles aviation meeting, taking aBlériot XI monoplane and a Farman. Flying the Farman, he set an altitude record of 1,258 m (4,126 ft) on 12 January.^[13]

Farman flew the type to win theInternational Michelin Cup with a flight of 232 km (144 mi) in 4 hours 17 minutes and 53 seconds atMourmelon on November 3, .^[14]

In April 1910 Paulhan won theLondon to Manchester air race flying a Farman III, competing againstClaude Grahame-White, also flying a Farman.

The type was widely used as a training aircraft. By the beginning of 1911 theAéro-Club de France had issued 354 pilots licences, of which 81 had been gained flying a Farman III; a total only exceeded by the 83 pilots who had qualified flying aBlériot monoplane.^[15]

In Belgium on July 15, 1910, the Farman III carried the first head of state in aviation history,Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.^[16]

Seven examples were used by the Greek military during theBalkan Wars, being used for reconnaissance.^[17]

Henry Farman's brother,Maurice Farman, constructed his own biplane in 1909,^[18] which first flew in February that year.^[19] Both machines were derived from theVoisin 1907 biplane, all having similar configurations. Henry's aircraft differed from Maurice's in lacking the pilot'snacelle and not using a Renault inline engine.^[18] Maurice and Henry began to collaborate closely in 1912.^[20]

One original Farman III is known to have survived, on display inTokorozawa Aviation Museum (Tokorozawa, Japan).^[21] This example made the first powered flight in Japan, piloted byYoshitoshi Tokugawa on 19 December 1911. It flew until 1913, when a fatal accident grounded the aircraft. Captured by the United States duringWorld War II, it was restored and returned to Japan in 1960.^[22]

An exact replica of a Greek Farman III "Daedalus" is displayed inAthens War Museum (Athens, Greece), a replica of the first German military aircraft Farman III is displayed atMilitärhistorisches Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow (Berlin, Germany), a replica of a Farman III is also displayed atMuseo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci Milano (Milan, Italy)

A flyable replica with a slightly changed wing profile was built in 2011 by Stasys Čepaitis, near Panevėžys, Lithuania.^[23] The plane was registered as LY-BFJ. As of 2022 Lithuanian aircraft register shows that the aircraft airworthiness expired in September 2019.^[24]

Data from^[25]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 1
• Length: 12 m (39 ft 4.5 in)
• Wingspan: 10 m (33 ft 9.75 in)
• Height: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 40 m² (430.56 sq ft)
• Gross weight: 550 kg (1,213 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 ×Gnome Omega 7-cylinderrotary engine , 37 kW (50 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 60 km/h (37 mph, 32 kn)

Related development

• Voisin-Farman I

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Bristol Boxkite
• Howard Wright 1910 Biplane
• Short S.27
• Wright Model A
• Kaishiki No.1

• Liron, Jean (1984).Les avions Farman. Collection Docavia. Vol. 21. Paris: Éditions Larivière.OCLC 37146471.
• Opdycke, Leonard E.French Aeroplanes Before the Great War Atglen, PA: Schiffer 1999ISBN 0-7643-0752-5
• Taylor, Michael J. H.Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989
• Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. Orbis Publishing, (Part Work 1982–1985)

• Video of Farman III replica test runs,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5DYDto8h68
• The use of Henri Farman III in Greece