The Farman HF.20 and its derivatives were a family of reconnaissance aircraft produced in France shortly before and during the First World War. It was a refined version of the Farman MF.11 "Shorthorn" that did away with the type's distinctive landing skids, and incorporated design features from Henri Farman's designs. It entered service with the French, Belgian and Serbian armies in 1913 (two aircraft conducted reconnaissance during the Siege of Scutari in the First Balkan War and one crashed), and with the British RFC and RNAS shortly after the outbreak of war. The type was also licence-built in the UK by Airco and Grahame-White.
The HF.20 was seriously underpowered, and a variety of engines were trialled in the hope of correcting this, none with much success. The problem was eventually solved only when an engine of twice the power of the original powerplant was fitted to the HF.27 variant, by which time the aircraft was already obsolete. Nevertheless, the performance of the HF.20 made it adequate for use on secondary fronts.
Variants
HF.20 original version with Gnome Lambda engine HF.21 span and increased wing area version with Gnome Lambda engine. At least one of the few built, entered service with the Fliegertruppe of Switzerland. HF.22 span and increased wing area version with Gnome Lambda engine. HF.22 floatplane ( HF.22bis or Savoia-built HF.22-H) HF.23 span version with Gnome Lambda engine HF.24 span aerobatic version with Gnome Lambda engine HF.27 Canton-Unné R9 engine or Renault engine with a revised undercarriage that included nose wheels similar to the Voisin III.
Operators
Argentine Air Force
Belgian Air Force
Royal Danish Air Force
Aéronautique Militaire Escadrille HF 1 Escadrille HF 7 Escadrille HF 13 Escadrille HF 19 Escadrille HF 28 Escadrille HF 32
Royal Hellenic Navy
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
Royal Netherlands Air Force
Romanian Air Corps
Imperial Russian Air Service
Serbian Air Force
Soviet Air Force - Taken over from the Imperial Russian Air Force.
Swedish Air Force Swedish Navy
Swiss Air Force
Royal Flying Corps No. 2 Squadron RFC No. 5 Squadron RFC No. 6 Squadron RFC No. 10 Squadron RFC No. 24 Squadron RFC No. 26 Squadron RFC No. 30 Squadron RFC No. 31 Squadron RFC No. 32 Squadron RFC No. 64 Squadron RFC Royal Naval Air Service Union of South Africa South African Aviation Corps
Specifications (HF.20)
References
Bibliography
Thomas, Andrew. "In the Footsteps of Daedulus: Early Greek Naval Aviation". Air Enthusiast, No. 94, July–August 2001, pp. 8–9.
Further reading