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	30+

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.

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 ft²)
• 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

See also

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of Germany
• List of seaplanes and amphibious aircraft

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Friedrichshafen aircraft.

Notes

Bibliography

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing. 
• Borzutzki, Siegfried (1993). Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH: Diplom-Ingenieur Theodor Kober. Berlin: Königswinter. p. 102.