Engineering:Akaflieg Berlin B4 F.F.

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Short description: 1930s German light aircraft
B4 F.F.
Akaflieg Berlin AB4 ueber Berlin-Johannisthal.jpg
The B4 over Johannisthal
Role Light aircraft
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Akaflieg Berlin
Designer Walter Stender, dr. Martin Schrenk and Gerald Klein
First flight December 1931
Number built 1

The Akaflieg Berlin B4 F.F. was a single-seat aircraft built in Germany in the early 1930s. It was a high-wing monoplane of all-wood construction with fabric-covered foldable wings[1]

Design and development

In 1931 the Deutsche Luftfahrt-Verband e.V. (DLV) opened a competition for an inexpensive light aircraft. Two entries were put forward; Akaflieg Berlin's B4 F.F. (D-2229) and Dipl.-Ing. Hermann Mayer's MM-1 (D-2230), with both aircraft exhibited at the 1932 Deutschen Luftsport-Ausstellung (DELA) in Berlin.[2]

Like the Mayer MM-1 the B4 F.F. was constructed at the DLV workshops in Adlershof. Design took eight months and construction a further nine.[2]

Specifications (B4 F.F.)

Data from [2]

General characteristics

  • Length: 5.7 m (18 ft 8 in)
  • Wingspan: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)
  • Height: 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
  • Wing area: 10 m2 (110 sq ft)
  • Aspect ratio: 8
  • Empty weight: 185 kg (408 lb)
  • Gross weight: 285 kg (628 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Daimler F7502 , 15 kW (20 hp)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 125 km/h (78 mph, 67 kn)
  • Service ceiling: 3,500 m (11,500 ft)
  • g limits: +8 (ultimate load factor)
  • Wing loading: 28.5 kg/m2 (5.8 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 19.18 kg/kW (31.53 lb/hp)

References

  1. Stender, Walter (April 1932). ""FF" Kleinflugzeug der Akaflieg Berlin" (in German). Flugsport (8): 149–151. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wefeld, Hans Joachim (1995) (in German). 75 Jahre AKAFLIEG BERLIN 1920–1995. Akademische Fliegergruppe Berlin e.V.. pp. 35–39.