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HF.20
Role	Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Farman
Designer	Henri Farman
First flight	1913

An HF.20 biplane at Nicopolis airfield, near Preveza, in December 1912

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 Shkodër 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 - version with Gnome Lambda engine


• 
  HF.22 - version with Gnome Lambda engine


• 
  HF.23 - version with Gnome Lambda engine


• 
  HF.24 - version with Gnome Lambda engine


• 
  HF.25 - version with Gnome Lambda engine


• 
  HF.27 - version with Salmson 9 engine

Operators

HF-20 of the Swiss Air Force during the First World War

 Argentina

• Argentine Air Force

 Belgium

• Belgian Air Force

 Denmark

• Royal Danish Air Force

 France

• Aéronautique Militaire

 Greece

• Royal Hellenic Navy

 Kingdom of Italy

• Corpo Aeronautico Militare

 Japan

• Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service

 Netherlands

• Royal Netherlands Air Force

 Romania

• Royal Romanian Air Force

 Russia

• Imperial Russian Air Service

 Serbia

• Serbian Air Force

 Soviet Union

• 
  Soviet Air Force - Taken over from the Imperial Russian Air Force.

 Sweden

• Swedish Air Force


• Swedish Navy

  Switzerland

• Swiss Air Force

 United Kingdom

• 
  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)

General characteristics

• 
  Crew: Two, pilot and observer


• 
  Length: 8.30 m (27 ft 3 in)


• 
  Wingspan: 14.00 m (45 ft 11 in)


• 
  Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)


• 
  Wing area: 35.0 m² (377 ft²)


• 
  Empty weight: 360 kg (800 lb)


• 
  Gross weight: 660 kg (1,460 lb)


• 
  Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Lambda rotary engine, 60 kW (80 hp)

Performance

• 
  Maximum speed: 110 km/h (70 mph)


• 
  Range: 250 km (160 miles)


• 
  Service ceiling: 315 m (1,050 ft)

Armament

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Farman HF.20.

• 
  Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 380–381..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
  


• 
  World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 894 Sheet 14–15.