The Farman F.220 and its derivatives were thick-sectioned, high-winged, four engined French monoplanes from Farman Aviation Works. Based on the push-pull configuration proven by the F.211, design started in August 1925 and the first flight of the prototype was on 26 May 1932. The largest bomber to serve in France between the two world wars was the final F.222 variant. One variation was intended to be an airliner.[1]
Development
After testing the sole F.220 prototype, Farman made a number of changes to the design, including a new tail fin, fully enclosing the nose and ventral gunners' positions, and changing from V-engines to radials. The first example of this version, dubbed the F.221 flew in May 1933, and was followed by ten production examples delivered to the Armee de l'Air from June 1936. These machines featured hand-operated turrets for the three gunners' stations. Meanwhile, the prototype F.220 was sold to Air France, where christened Le Centaur, it flew as a mail plane on the South Atlantic route. This led to a batch of four similar aircraft being built for the airline.
The F.222 variant began to enter service with Armee de l'Air in the spring of 1937. Unlike its predecessor, this plane featured a retractable undercarriage. Twenty-four aircraft were produced with redesigned front fuselages and dihedral added to the outer wing. During World War II these planes were used in leaflet raids over Germany and then night bombing raids during May and June 1940. These resulted in three losses.
The Farman F.222 was involved in a notable operation carried out by French fighter pilot James Denis. On 20 June 1940, realising that the Battle of France was lost, Denis borrowed a Farman F.222 from an airbase near Saint-Jean-d'Angély. He flew to Britain with twenty of his friends, and joined the Free French Air Force, in which service he subsequently became an ace, shooting down nine German aircraft.[2]
The F.223 (redesignated NC.223 when Farman was absorbed into SNCAC) incorporated significant changes, including a twin tail and a considerably refined fuselage. The first prototype was ordered as a long-range mail plane[3] and in October 1937 established a record by flying 621 miles with a 22,046 lb payload. The Ministère de l'Air ordered a production run of 8 of the NC223.3 variation which was commenced in 1939. A variant NC 223.4 Jules Verne, a mail delivery plane converted back into a bomber after requisition in the beginning of World War II, of French Naval Aviation was the first Allied bomber to raid Berlin: on the night of 7 June 1940 aircraft of this variant dropped eight bombs of 250 kg and 80 of 10 kg weight on the German capital.[4] This operation, which was of a primarily psychological-warfare nature, was repeated three days later.
The first NC 223.3 bombers were delivered in May 1940 and participated in night bombing attacks on Germany before being transferred to North Africa in June 1940. The bombers were subsequently relegated to transport roles, seeing service with both the Vichy regime and the Free French.
The F.224 was a dedicated civil variant able to seat 40 passengers. Six machines were produced for Air France, but were ultimately rejected because the 224 could not maintain altitude on three engines. The aircraft went on to serve in the Armée de l'Air instead with a reduced payload. Much of the known variants provided light carpet bombings of up to 52, 250kg bombs. Known as one of the largest payloads to ever be dropped from an aircraft.
Variants
Farman F.220
Farman F.220.01 - prototype with Hispano-Suiza 12Lbr engines (1 built)
Farman F.220B - mailplane (converted from F.220)
Farman F.220-0 - production version of the F.220B (4 built)
Farman F.221
revised version with enclosed gunners' positions, powered by 4x Gnome-Rhône 14Kdrs engines, (10 built, plus one F.221.01 prototype).
Farman F.222
definitive production version
Farman F.222.1 - revised version with retractable undercarriage and turrets, powered by 4x Gnome-Rhône 14Kirs engines (11 built)
Farman F.222.01 prototype converted from the F.221.01
Farman F.222.2 - F.222.1 with redesigned nose, powered by 4x Gnome-Rhône 14N-11 engines, (24 built).
Farman F.2220 - airliner prototype for Air France as Ville de Dakar, powered by 4x Hispano-Suiza 12Xgrs engines, (1 built).
^"Commercial Aviation". Flight. December 12, 1935. p. 624. Archived from the original(pdf) on October 22, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
^"James Denis". The Times. London. 2003-06-30. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
^William Green, War Planes of the Second World War, Volume 8, 1967
^Donald A. Bertke,Don Kindell,Gordon Smith, "World War II sea war: France falls, Britain stand alone: Day-to-Day Naval Actions April 1940 through September 1940.", p.205 [1]
^Parmentier, Bruno (1999-01-10). "Aviafrance Farman 224" (in French). France: Aviafrance.com. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
^Parmentier, Bruno. "Farman F-222/2". www.aviafrance.com (in French). Retrieved 23 October 2019.
Bibliography
Bousquet, Gérard (January 1996). "Courrier Lecteurs" [Readers Mail]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (34): 40. ISSN1243-8650.
Cortet, Pierre (March 1989). "Le fin du F-APUZ" [The End of F-APUZ]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (232): 38–39. ISSN0757-4169.
Cortet, Pierre (January 1995). "Les Farman 220 à 224 (1re partie)" [The Farman 220 to 224, part 1]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (23): 10–14. ISSN1243-8650.
Cortet, Pierre (May 1995). "Les Farman 220 à 224 (4e partie)" [The Farman 220 to 224, part 4]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (26): 22–25. ISSN1243-8650.
Ketley, Barry, French Aces of WWII, Osprey Publishing
Leyvastre, Pierre (May–June 1969). "Le bombardier strategique français de 1940: Farman 220 – 221 – 222" [The French Strategic Bomber of 1940: The Farman 220 – 221 – 222]. Le Album de Fanatique de l'Aviation (in French) (1): 19–23. ISSN0757-4169.
Liron, Jean (1984). Les avions Farman. Collection Docavia. Vol. 21. Paris: Éditions Larivière. OCLC37146471.
Mombeek, Eric (May 2001). "Les trésors de Cazaux" [The Treasures of Cazaux]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (98): 44–47. ISSN1243-8650.
Morareau, Lucien (October 1996). "Courrier Lecteurs" [Readers Mail]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (43): 31. ISSN1243-8650.
Narbonne, Roland de (May 2008). "Les quadrimoteurs Farman: Des avions sans mode d'emploi" [The Four-engined Farmans: Planes Without Instructions]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (462): 18–29. ISSN0757-4169.
Young, Edward M. (1984). "France's Forgotten Air War". Air Enthusiast. No. 25. pp. 22–33. ISSN0143-5450.
Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Farman F.220.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 379.
World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. File 894 Sheet 16.
William Green, War Planes of the Second World War, Volume 8, 1967
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