Flanders F.4
The Flanders F.4 was a British monoplane the Royal Flying Corps in 1912.
History
Leonard Howard - Flanders founded the company in 1910 Flanders Ltd.. and wanted to build his own aircraft. Previously, he had worked at Alliott Verdon Roe.
His first aircraft was the F.2, a small monoplane with 60 hp Green engine. His pilot Ronald Kemp thus took on the British Empire Michelin Cup at Brooklands in part. The F.4 was finally out of the hapless version F.3.
Due to a royal arrangement, the British military founded on April 13, 1912, the Royal Flying Corps. The F.4 was the military variant of the F.3 with reduced span and a 70 hp Renault engine. The Waroffice ordered four F.4 machines.
In May 1912, several series of tests began to determine the appropriate machine for the Royal Flying Corps. However, the F.4 was not there. The following machine passed all tests: a Cody biplane, a Deperdussin, a Hanriot, two Bleriot and a Farman. The first prize over £ 4000 was Samuel Franklin Cody.
After comparing fly the F.4 proved in several tests as a powerful machine. Nevertheless, the Waroffice the Royal Aircraft Factory BE2 opted for an aircraft outside the competition. They still had better performances. However, the F.4 was the first aircraft to be equipped with radio. The tests in Farnborough and Brooklands were carried out with a battery-powered 6V -Marconi transmitter.
To make matters worse for the Flanders Waroffice forbade monoplane in October 1912. The four Flanders machines had to be taken in favor of biplanes from the service. Flanders had now build biplane and was even able to sell his Flanders B.2 to the Royal Navy. The Flanders Ltd.. however, went bankrupt in 1913.
Museum aircraft
There is a similar Flanders aircraft as replica, the Mannigan - Flanders MF1 of 1912 in the Shuttleworth Collection. The airworthy plane (G- BAAF ) was built in 1973 by Doug Bianchi for filming. It is at the Blue Max Museum of Flying movie in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.