Klemm Kl 35

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Klemm Kl 35

Klemm Kl 35
Type	Two-seat sports and training aircraft
Manufacturer	Klemm Leightflugzeugbau Gmbh
Designed by	Friedrich Fecher
Maiden flight	1935
Introduced	1935
Status	out of service
Primary users	Luftwaffe Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania Sweden
Produced	1937-1944
Number built	c.2,000?
Unit cost	RM17,500

The Klemm Kl 35 was a German sporting and training aeroplane developed as a successor to the Kl 25. A product of Klemm Leightflugzeugbau Gmbh it shared the same single-engine, cantilever low-wing configuration as the earlier machine. The fully aerobatics-capable aeroplane was shown for the first time publicly in October 1935 at the international Air Show in Milan and soon found many private buyers. A number of air forces including the Romanian and the Hungarian: the Swedish Flygvapnet, which alone bought 74 airplanes - designated Sk 15 - for training use. At least five of these were seaplanes. Plans for manufacture under licence abroad did not come to fruition.

1 Development
2 Production
3 Operational history
4 Variants
5 Aircraft markings
6 Operators
7 Specifications (Klemm Kl 35D)
8 References
9 External links
10 Related content

[edit] Development

The Kl 35 was designed in 1934 under the auspices of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM). Dipl. Ing. Friedrich Fecher had overall responsibility for the construction. The so-called Gemischtbauweise construction was used: steel for fuselage, wood for wings and tail units and only only small quantities of light alloy for linings were used. This became a preferred building method with the RLM around this time, because from considerations of strategic material availability.

[edit] Production

The results of the trial must have been satisfactory, because in July 1936, 23 aircraft were ordered for delivery between July and September 1937, with production planned to increase to 3 per month. Klemm were at the time manufacturing the Fw 44 under licence from Focke-Wulf.

By this time,RLM was already looking for a sub-contractor to build the Kl 35A under licence, choosing Fieseler who were already undertaking licence production of the He 72 and Fw 58 alongside Storks at their Kasseler plant.

Further orders, to a total of 1,386, followed and new variants came on line, beginning with the Ki 35B with a new engine.

Manufacture at Fieseler ceased in November 1939, after 365 aircraft, when the RLM transferred licence production to Zlin in occupied Czechoslovakia.

Production ended in May 1943 with total production for the Luftwaffe having reached 1,302. The balance of production was for private and export customers, though since these would have to number nearly 700 to reach the oft-quoted total of around 2,000 this may be exaggerated.