Friedrichshafen FF.34

The Friedrichshafen FF.34 was a German biplane floatplane of the 1910s produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.

Development and design

The FF.34 was similar to the earlier FF.31 as it was a pusher configuration twin-boom floatplane. It had a central nacelle with two open cockpits. The engine (a Maybach Mb.IV) with a pusher propeller was mounted at the back of the nacelle. The twin tail booms were fitted to a rear tailplane/elevator assembly. The aircraft was later modified with a conventional fuselage and tail unit and re-designated the FF.44

Variants

FF.34

Prototype twin-boom pusher floatplane.

FF.44

FF.34 converted with a conventional fuselage and tail unit.

Operators

 German Empire

• Imperial German Navy

Specifications (FF.44)

General characteristics

• Crew: Two, pilot and observer
• Length: 10.85 m (35 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 18.40 m (60 ft 4 in)
• Height: 4.25 m (13 ft 11 in)
• Wing area: 68.5 m² (737 ft²)
• Empty weight: 1,552 kg (3,422 lb)
• Gross weight: 2,305 kg (5,082 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Maybach Mb.IV, 180 kW (240 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 145 km/h (90 mph)
• Range: 600 km (374 miles)
• Rate of climb: 1.2 m/s (236 ft/min)

Armament

• 1 × 7.92 mm Parabellum MG14 machine gun for observer

See also

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of Germany
• List of seaplanes and flying boats

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Friedrichshafen aircraft.

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 
• Borzutzki, Siegfried (1993). Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH: Diplom-Ingenieur Theodor Kober. Berlin: Königswinter. pp. 118, 138.