Rhein-Flugzeugbau RF-1

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Rhein-Flugzeugbau RF-1
RF-1.jpg
Type: Touring plane
Design country:

Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany BR Germany

Manufacturer:

Rhein-Flugzeugbau GmbH

First flight:

August 15, 1960

Commissioning:

-

Number of pieces:

1 prototype

The Rhein-Flugzeugbau RF-1 was a six-seat touring and feeder aircraft manufactured by Rhein-Flugzeugbau . Special features are the STOL properties and the drive by two engines, which together drive a ducted propeller.

history

After Rhein-Flugzeugbau had been manufacturing the RW3 developed by Rhein-Westflug as a licensed construction company since 1956, RFB's first own aircraft design was the RF-1 from 1958. With the RF-1, Rhein-Flugzeugbau wanted to secure market shares in the flourishing taxi and local air traffic. The special challenges of the initially four-seater design included the STOL properties of the aircraft, which was primarily intended to be used by small airports with short runways. The development of the RF-1 was financed with funds from the Ministry of Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia. When designing the RF-1, Hanno Fischer used the channelwing principle developed by Willard Custer in the 1920s . The aerodynamic design of the channel wing was examined in the RFB factory in Krefeld in 1959 using a 1: 2 model.

After completing the model tests, RFB in Krefeld began building a prototype and a pre-series aircraft. The first prototype of the RF-1 was largely completed in early 1960. Compared to the original test model, the RF-1 prototype was given a larger cabin in which up to six people or up to four stretchers could be accommodated in the ambulance aircraft variant that has now been offered. The final assembly of the RF-1 took place at Wildenrath airfield, where the aircraft received D-IGIR approval and was flown for the first time by Hanno Fischer on August 15, 1960.

construction

The RF-1 was a twin-engine cantilevered shoulder -wing aircraft . The three-part wing, constructed as a welded tubular steel frame, had a central part with a semicircular wing root. Fischer adopted this structure from the Channelwing, which Willard Ray Custer developed in the mid-1920s and successfully implemented in his CCW-5 in the early 1960s. The middle part of the RF-1 was clad with a shaping plastic sandwich paneling.

The outer wing parts were made of a two-spar all - metal construction. Between the all-metal ailerons and the propeller ring there were slotted landing flaps, also made of all-metal. The front part of the fuselage up to the wing leading edge was designed as an all-metal box profile construction. The rear section was a welded tubular steel frame that was clad with shaping plastic sandwich panels.

The RF-1 had a cantilevered normal tail unit with a slightly swept tail fin. The nosewheel undercarriage was electrically retractable, with the main wheels retracting laterally into the ring-fuselage transition and the nosewheel towards the front under the bow of the fuselage.

Two coupled 250 HP Lycoming O540 A1A engines were used as propulsion, which were arranged behind the passenger cabin. Both motors could be operated independently of one another via a centrifugal clutch. This made it possible to switch off an engine during the cruise.

Trial and whereabouts

When testing the RF-1, the larger cabin than in the test model turned out to be a problem. The wider cabin hindered the flow of air to the jacket screw, which meant that the expected thrust fell short of expectations. In principle, the RF-1 prototype fulfilled the expected STOL properties, but an extensive redesign of the cabin part was necessary for series production. Since the state of North Rhine-Westphalia did not provide any further funds for this modification and after Willi Käther left the company in 1960 , RFB focused more on the maintenance business, development work on the RF-1 was stopped in September 1960. No further testing took place. The prototype was later used at RWTH Aachen University for experiments in the development of the jacketed screw drive. The second pre-series prototype, which was already under construction, was canceled. It was only with the Rhein-Flugzeugbau Sirius II at the end of the sixties that an in-house development was first developed by RFB after the RF-1.

The principle of the Channel Wings used Hanno Fischer end of the 1980s again in the development of the FF WhisperFan .

Versions

RF-1 V1
Prototype that made its maiden flight on August 15th. This was equipped with two Lycoming engines with 250 hp each. Mechanical operation of the landing flaps and the horizontal stabilizer adjustment. Half of the propeller ring had a shaping wooden frame with a balsa wood filling. Large vertebral lobes were attached to the ends of the wings .
RF-1 V2
Planned second prototype, the construction of which was started but not completed. This version largely corresponded to the planned series version. It should have more powerful engines, each with 275 hp. The wing was only planned in two parts and should lead through the ring as a load-bearing element in order to bypass the heavy, load-bearing ring wing root. The wing end clubs were smaller and were supposed to hold 160 liters of fuel each.

Technical data of the RF-1 V1

Parameter Data
Crew / passengers 6 people (two next to each other in three rows)
length 13.08 m
span 14.10 m
height 3.85 m
Wing area 32.5 m²
Wing extension 6.1
Empty mass 1800 kg
Takeoff mass 2700 kg
Cruising speed 260 km / h
Top speed 290 km / h
Service ceiling 6200 m (at 2300 kg mass)
Range 750 km (with 30 min reserve)
Engines two Lycoming O-540-A1A air-cooled 6-cylinder boxer engines with 250 HP starting power each.
The motors jointly drove a four-blade adjustable ducted propeller via a gearbox.
360 liters of fuel in two wing tanks.

See also

literature

  • Karlheinz Kens: types of aircraft. International aviation type book. 4th edition. Lange, Duisburg 1963.
  • Rolf Wurster: 50 Years of Deutsche Motorflugzeuge , Books on Demand, ISBN 3-8311-1854-X
  • Paul Zöller: Rhein-Flugzeugbau GmbH and Fischer Flugmechanik , 2016, ISBN 978-3-7431-1823-2

Web links

Commons : Rhein-Flugzeugbau RF-1  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Zöller: Rhein-Flugzeugbau GmbH and Fischer Flugmechanik , 2016, ISBN 978-3-7431-1823-2
  2. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt, January 19, 1960, "RF1 before the first flight"