Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Farman BN.4

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Top speed
  
160 km/h

Length
  
21 m

Manufacturer
  
Farman Aviation Works

Wingspan
  
33 m

First flight
  
March 1922

The Farman BN.4, a.k.a. Super Goliath, was a very large 1920s French biplane designed by Farman as a long-range night bomber.

Contents

Development

Often known by the military designation BN.4 (Bombardment de Nuit Strategique, 4 places), some sources refer to it as the Super Goliath though that name was also applied to the Farman F.141. It was a four-seat long range night bomber. The company exhibited the BN.4 at the 1921 Paris Salon de l'Aeronautique. The BN.4 was a four-engined three-bay biplane powered by four Lorraine piston engines mounted in tandem pairs on the lower wing. It had a biplane tail unit and a tailskid landing gear with twin-wheel main units. It had provision for a gunner in the nose section and adminships with additional machine guns that fired downwards and to the rear.

By the time the aircraft was test flown a pair of twin nose wheels had been added to stop the aircraft nosing over on soft grass airfields. After the aircraft had performed a number of test flights the military had lost interest in spending on new equipment in the post-war era. A civil version was looked at but it would have been too large and the BN.4 was not ordered into production.

Specifications

Data from

General characteristics

  • Crew: 4
  • Length: 21.40 m (70 ft 2½ in)
  • Wingspan: 32.90 m (107 ft 11¼ in)
  • Height: 7.35 m (24 ft 1¼ in)
  • Wing area: 300 m2 (3229.98 ft2)
  • Empty weight: 5500 kg (12,125 lb)
  • Gross weight: 10500 kg (23,149 lb)
  • Powerplant: 4 × Lorraine 12D V-12 water-cooled piston engines, 276 kW (370 hp) each
  • Performance

  • Maximum speed: 160 km/h (99 mph)
  • Service ceiling: 4500 m (14,765 ft)
  • Armament

  • 5 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns
  • up to 2,500 kg (5,512 lb) bombs
  • References

    Farman BN.4 Wikipedia