Top speed 470 km/h Length 13 m First flight 1940 | Wingspan 18 m Introduced 1940 Manufacturer Folland Aircraft | |
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The Folland Fo.108 also known as the Folland 43/37 and by the nickname Folland Frightful (or Frightener) was a large monoplane engine testbed aircraft of the 1940s.
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Design and development
The Fo.108 was Folland's response to Air Ministry Specification 43/37 for an engine testbed. It was Folland's first design to be accepted by the Air Ministry for production. The Fo.108 was a large low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional cantilever tailplane and had a fixed tailwheel landing gear. It had a glazed cockpit for the pilot and a cabin for two observers behind and below the pilot fitted out so they could make detailed measurements of the engine performance during flight.
To enable the aircraft to be delivered from the Hamble factory and later ferried to new assignments, they were normally fitted with a Bristol Hercules radial engine. In service, the Fo.108 was fitted with a number of other engines including the inline Napier Sabre (four), Bristol Centaurus radial, and Rolls-Royce Griffon V-engine.
Entering service in 1940, the type was operated by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, Napier and Rolls-Royce, Five of the twelve production aircraft were lost in crashes, the type earning the nickname "Frightener" as a result. The last examples of the Fo.108 were withdrawn from service in 1945. De Havilland's engine division used a Fo. 108 into 1946.
Specifications (Centaurus engine)
Data from
General characteristics
Performance