Fieseler Fi 97

Fieseler · Germany · first flew 1934 · light aircraft

The Fieseler Fi 97 was a four-seat cabin touring monoplane built to fly for Germany in the 1934 European touring-plane championship, the Challenge 1934.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — WingsLow-mounted, straight
E — Engines1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — FuselageWings that fold aft against the fuselage for storage
T — TailConventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

A boxy low-wing cabin monoplane for four, recognisable by its folding-wing hinge line and enclosed cabin glazing, larger than the open-cockpit Fi 5.

Specifications

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Developed at the Reich Air Ministry's encouragement as a scaled-up companion to the two-seat Fi 5, the Fi 97 was designed by Kurt Arnolt with a mixed-construction airframe, folding wings for storage, and high-lift devices for short-field performance. One Argus-engined example took third place in the 1934 Challenge, behind two Polish RWD-9s.

Variants

Five Fi 97s were built in total, three with Hirth HM 8U engines and two with Argus As 17A engines.

Where you'll see it

As a small pre-war production run, no Fi 97 is known to survive; it is remembered chiefly for its 1934 Challenge result.

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