Friedrichshafen FF.71
Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen · German Reich · first flew 1919 · airliner
The Friedrichshafen FF.71 was a post-war civil floatplane adapted from the wartime FF.49C reconnaissance biplane to carry passengers rather than military equipment.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, straight |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Cabin adapted from a wartime reconnaissance fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Equal-span, three-bay biplane floatplane with widely spaced V-strut floats
- Cabin adapted from a wartime reconnaissance fuselage
- Single water-cooled tractor engine in the nose
A wartime-look three-bay reconnaissance biplane fitted with a passenger cabin instead of an observer's cockpit, betraying its military origins.
Specifications
- The Friedrichshafen FF.71 has a length of 11.65 m (38 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 17.15 m (56 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 140 km/h (87 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
First flown in April 1919, just after the Armistice, the FF.71 reused the FF.49C's equal-span, three-bay wings and floatplane undercarriage but modified the fuselage for passenger use. Friedrichshafen built one prototype, with five further FF.71a examples produced by the Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft.
Variants
The production LFG-built version was designated FF.71a.
Where you'll see it
As an early and short-lived civil seaplane conversion, no FF.71 survives today.
Related aircraft
- Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen FF.49
- Friedrichshafen D.I
- Friedrichshafen FF.48
- Friedrichshafen G.III
- de Havilland DH.16
- Farman F.60 Goliath
- Farman F.61 Goliath
- Farman F.68 Goliath
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