VEF JDA-10M

VEF · Latvia · first flew 1939 · bomber

The VEF JDA-10M was a Latvian twin-engine, multipurpose aircraft built in 1939 by VEF. It remains the only twin-engine aircraft ever built in Latvia.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — WingsLow-mounted, straight
E — Engines2 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage9 m fuselage
T — TailConventional

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

Spot it by:

Look for a wooden twin-engined monoplane with fixed landing gear and radial engines. The wingspan is 12.4 m.

Specifications

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

History

It was developed by Jānis Akermanis, a Latvian-American professor at the University of Minnesota, and assembled at the State Electrotechnical Factory. Construction started in 1937 and the first flight was on 4 September 1939.

Variants

Two 205 hp de Havilland Gipsy Six II inline engines were planned at first, but two 350 hp Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX radials were chosen instead.

Where you'll see it

Only one prototype was built. Plans to turn it into a light bomber were halted by the Soviet occupation in June 1940, and the aircraft was scrapped before the German invasion of 1941.

Related aircraft

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