The BAT F.K.28 Crow was a British single-seat ultralight aircraft produced by
British Aerial Transport Company Limited of
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. It was intended to be the "aerial equivalent of the motor cycle".
Design and development
The smallest of designs from
Frederick Koolhoven
Frederick (Frits) Koolhoven (11 January 1886 – 1 July 1946) was an aircraft designer in Britain and his native Netherlands.
Koolhoven was born in Bloemendaal, Netherlands. After training as an engineer in Liège and Antwerp, he worked from 19 ...
when he worked for the British Aerial Transport Company was the F.K.28 Crow. It was very small and light high-wing monoplane, with a conventional tractor configuration. The monoplane's
tail surfaces were carried by
two slim booms. An
ABC Gnat
The ABC Gnat was a 45 hp (34 kW) two-cylinder aero engine designed by British engineer Granville Bradshaw for use in light aircraft. The Gnat was built by ABC Motors, first running in 1916, production ceased in December 1918. 17 eng ...
2-cylinder
horizontally-opposed engine
A flat engine is a piston engine where the cylinders are located on either side of a central crankshaft. Flat engines are also known as horizontally opposed engines, however this is distinct from the less common opposed-piston engine design, wh ...
- together with fuel and oil tanks - was mounted on the wing centre section. The pilot's seat was set between the landing gear suspended below the wing. It was designed to be dismantled for road-transport with the removal of twelve bolts. It was displayed at the First Air Traffic Exhibition in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, but it did not fly until some time later. It only flew once and proved to be underpowered. It was scrapped in 1920.
Specifications (F.K.28 Crow)
References
Further reading
*
External links
Koolhoven aircraft
{{Koolhoven aircraft
1920s British civil aircraft
Crow
A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Twin-boom aircraft
Koolhoven aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1920