__NOTOC__ The DAR-9 Siniger, was a trainer produced in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Design and development

To provide the

Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and p ...

with a modern trainer, DAR took out a licence to build the Focke-Wulf Fw 44J. The first series, powered by a

Siemens-Halske Sh 14 The Siemens-Halske Sh 14 was a seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engine for aircraft produced in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. First run in 1928, it was rated at 93 kW (125 hp). Applications * Albatros L 82 * Ambrosini SAI.3 * Amb ...

radial engine, was built at the DAR factory, but subsequent series were built at the DSF ('' Derzhavna Samoletna Fabrika'') Surviving aircraft in 1948 were re-engined with Walter Minor 6.III inline engines due to difficulty in procuring spares and the poor condition of the Siemens-Halske engines. DAR 9 production consisted of the series 1, which was built at the DAR factory and which carried the construction numbers 88 to 93 and Series 2 to Series 5, built at the DSF factory and which carried construction numbers 95 to 130.

Operational history

The DAR 9s were used for training at the

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seuthopolis''), tr, Kazanlık) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain ...

Air School until at least 1949. Nine surplus DAR 9s were transferred to the Yugoslavian Air Force in 1947, withdrawn from service by 1958. One DAR 9 is preserved at the Technicki Muzej, Zagreb, Croatia.

Variants

;DAR 9 :Initial designation of the Sh-14-powered aircraft. ;DAR 9A :Aircraft re-engined with Walter Minor 6.III engines were redesignated DAR 9A.

Operators

; *

:Kazanlak Air School ; * Yugoslavian Air Force

Specifications (DAR 9)

References

Bibliography

* * Insignia Issue 9 August 1998 pp26–31 * Wings of Fame Vol.13 * *

External links

DAR DAR-9 Siniger
{{DAR aircraft World War II Bulgarian aircraft 1940s Bulgarian military trainer aircraft Siniger Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes