The Fernic T-9, also called the Fernic F.T.9, (Fernic Tandem model 9) is an early

three-surface aircraft A three-surface aircraft or sometimes three-lifting-surface aircraft has a foreplane, a central wing and a tailplane. The central wing surface always provides lift and is usually the largest, while the functions of the fore and aft planes may ...

, having two lifting wings in tandem as well as a conventional tailplane. It was a

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

twin-engined craft intended for flight distance record setting.

Design and development

Designer George Fernic was a Romanian aviator who developed the T-9 after emigrating to the United States from Germany. The Fernic T-9 can be seen as a conventional twin-engined

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with the addition of a nose-mounted canard foreplane to provide two lifting surfaces in tandem. The canard was designed to stall ahead of the main wing, reducing the risk of stalling or

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

the entire aircraft. The

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

covered aircraft also featured

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

with a castering nose wheel. A spring steel tail skid was added to protect the tail. Fernic tested the design with professor Alexander Klemin in the wind tunnels of the Guggenheim School of Aeronautics, New York University in 1926. For the transatlantic effort, the upper engine

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...

s were able to be removed and powered with a small outboard motor for water ditching.

Operational history

The T-9 was first flown at

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located east-southeast of Mineola, Long Island, New York. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aerodrome, it was a training field (Hazel ...

in New York on 10 September 1929. The landing gear and wings were damaged on its second day of test flying. A record flight from the United States to

Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

was planned with the prototype. Fernic did not complete the flight due to a fatal accident he suffered while landing his later three-surface design, the Fernic FT-10 Cruisaire in 1930.

Specifications (Fernic T-9)

References

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External links

A short video of the T-9 in flight
T-9 Three-surface aircraft Canard aircraft Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1929