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Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein AG (FFA) ( en, Flight and Driving Vehicle Plant Altenrhein) was a
Swiss aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
and
railroad car manufacturing company based at
Altenrhein
Thal is a village and municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides the village of Thal itself, the municipality also includes the villages of Altenrhein, Buechen, Buriet and Sta ...
. It was originally part of
Dornier Flugzeugwerke, but was split off in
1948.
In the years following
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 opposing ...
, FFA manufactured fighter aircraft for the
Swiss Air Force, based on
Morane-Saulnier
Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier was a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier (1881–1964) and the Morane brothers, Léon (1885–1918) and Robert (1886–1968). The company was taken over and diversified ...
designs as the
D-3803. These were eventually replaced in service by surplus
P-51 Mustangs.
In the 1950s, FFA developed a jet fighter, the
P-16. The P-16 project, while promising, was cancelled after two crashes, and
Hawker Hunters were bought instead. Also the project for a Bizjet
SAAC-23 was cancelled. In the 1960s the company built the
Diamant
The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key ...
series of sailplanes.
[Rogers, Bennett: ''1974 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', page 58. Soaring Society of America, August 1974. USPS 499-920]
The firm licence-built many aircraft for Swiss use, including the
de Havilland Vampire
The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...
,
de Havilland Venom
The de Havilland DH 112 Venom is a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Much of its design was derived from the de Havilland Vampire, the firm's first jet-powered comb ...
,
Pilatus P-3
The Pilatus P-3 was a military training aircraft built by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland.
Design and development
The Pilatus P-3 was designed for primary and advanced training (including night flying, aerobatics and instrument flying). Th ...
,
Dassault Mirage III
The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach number, Mach 2 ...
, and
F-5 Tiger.
In
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
, the company was bought back by Dornier.
Aircraft
*
FFA AS-202 Bravo
*
FFA P-16
The FFA P-16 was a Swiss prototype ground attack jet fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein (FFA). It was Switzerland's second attempt to develop a domestically designed and manufactured jet f ...
*
FFA Diamant
References
*
External links
{{Authority control
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Switzerland
Rolling stock manufacturers of Switzerland