The Focke-Wulf A 17 ''Möwe'' (German: "Gull") was an

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

built in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the late 1920s. It was a conventional high-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

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 fixed

tailwheel undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an 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 dynami ...

. The aircraft provided fully enclosed seating for up to eight passengers and had a separate, fully enclosed

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

for the two pilots. Most examples flew with

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and th ...

, serving until around 1936. In the early 1930s, two A 17s were used for testing the

Junkers Jumo 5 Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Ge ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-06183,_Berlin-Tempelhof,_Sturmschäden_an_Flugzeug

In 1929, an example was built with a

BMW VI The BMW VI was a water-cooled V-12 aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1920s. It was one of the most important German aero engines in the years leading up to World War II, with thousands built. It was further developed as the BMW VII and B ...

engine and fitted out for

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

and survey work and designated A 21. The

cabin Cabin may refer to: Buildings * Beach cabin, a small wooden hut on a beach * Log cabin, a house built from logs * Cottage, a small house * Chalet, a wooden mountain house with a sloping roof * Cabin, small free-standing structures that serve as in ...

was equipped with a

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...

. Later the same year, the BMW engine was used on a further five airliners for Luft Hansa, these being designated A 29.

Variants

* A 17 - Eight-passenger airliner powered by Gnome et Rhône 9Aa Jupiter. One

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

and 11 production aircraft. ** A 17a - Conversion of A 17 with geared

Siemens Jupiter The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turn ...

VI engine. ** A 17b - Conversion with Siemens Sh 20u engine. One converted. ** A 17c - Conversion with

C diesel engine. One converted. * A 21 ''Photomöwe'' - Photographic fitted with

engine (two built) * A 26 - Converted A 17 used as an experimental aircraft by ''

Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...

'' (DVL). * A 29 - production version of A 17 with

engine. Five built.

Specifications (A 17a)

Focke-Wulf_A_17_3-view_NACA_Aircraft_Circular_No

References

* * * * *
German aircraft between 1919 and 1945
{{Authority control 1920s German airliners A 17 Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1927

Variants

Specifications (A 17a)

See also

References