The Farman Moustique is a family of French

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 con ...

s built by the Société des Aéroplanes Henry et Maurice Farman at Billancourt. Shortly after the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Farman introduced a low powered single seat monoplane for sport and tourism. It flew for the first time in May 1919 and was named the Moustique (in English, Mosquito). A little later, aircraft of this kind became known in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as motor gliders, the subjects of the first Lympne Trials of 1923. In 1922 one Aviette, without its engine, had already won prizes at a national glider competition. Three months before the Lympne Trials several Aviettes competed in an equivalent French meeting for ''moto-aviettes'' at Buc. The design was revived, over 17 years after its first appearance, as the F 450 Moustique and was one of the aircraft purchased by the French government as part of ''l'Aviation Populaire'' programme.

Design and development

The original Moustique, later known as the Moustique I, was a

shoulder wing 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 con ...

. The wing was rectangular in plan, fabric covered and was wired braced from above and below. The upper wires were attached to a king post protruding from the raised, curved decking ahead of the cockpit and lower wires went to the undercarriage structure. The wings carried full span

ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

. Behind the cockpit the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

, which reached up only to the pilot's waist, was slender. It was square sectioned and covered with thin plywood. The parallel chord horizontal tail had separate

elevators An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They are ...

with the deep

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

moving between them. These surfaces were fabric covered and the rudder was round topped; there was no fixed fin. The undercarriage consisted of two parallel spruce panels mounted on the fuselage, bearing two mainwheels on a single axle. This first aircraft was powered by a flat twin

ABC Scorpion The ABC Scorpion is a 30 hp (22 kW) two-cylinder aero engine designed by British engineer Granville Bradshaw for use in light aircraft. The engine was built by ABC Motors Limited and first ran in 1921.Gunston 1989, p.9. Variants ; ...

engine. The first Moustique flew in May 1919, but by the following year its span had been reduced from 7.65 m to 5.0 m (from 25 ft 1 in to 16 ft 5 in), saving a little weight, and was known as the HF 206 or the HF206 Moustique I. No other Moustique had so short a span. In 1922 a glider version called the Aviette had flown. This had an extended span of and an unladen weight of only 43 kg. It also had a deeper fuselage, allowing the pilot to sit with his head just clear of the upper surface, and a new upper wing bracing system with the bracing wires attached to the top of a tall, three post pylon, just in front of the pilot. It also had a reshaped rudder with a linear, rising top. It was the only Moustique type glider, but the fuselage, wing bracing and rudder modifications were carried forward into all later variants. In 1923 three powered Aviettes were entered for the competition at

Buc, Yvelines Buc () is a commune in the Yvelines department and Île-de-France region of north central France. Geography Buc is located some 20 km south-west of central Paris and 3 km south of Versailles. The old town lies in the valley of the R ...

. All had an engines but one aircraft had a 3-cylinder radial Salmson 3 Ad and the other two, 4-cylinder inline Sergant As. The Moustique II or F 21 of 1924 was powered by a 3-cylinder Anzani 3 A2 radial and had a wing with a span of , fitted with short span ailerons. Two took part in the 1924 ''Tour de France''. In the mid-1930s there was a government-driven revival of interest in low cost flying with the introduction of the ''Aviation Populaire'' programme. In response, Farman relaunched the Moustique with a slightly shorter span of and a longer fuselage. It first flew in December 1935. The first five prototypes were designated F 450 Moustique. The first was initially powered by a Poinsard 2 Ca flat twin engine; later it, like the others had Mengin engines of the same type and power. A visual difference between this and earlier Moustiques was the presence of a normal fin, carrying a round-topped rudder. The production version, the F 451 Moustique, had a AVA 4A-00

flat-four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

. This variant was produced in much greater numbers (46) than any other Moustique. The last Moustique development was the two seat F 455 Super Moustique, initially called the Moustique III, which first flew in 1936. Its span was increased by and it had a more powerful Mengin 2 A-01 engine. Only one was built; its performance in the climb was poor, but in any case the light aircraft section of the Farman works was shut down when the company was nationalised in March 1937.

Operational history

During the early 1920s Farman entered Moustiques into several competitions. In August 1922 the first national French glider meeting, the ''Congrės expérimental d'aviation sans moteur'', organised by the Association of French Flyers (AFF) and partly government-funded, was held in Combegrasse,

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label=Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.Farman FF 65); overall there were 17 contestants. The Aviette, piloted by Lois Bossoutrot, won several prizes in the competition between catapult-launched gliders, achieving the lowest sinking speed, the greatest altitude (80 m or 262 ft) and longest over-launch site duration of 3 min 30 s. The Aviette was placed second in the distance-covered contest, flying . Over the fortnight-long event, the Aviette was in the air for 48 min 25 s. In July 1923, three powered Aviettes competed at

for the ''Grand Prix de Motoaviette'' against eighteen other entrants. The competition was open to all aircraft with a

maximum takeoff weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...

of less than 250 kg (551 pounds). There was a 125,000 FF prize for the fastest flight of 30 laps around a 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) course. The winner was Lucien Coupet in the Salmson-powered Aviette, covering 310 kilometers (192.5 miles) in 4 hours 37 minutes 19 seconds. No other aircraft could overcome the wind and rain. A year later, Farman entered two MF 21 Moustique IIs into the ''Tour de France'', an eight-stage contest organised by the AFF. Initial elimination trials in bad weather reduced the 15 entrants to a starting group of three for the ''Tour'' proper. The MF 21 flown by Maurice Drouhin was the only survivor by the end of the second stage, and he was declared the winner, having covered in 20 hr 40 min 27 s. Drouhin also won the ''Prix Solex'', worth 50,000 FF in April 1925, flying the Salmson-powered Aviette. This required a flight from Paris to Rouen (about ) using less than of petrol and oil. In 1938 the first F 450 was used to test-fly a device called a ''gouvernes autoptères'', invented by Marcel Granoli. Its purpose was to provide automatic lateral and longitudinal stability in the event of a momentary

sideslip A slip is an aerodynamic state where an aircraft is moving ''somewhat'' sideways as well as forward relative to the oncoming airflow or relative wind. In other words, for a conventional aircraft, the nose will be pointing in the opposite directio ...

. The test showed only limited success. Thirty-six of the 46 production F 451 Moustiques were bought by the state under their ''Aviation Populaire'' programme, intended to bring people from all walks of life into aviation and make pilots of them. Other F 451s were bought by individuals, partly attracted by the low costs: the aircraft sold at just under 20,000 FF. To make the Moustique attractive to the hunting fraternity, Farman advertised an optional rear locker "for the transport of a dog."

Variants

;Moustique :Later Moustique I, one only. span. ;HF 206 :The original Moustique with wings cropped to a span. ;Aviette :4 built with Salmson or Sergant engines. span. One converted to glider for Combegrasse competition. 3 entered for the competition at Buc ;F 21 Moustique II :2 built with Anzani engines. span. Entered into ''Tour de France''. ;F 450 Moustique :1936 revival. 5 built with Poinsard or Mengin engines. span. ;F 451 Moustique :Production version of F 450; 46 built with Ava 4A-00 engines. span. ;F 455 Super Moustique :Initially known as the Moustique III. Two side-by-side seat, dual control version. 1 built with Mengin engine. span.

Aircraft on display

The sole Super Moustique, ''F-AOYL'', is on public display at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace,

le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...

Specifications (F.451)

References

Bibliography

* * {{Farman aircraft 1910s French sport aircraft F.450 Shoulder-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1919