Sunday, July 24, 2011

Germany - 1918 Hansa-Brandenburg W.33

The Final Version

The final war-time development of the Hansa-Brandenburg floatplanes reached maturity in the last days of the Great War. The basic design of the W.29 was refined and expanded on with the advent of the W.33. The W.33 was larger, heavier and faster than the W.29. The service ceiling was the same, however the endurance of the W.33 was greater by 30 minutes, giving it an edge in range. During it's operational life a total of approximately 181 examples were built.

Hansa-Brandenburg W.33 was a German two-seat, low-wing single-engined seaplane, which had been designed by Hansa und Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke in the 1920s. Although the W.33 was built in relatively small numbers, the design was widely recognized as successful and numerous copies and license built versions were built by the hundreds after World War I.

The Hansa-Brandenburg W.33 aircraft was designed in 1916 by Ernst Heinkel and entered German service in 1918. 26 aircraft were built of this design, but only six before the collapse of the German empire. Noticeably superior to the FF.33L, it proved to be an excellent aircraft. The Hansa-Brandenburg monoplanes considerably influenced German seaplane design; several copies appeared in 1918, such as the Friedrichshafen FF.63, the Dornier Cs-I, the Junkers J.11, and the L.F.G. Roland ME 8. After the war a version of the W.29 was used by Denmark, while Finland obtained a license for to manufacture of the W.33.

Finland purchased a number of W.33 and W.34 aircraft from Germany. In 1921, Finland also obtained the manufacturing license for the W.33. The first Finnish-built Hansa made its maiden flight on 4 November 1922, and was called IVL A.22 Hansa. This aircraft was the first industrially manufactured aircraft in Finland. During the following four years a total of 120 aircraft were manufactured. The Finnish Air Force used the aircraft in maritime service until 1936.

Versions

  • Hansa-Brandenburg W.33: 26 built
  • IVL A.22: Hansa: Finnish license manufactured W.33, 120 built
  • Hansa-Brandenburg Make: Norwegian license manufactured W.33, 41 built:
  • Make I: 6 built
  • Make II: 24 built
  • Make III: 11 built at Kjeller Flyfabrikk and known as Kjeller F.F.8 Make III.

References

  1. Hansa-Brandenburg W.33. (2010, December 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:56, January 8, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hansa-Brandenburg_W.33&oldid=400370370
  2. Hansa-Brandenburg W.33 1918 Virtual Aircraft Museum Retrieved 12:15, January 8, 2011, from http://www.aviastar.org/air/germany/brandenburg_w33.php
  3. W.Green, D.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters, 2000
  4. Keskinen, Kalevi; Niska, Klaus; Stenman, Kari; Geust, Carl-Fredrik: Suomen museolentokoneet, Forssan kirjapaino, 1981, ISBN 951-9035-60-5.

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