Mulder, Rob J. M. Farman Jabiru

The First French Monoplane Airliner

"The Few" is a book series focusing on airliners that were built in small numbers or operated by a specific airline. This book is about the Farman Jabiru series, the first French monoplane airliner. It includes a foreword by Pierre Farman, grandson of Dick Farman. The first French monoplane airliner was the Farman F.3X Jabiru (later F.120), which made its maiden flight in September 1923. It immediately won the Grand Prix des avions de transport, held that same month. This four-engine aircraft was operated by the Société Générale de Transport Ariens (SGTALignes Farman) on the ParisBrusselsAmsterdam route and later also served Cologne and Berlin. SGTALignes Farman also operated the single-engine F.170 Jabiru on its route network until all types were replaced by the F.190 and F.300 series. The Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA) operated a three-engine version, known as the F.4X Jabiru (later F.120 T), which was used for air service to Switzerland, Austria, the Balkans, and Poland. The Farman Jabiru was further developed into a series of military and civilian aircraft. Following a demonstration flight in May 1925 and some test flights in September, Det Danske Luftfartselskab AS (DDL, Danish Air Lines) decided to acquire four Farman F.121 Jabiru aircraft for its routes and to extend its network to include a connection from Copenhagen via Cologne. Two of the four aircraft were built under license by the Danish Naval Air Arm (DAN) in Denmark. The aircraft type did not prove successful on the DDL route network and was gradually replaced by the single-engine Fokker F.VIIa, which was more cost-effective to operate. This book tells the story of the use of this aircraft type by SGTALignes Farman, CIDNA, and DDL from 1925 onwards and is richly illustrated with more than 300 photographs, as well as tables and color profiles.