Maurice Farman

The Maurice Farman Shorthorn is a French aircraft developed before the start of WW I by the Farman Aviation Works. Maurice was one of 3 brothers whose father was an English Daily Telegraph journalist based in Paris. The aircraft was used as a reconnaissance and light bomber during the early part of WW I, later being used for training duties. It had a 70hp engine!

The Farman was the aircraft in which ‘Biggles’, Capt W E Johns fictional character first took to the air in “Biggles Learns to Fly”. There were two variants: the Shorthorn and the Longhorn.

As you can see, this was developed from the Voisin brothers aircraft of 1907. Although very basic it did serve well with the RFC but the development of aircraft was moving fast. Even the B.E.2a looked more advanced for the time.

This is the ‘Longhorn’ version of the Maurice Farman M.7