__NOTOC__
The DAR-9 Siniger, was a
trainer produced in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
Design and development
To provide the
Bulgarian Air Force
The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and ...
with a modern trainer, DAR took out a licence to build the
Focke-Wulf Fw 44J. The first series, powered by a
Siemens-Halske Sh 14 radial engine, was built at the DAR factory, but subsequent series were built at the DSF (''
Derzhavna Samoletna Fabrika'')
Surviving aircraft in 1948 were re-engined with
Walter Minor 6.III inline engines due to difficulty in procuring spares and the poor condition of the Siemens-Halske engines.
DAR 9 production consisted of the series 1, which was built at the DAR factory and which carried the construction numbers 88 to 93 and Series 2 to Series 5, built at the DSF factory and which carried construction numbers 95 to 130.
Operational history
The DAR 9s were used for training at the
Kazanlak
Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seuthopolis''), tr, Kazanlık) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountai ...
Air School until at least 1949. Nine surplus DAR 9s were transferred to the Yugoslavian Air Force in 1947, withdrawn from service by 1958.
One DAR 9 is preserved at the Technicki Muzej, Zagreb, Croatia.
Variants
;DAR 9
:Initial designation of the Sh-14-powered aircraft.
;DAR 9A
:Aircraft re-engined with
Walter Minor 6.III engines were redesignated DAR 9A.
Operators
;
*
Bulgarian Air Force
The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and ...
:Kazanlak Air School
;
*
Yugoslavian Air Force
The Air Force and Air Defence ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana ; abbr. sh-Cyrl-Latn, label=none, separator=/, РВ и ПВ� ...
Specifications (DAR 9)
References
Bibliography
*
* Insignia Issue 9 August 1998 pp26–31
* Wings of Fame Vol.13
*
*
External links
DAR DAR-9 Siniger
{{DAR aircraft
World War II Bulgarian aircraft
1940s Bulgarian military trainer aircraft
Siniger
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes