The Maurice Farman MF.11 ''Shorthorn'' is a French aircraft developed before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

by the

Farman Aviation Works Farman Aviation Works () was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard Farman, Richard, Henri Farman, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French ...

. It was used as a reconnaissance and light bomber during the early part of

, later being relegated to training duties. The Maurice Farman Shorthorn was the aircraft in which

Biggles James Charles Bigglesworth, nicknamed "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer, the Title role#Title character, title character and Protagonist, hero of the ''Biggles'' series of adventure books, written for young readers by W. E. Johns ...

, Capt

W.E. Johns William Earl Johns (5 February 189321 June 1968) was an English First World War pilot, and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Capt. W. E. Johns: best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer ''Biggles''. Earl ...

' fictional character, first took to the air in "Biggles Learns To Fly".

Design and development

pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...

unequal-span biplane like the earlier Farman MF.7, the MF.11 differed in lacking the forward-mounted

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

, the replacement of the biplane horizontal tail surfaces with a single surface with a pair of rudders mounted above it, and the mounting of the

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

containing crew and engine in the gap between the two wings. The aircraft was also fitted with a machine gun for the observer, whose position was changed from the rear seat to the front in order to give a clear field of fire. Its nickname in British service was derived from that of the MF.7 Longhorn, as it lacked the characteristic front-mounted elevator and elongated skids of its predecessor. The aircraft was also referred to by British pilots as the ''Rumpty.'' From 1914, Farman built a modified version of the MF.11 for French army with a larger wingspan of and powered by a 100 hp Renault V-12 which was known as the ''Farman MF.12'' or ''Type Armee XXVI''.

Operational history

WWI - Second Battle of the Isonzo - Farman MF

On 6 September 1914, the first air-sea battle took place when a Japanese Farman MF.11 aircraft launched by the

seaplane carrier A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

unsuccessfully attacked SMS ''Kaiserin Elisabeth'' with bombs. The MF.11 served in both the British and French air services on the Western Front in the early stages of the war. It flew the first bombing raid of the war when, on 21 December 1914, an MF.11 of the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

attacked German artillery positions around

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

, Belgium. The MF.11 was withdrawn from front-line service on the Western Front in 1915 but continued to be used by the French in

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

and the Middle East, while the British also used it in the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

and Africa. The

Australian Flying Corps The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...

(AFC), provided with the MF.11 by the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

, operated it during the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front () was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the British Empire, with troops from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, Australia and the vast major ...

of 1915–16. Following its withdrawal from frontline service, the MF.11 continued to be used by the British in flight schools where it became known as the ''Rumpty (or Rumpety)''. Despite its archaic looks, the MF.11 was regarded as a good aircraft for trainee pilots as its sturdy build meant that bad landings rarely caused damage to the undercarriage. Italy's

Società Italiana Aviazione Fiat Aviazione was an Italian aircraft manufacturer, at one time part of the Fiat group, focused mainly on military aviation. After World War I, Fiat consolidated several Italian small aircraft manufacturers, like Pomilio and Ansaldo. Most famou ...

, a

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

company, licence-built a number of MF.11s under the designation SIA 5 from early 1915, fitted with a fixed forward machine gun and a 74.5 kW (100 hp)

Fiat A.10 The Fiat A.10 was an Italian 6-cylinder, liquid-cooled, in-line aero engine of World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two ...

engine. In 1916, the AFC also bought some MF.11s for training purposes.

Operators

; *

** No. 5 (Training) Squadron AFC in

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

Mesopotamian Half Flight The Mesopotamian Half-Flight (MHF), or Australian Half-Flight, was the first Australian Flying Corps (AFC) unit to see active service during World War I. Formed in April 1915 at the request of the Indian Government, the half-flight's personnel w ...

**Central Flying School AFC at

Point Cook, Victoria Point Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham Local government areas of Victoria, loca ...

; *

Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air and Space Component (, ) is the Air force, air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force (; ). It was founded in 1909 and is one of the world's oldest air services. ...

; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

; *

Corpo Aeronautico Militare The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballon ...

; *

Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...

; *

Hejaz Air Force The Hejaz Air Force () or Hejaz Flying Corps () was the aerial component of the armed forces of the short-lived Kingdom of Hejaz and its successor the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd. Claiming to be the oldest Air Force on the Arabian Peninsula, the s ...

- Two Farman MF.11s were obtained from Italy in 1921. ; *

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the Military aviation, aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground ...

; *

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted ...

; *

Portuguese Air Force The Portuguese Air Force () is the air force, aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it is referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF. It is the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese ...

; *

Romanian Air Corps The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) () was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service () and subordinated to the Engineer Insp ...

; *

Imperial Russian Air Force The Imperial Russian Air Service () was an air force founded in 1912 for Imperial Russia."''12 августа 1912 года приказом по военному ведомству вопросы воздухоплавания и авиаци� ...

; *

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF; ) is the military aviation, aviation branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force currently has wings, squadrons, and a special forces unit dedicated to comba ...

; *

Serbian Air Force The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence (), is the air force of Serbia and service branch of the Serbian Armed Forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Serbian airspace, and jointly with the Serbian Army, to protect territ ...

; *

Spanish Air Force The Spanish Air and Space Force () is the aerial and space warfare branch of the Spanish Armed Forces. History Early stages Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help of Al ...

; *

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peaceti ...

; *

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...

- One aircraft only. ; *

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

** No. 2 Squadron RFC ** No. 3 Squadron RFC ** No. 4 Squadron RFC ** No. 9 Squadron RFC ** No. 14 Squadron RFC ** No. 16 Squadron RFC ** No. 19 Squadron RFC ** No. 23 Squadron RFC ** No. 24 Squadron RFC ** No. 25 Squadron RFC ** No. 29 Squadron RFC ** No. 30 Squadron RFC ** No. 65 Squadron RFC *

Surviving aircraft

* The

Canada Aviation Museum The Canada Aviation and Space Museum () (formerly the Canada Aviation Museum (''Musée de l'aviation du Canada'') and National Aeronautical Collection (''Collection aéronautique nationale'')) is Canada's national aviation history museum. The m ...

has an MF.11 manufactured by

Airco The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Airc ...

for the Royal Flying Corps and sent to Australia in 1917. * Farman F.11A-2, Royal Army and Military History Museum, Brussels, Belgium. * Farman MF.11 Shorthorn (#CFS-15), RAAF Museum at

, Australia.

Specifications (Farman MF.11)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Luftfahrtmuseum

Canadian Aviation Museum
{{Farman aircraft 1910s French military reconnaissance aircraft 1910s French bomber aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Biplanes MF.11 1910s French military trainer aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1913