Udet U 12

U 12 Flamingo
Flying replica in the Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany. This example has a Sh 14 engine, a later, more powerful version of the Siemens-Halske engines fitted to original U 12s.
Role Civil trainer aircraft
Manufacturer Udet Flugzeugbau, BFW and others under licence
Designer Hans Herrmann
First flight 1925
Number built ca. 300


The Udet U 12 Flamingo was an aerobatic sports plane and trainer aircraft developed in Germany in the mid-1920s.

Design and development

The U 12 was a conventional, single-bay biplane of wooden construction with the wings braced by large I-struts. The pilot and instructor or passenger sat in tandem, open cockpits. The U 12 proved extremely popular and sold well, due in no small part to Ernst Udet's spectacular aerobatics routines while flying the aircraft. One particularly acclaimed part of his act included swooping down towards the airfield and picking up a handkerchief with the tip of one wing.[1] The popularity of this aircraft was insufficient to rescue Udet Flugzeugbau from its dire financial position, but when the company's assets were taken over by the state of Bavaria to form BFW, production of the U 12 soon resumed in earnest. BFW-built U 12s were exported to Austria, Hungary and Latvia, and later built under licence in these countries as well.

Variants

Germany

Austria

20 aircraft produced by Fliegerwerft Thalerhof

Hungary

Forty aircraft produced by KRG and another 40 by Manfred Weiss Works. Some examples armed and used for fighter or bomber training

Operators

 Austria
 Kingdom of Hungary
 Latvia

Survivors

Udet Flamingo replica built in 1993

No original aircraft are known to exist. An airworthy replica was kept at the Deutsches Museum but crashed at the 2013 Tannkosh event.[2]

Specifications (U 12a)

General characteristics

Performance


References

  1. Air Trails: 49. Winter 1971. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=158981 Aviation Safety Net website
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