Thulin LA

LA
Role Trainer aircraft
Manufacturer AB Thulinverken
Designer Enoch Thulin
Introduction 1917
Retired 1920
Number built 15


The Thulin LA was a Swedish two-seat, single-engine biplane designed by Enoch Thulin in 1917 and made by his company AB Thulinverken in Landskrona. It was based on the earlier Thulin L and E aircraft, with a new engine, fuselage and empennage. The L and E types were in turn based on the German Albatros B.II aircraft, like the NAB Albatros. The Thulin LA was used in Sweden, the Netherlands (10) and Finland (1). This type also made the first passenger transport flights between Sweden and Denmark in 1919. Altogether there were 15 Thulin LAs built.

Engine

The engine used was a Thulin G, which was an 11-cylinder 100 hp Le Rhône 11F (bore x stroke 105mm x 140mm),[nb 1] manufactured under licence by Thulins in Sweden. Thulin had journeyed to France in 1915 and acquired the licence to manufacture it from Gnome et Rhône, as well as the Le Rhone 9C, which was sold as the "Thulin A".[1] The Thulin-built engine, with a dry weight of 168 kg (370 lb), replaced the much heavier engine from the original Albatros B.II, a Mercedes D.II 120 hp 6-cylinder inline water-cooled engine weighing 240 kg (530 lb).

Use in Finland

The Finnish Air Force (The Whites) received one aircraft as a gift from Sweden by the grocery magnate G. Svensson in the spring of 1918.

The aircraft arrived by ship at Turku on 5 May 1918, where it was used at the Turku Flying School (Turun Lentokoulu), established on 1 May 1918. The flying school was renamed V Flying Detachment (V Lento-osasto) of the Finnish Air Force on 1 October 1918.[2] The aircraft was mainly used as a trainer aircraft and was destroyed in a crash due to engine malfunction outside Helsinki's Pohjoissatama harbour in February 1919.

Variants

Thulin also made a floatplane version of the LA, based on the Albatros B.II-W ("Wasserflugzeug").

Operators

 Finland
 Netherlands
 Sweden

Specifications (LA)

Data from Suomen Ilmavoimat I

General characteristics

Performance

References

Notes
  1. ↑ The Le Rhône 11F was essentially an enlarged 9-cylinder Le Rhône 9C (80 hp, bore x stroke 105mm x 140mm), with two extra cylinders and developing 10 hp more.
Sources
  1. ↑ Bellander, Björn. "The museum of Landskrona: The Thulin room".
  2. ↑ Keskinen, Kalevi; Kyösti, Partonen; Stenman, Kari (2005). Suomen ilmavoimat I [Finnish Air Force vol. I] 1918 - 1927 (in Finnish). Kari Stenman. ISBN 952-99432-2-9. An extract in English appears at forum.axishistory.com, retrieved 23 October 2013.
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See also


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