1910 Farman biplane replica at Chek Lap Kok airport Hong Kong
The aircraft hanging in the Terminal Building is a replica of the Farman aircraft that made the first powered flight in Hong Kong in 1911. This was made by a Belgian, Mr. Charles Van den Born, in a 1910 Farman bi-plane, on the afternoon of 18 March 1911 at Shatin, at a point approximately 12 miles out on the final approach to the present airport’s runway 25L . Although this aircraft is now cocooned in the air conditioning of the Terminal Building, for a brief time in 1997 it recreated that momentous event of 86 years before, as well as creating a record of its own by being one of the first aircraft to use the new Hong Kong International Airport. The idea and planning for the project of building a replica of the Farman was initiated and organised by the Hong Kong Historical Aircraft Association. The project literally started from scratch as there were no plans of the Farman flown by Charles Van den Born. A few Farman bi-planes still exist around the world, but they all differ considerably from the aircraft flown in Hong Kong. Fortunately a number of photographs of the aircraft were obtained from the Belgian Military Museum and plans were drawn up based on these photographs. The Hong Kong Historical Aircraft Association approached various vintage aircraft specialist companies in England and New Zealand, but eventually requested Vintage Aviation Services of Marion, Texas, USA, to construct the aircraft. The replica was built as close as possible to the original specifications of the 1910 aircraft within the requirements of modern airworthiness regulations. One obvious exception to this was the engine - a modern 150 Lycoming engine replacing the original 50 rotary Gnome engine.
Size: 5100px × 3451px
Location: Hong Kong International Airport
Photo credit: © Tony Kwan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1910, aeroplane, aircraft, bi-plane, biplane, building, canvas, chek, clk, early, farman, flying, hanging, hkg, hong, kok, kong, lap, plane, recreation, replica, roof, terminal, vintage, wings
