Adaridi AD 3 is a Finnish wooden experimental aircraft built in 1923-1924 and used by the Finnish Air Force. Only one was built, and it flew very little.
History[]
In May 1923 Russian-born amateur aircraft designer Boris Adaridi offered the Finnish Air Force his plans for an experimental light aircraft with a 12 hp engine. The FAF agreed to build one, and the construction began in fall 1923 in Santahamina. The plane made its first flight on 17 April 1924, flown by German 35-kill fighter ace Emil Thuy. He considered the AD 3 to have otherwise acceptable flying characteristics, but it was underpowered and thus too prone to stalling during turns. The AD 3's landing gear was moved forward from Thuy's recommendation, but it actually made the aircraft unable to take off. The AD 3 was deleted from the FAF inventory in 1931 after laying unused in Utti for years. It had never received a FAF registration code.
Today the AD 3 is at the Finnish Aviation Museum in Vantaa.
Specifications[]
- Crew: One
- Length: 5.30 m (17 ft 5 in)
- Wingspan: 11.60 m (38 ft ½ in)
- Wing area: 13.5 m2 (145.3 ft2)
- Loaded weight: 260 kg (572 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Salmson AD.3 3-cylinder radial engine, 12 hp (9 kW)
- Maximum speed: 106 km/h (66 mph)
- Landing speed: 35 km/h (22 mph)
- Service ceiling: 4,000 m (13,123 ft, never tested)