Farman F.420

The Farman F.420 was a French twin-engine monoplane built in the mid-1930s to compete in a government contest for a multirole aircraft able to act as bomber, fighter and reconnaissance machine. The French Air Ministry issued the call in August 1933 for the class known as BCR, and eight or nine manufacturers responded; the F.420 was Farman's candidate. It was a wooden high-wing aircraft with a cantilever wing, two Gnome-Rhone 14 Kdrs radial engines of 740 horsepower carried under the wing, a retractable undercarriage and positions for a gunner or bomb aimer and for two other machine guns. It first flew on 18 June 1934, but a wing fire on the second flight killed both crew. A second prototype was funded, but only two were built and no production followed.