FVM
Swedish military aviation started with private donations. The Navy began flying in 1911, mostly on the ice of lake Värtan (nearby Stockholm). The Army took off from Axvalla (Västergötland). Soon was the focus shifted towards Malmen (Malmslätt) in Östergötland. The Army got 42 aircrafts in the years 1911-17, 12 was donations. For the Navy was the numbers 22 and 14.
During the 1914-18 war was the domestic manufacturing dominated by Thulins in Landskrona. Some time before the Armistice, was a decision taken to changing the course towards production of cars. Thulin had though expanded fast when aircrafts was in great demand, to fast. Thulin died in an aircraft accident 1919. This may also have hastened the fall of his company. Some of those with influence prefered that the manufacturing of planes stayed in private hands, but no one was willing to save Thulins. Thereby was an opportunity to expand the activity at Malmslätt.
This came to include both flying and repairing. From 1918 also manufacturing. All under the name FVM (Flygverkstäderna Malmslätt), verkstäder = workshops. By those involved often called Flygkompaniet (kompani = company), as it from 1916 was included in a Army regiment. This lasted a couple of years until a new regiment was setup. In 1919 was a new shop for assembling ready, giving at start work to 6 employees. Here came the 5 J23 fighters to be built. During the years 1918-26 was the production as in the list below.
1926 was the Swedish Air Force created and the aircrafts was send to the new Flottiljer (Wings). The workshops remains though, under the name CFM (later CVM).
Aeroplanes built at FMV (quantity):
Albatross 120 h.p. (11)
Albatross 160 h.p. (16)
J23 (5)
J24 (1)
J24B (1)
Phönix 122 (9)
Phönix Dront E1 220 h.p. (22)
Phönix Dront E2 300 h.p. (8)
S18 (15)
S21/25 (18)
Triplan(e) (1)
Tummelisa (15)
J23
J23 was a sort of parasol-winged monoplane. This meaning that the wing connected to the fuselage only through struts. The inner struts had the shape of a widen N. The outher longer ones started at the thickest part of the wing, ending just above the undercarriage. The fuselage was slim and mostly oval in its form. With this in mind, was the fin/rudder early on, obviously to small. The undercarriage was rather high and supported by diagonal wire bracing. The space between the wheels was faired over, similar to Fokker Dr.1, creating an additional aerofoil. The pilot had if things gone wrong, some protection from the turn-over structure behind cockpit. The engine was an 6-cylinder, 19 litre BMW, optimized for altitude (high-compression). Full throttle was possible only from 2 000 meters, this to avoid engine failure. It may have been a surplus purchase. Also Benz, Maybach and Mercedes-engines came from this source. The iron pistons was in a number of these replaced by aluminum ones, manufactured by FVM.
J23 was a rather noticed fighter during the international exhibition in Gothenburg (ILUG) 1923. Amongst Swedish pilot was there a certain pride towards J23. All the attention was based on appearance, good looks was its best quality. The testing may have been suffering in the hurry to be ready for the event. Soon would structural failure in the wing, put an end to its service. J24 was an reinforced update with stronger engine. The only ones fuselage cracked during a dive test. The last attempt became J24B, which was a biplane. Its wings with steel structure, made it far to heavy. J23 had in any case never been any really good fighter. The massive wing was not suitable for dogfights.
SPECIFICATION
Span: 11.2 m.
Wing Area: 18 m².
Weight Empty: 760 kg.
Weight Combat: 980 kg.
Power Plant: BMW IIIa 185 h.p. at 1,400 r.p.m.
Max Speed: 220 km/h (1,000 m) 250 km/h (3,000 m).
Ceiling: 8,000 m.
Armament: 2 st 8 mm machine guns type 22.
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©Jan Lindström 2024