Rhein Fantrainer
The RFB Fantrainer is a two-seat military trainer that replaces a conventional propeller with a mid-fuselage ducted fan, an arrangement West German manufacturer Rhein-Flugzeugbau developed from 1970 to give piston-trainer economics with jet-like handling. Early prototypes used troublesome twin Wankel rotary engines; the definitive Fantrainer 400 and more powerful Fantrainer 600 instead used a single Allison turboshaft driving the shrouded fan, after a Wankel-powered prototype crashed in 1978. It won a Luftwaffe basic-trainer competition against the Pilatus PC-7 and Beechcraft Mentor, though Germany ultimately bought few. Thailand became the type's main operator, ordering 47 Fantrainers in 1982 to prepare Royal Thai Air Force pilots for the F-5 Freedom Fighter.
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Did you know?
The Fantrainer is easy to spot: a shrouded ducted fan set into its mid-fuselage, driven by an Allison turboshaft, replacing a conventional propeller.
Specifications
| Length | 9.2 m (30 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 9.7 m (32 ft) |
| Height | 3.2 m (10 ft) |
| Persons on board | 2 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 2.3 t |
| Range | 750 NM (1,389 km) |
| Service ceiling | 25,000 ft (7,620 m) |
| Rate of climb | 2,950 ft/min (15 m/s) |
| Fuel capacity | 440 l |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Rhein Fantrainer starts as a Rare catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Rhein, the Fantrainer family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
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