Avis 72024 RFB Fantrainer 400

The RFB Fantrainer is a modern German mid-wing, fan-driven trainer with a pusher propeller. The drive - in the Fantrainer 600 version - provides a single motor Allison 250 C-30 with a power of 650 hp. The prototype flight took place in 1977. In the course of serial production, which started in the early 1980s, about 50 copies of this aircraft were created. The plane did not have on-board weapons.

RFB Fantrainer was developed by the German company Rhein-Flugzeugbau, which specialized in the construction of fan and turboprop airplanes with a pushing propeller, and not - as in the vast majority of aircraft constructions - a pulling propeller. The new aircraft was commissioned by the German armed forces, which were interested in acquiring a successor to the Piaggio P.149, which served as a basic training aircraft in the Luftwaffe. Despite the fact that the RFB Fantrainer turned out to be a successful plane, with good performance, high flight safety and low operating costs, it was not purchased by the German military aviation. Its only user turned out to be Thailand. Two main versions were developed in the course of production - the first one (Fantrainer 400) is powered by the Allison 250 C-20 engine with 545 hp, while the second version (Fantrainer 600) has a more powerful 650 hp engine.