Frequent contributor Ted Luebbers sent in these photos from his recent visit to the French Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget Airport about 25 miles from Paris.
He reports that at the museum he and his wife, Joan, found the “ILE de FRANCE” on display among a number of vintage French aircraft.
“This unusual looking airplane, though devoid of wings on display, was first designed to be a heavy bomber, but when World War I was over it was converted to an airliner,” he says.
“The Farman F.60 Goliath began commercial service in 1919 carrying passengers between Paris and Brussels, Belgium,” he continued. “Later it flew a passenger schedule between Paris and London. It flew passengers and air cargo from 1919 to 1930. This was quite somet ime before scheduled airline service in the United States.
“The Farman Goliath was a large biplane made of wood and fabric and designed to carry 12 to 14 passengers in Pullman car comfort. However, the pilot’s cockpit was open and at the top of the fuselage.
“This plane was powered by two Salman Z.9, nine-cylinder, water-cooled engines between its wings. Each engine produced about 250 hp at 1550 RPM.”
“There were approximately 60 of these airplanes built and they were retired in 1931.”