FFA P-16 Mk. III – A Successful Revival

An original example of this Swiss jet is on display at the Aviation Museum in Dübendorf. It’s a shame, in a way, that this project ultimately had to be abandoned, even though the Swiss Air Force had already ordered 100 (!) P-16s at the time. You can read more about the story at:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFA_P-16

The Keiro P-16 is a faithful 1:8-scale replica of the Swiss fighter jet project from the 1950s.

The model is constructed entirely of wood, with 3D-printed parts used for particularly complex contours (nose, air intakes, tail section, etc.). The design is intended to be powered by a powerful 90-mm electric propeller or a 45N turbine.

Kit Contents:

• All 372 milled parts for the fuselage, tail unit, wings, and 2 wingtip tanks (balsa, poplar plywood, aircraft plywood)
• Strips and dowels for the fuselage and wings (balsa, pine, beech)
• Skinning material for the fuselage, tail, and wings (balsa strips)
• Elevator linkage (precision joints by Petrausch).
• Fuselage nose, 2 inlets, fuselage end cap, displacement body, and antenna pod on the side control as 3D-printed parts made of silver-colored PLA

• 3-piece deep-drawn canopy made of PET-G material (Vivak)
• All rudder horns and aileron hinges are made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) and milled

Wooden construction with additional 3D-printed parts; fuselage, tail unit, wings, and fuel tanks fully planked. Wings are a single piece, bolted to the fuselage from below. Elevator is插接式. Foil finish with aluminum foil, lightly brushed. Wingspan: 1390 mm (including removable wingtip tanks); Length: 1790 mm; Powerplant: Kingtech K45G4 turbine, single-walled titanium thrust tube by Walti Franz; Weight (dry): 4.91 kg; Takeoff weight with full fuel: 6.06 kg; retractable landing gear mechanism: Elektron EVO 30 (main landing gear 95°); landing gear legs: nose and main landing gear with dual tires, legs from the scrap box.

In a record time of just 110 days, Paul Haller—with the help of his son Andi, a foil-bracing specialist—built a real gem from a Keiro kit. On October 7, Paul confidently took off on his maiden flight. “Flies perfectly,” were his first words after landing. “The aileron deflections are still too large,” but otherwise everything is in the clear.

Kudi Eich: The test flights with Paul’s Turbinen-P-16 have shown that no changes need to be made to the design. I’ve been continuously correcting and optimizing the milling data throughout the construction of the two prototypes. They’re ready for milling the production models. As previously announced, I expect to start production of the first production kits in December. One small concern: a shortage of wood. Delivery times for high-quality balsa and plywood are getting longer and longer. For my current order, my regular supplier hasn’t even been able to give me a delivery date yet...

In the meantime, I’ve revised all the milling data once again. Thanks to the keen observation of an expert in the Jet Scale community, I was able to correct another error: The wingspan of the ailerons and landing flaps on our prototype does not match that of the original. Although I had initially set the rib spacing during the basic design so that a rib would be located at the junction between the ailerons and the landing flaps, during the detailed design phase, the junction shifted inward by one rib spacing: the ailerons were too long, and the landing flaps were too short. This has now been corrected for the production run. In the meantime, Paul’s P-16 prototype has already made its first public appearance at the Warbird Meet in Schänis.

As soon as the promised next shipment of balsa wood arrives—hopefully in February—Kudi Eich will be able to ship out the first kits. You can now find more details about the 1:8 P-16 kit on his website. https://keiro.ch/ffap-16/

Photos: Paul Haller, Joe Mathis