View source for LWF model V

{{more citations needed|date=March 2021}}

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{|{{Infobox aircraft begin
|name=LWF model V
|image=File:LWF model V, 83.jpg
|caption=
}}
{{Infobox aircraft type
|type=trainer/reconnaissance
|national origin=[[United States]]
|manufacturer=[[Lowe, Willard & Fowler Engineering Company]]
|designer=Chas. F. Willard
|first flight=
|introduced=
|retired=
|status=retired
|primary user=[[Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps]]
|more users= <!--Limited to three in total; separate using <br /> -->
|produced= <!--years in production-->
|number built=130, including model F
}} 
|}
The '''LWF model V'''<ref group=note>Sources vary on how LWF is to be rendered (LWF vs L.W.F. vs L-W-F), however while some of their published material used hyphens or periods, their logos used only letters. While no earlier LWF aircraft are known, later designs switched to letters, with the V being followed by the model F, [[LWF Model G|G]] and [[LWF Model H Owl|H]], and as E is the fifth letter, it was likely the roman numeral V rather than the letter V.</ref> is an American two-seat reconnaissance and training biplane built during [[World War One]], and used for a short period afterwards. A variant specially built to test the [[Liberty L-12]] aircraft engine, the model F, was the first aircraft to fly powered by that widely used engine.

==Design and development==
[[file:L.W.F. Model V-1 airplane - NARA - 17341713 (cropped).jpg|thumb|LWF model V as initially built, with kingposts supporting outer wings, which were later replaced with struts braced to the lower wing]]
The model V's most notable feature was its wooden [[monocoque]] [[fuselage]], built up of three layers of wooden strips with layers of silk between them.<ref name=Spooner810>Spooner, 9 August 1917, p.810</ref> One layer was run fore and aft, while the other two were perpendicular to each other, running in a [[corkscrew]] spiral around the fuselage.<ref name=Spooner810/>

The [[Biplane#Bays|two-bay biplane]] wings had ailerons on the top wing only,<ref name=Spooner810/>  and the span of the upper wing was greater than that of the lower wing, with the extra length braced with the aid of kingposts and wires above the top wing on early examples, and additional struts angled outwards, affixed to the lower wing on later examples. All but the earliest Thomas-powered examples and the model F also had the wings swept back.

The engine was mounted behind an oval car-type frontal radiator, and enclosed in metal panels that streamlined the forward fuselage, although the later versions dispensed with some of the fairing panels.<ref name=Spooner810/>

Both undercarriage and empennage were conventional for the period, with fore and aft vees connected laterally with the axle and a spreader bar.<ref name=Spooner810/>

==Operational history==
A modified variant of the V, the F, was the first aircraft to fly with the new [[Liberty L-12]] engine that would find widespread use in the latter part of [[World War One]]. The model F in turn led to the "Reconnaissance", an intended production variant of the F, which in turn evolved into the [[LWF model G]], although none of these would see large scale production.

The model V was primarily relegated to training as its performance was not competitive when compared to available French and British military reconnaissance aircraft. As a result, a large number were available when the Czech legions supporting the [[White movement|White Russian]] (Tsarist) contingent were seeking military aircraft, however by then they were in very poor shape, and only a small number of the 28 that were shipped were even flyable, and even those were found to be of little use, but desperation forced the Czechs to use them for reconnaissance. The sole surviving example was from this contingent.

After the war, LWF attempted to interest the [[United States Post Office]] in them as [[mailplane]]s, however the sole example doesn't appear to have ever carried the mail, and no orders were forthcoming.

A small number were fitted with floats, with one example being used by the [[Michigan National Guard|Michigan State Militia]] until it was overturned in a storm. It does not appear to have been repaired afterwards.

==Variants==
[[File:LWF V.H.-1 Sea Gull hydroplane AT Aero show NY NARA31484990 (crop).jpg|thumb|LWF VH-1 Seagull]]
[[File:LWF model V modified as mailplane (cropped).jpg|thumb|LWF model V modified as mailplane]]
''info from www.aerofiles.com'' (2008)
;V: {{cvt|135|hp}} Thomas engine
;V-1: {{cvt|140|hp}} Sturtevant engine
;VH-1 Seagull: floatplane variant
;V-2: {{cvt|165|hp}} Hall-Scott engine
;V-3: {{cvt|200|hp}} Sturtevant engine
;F: modified V-2 variant built to test {{cvt|400|hp}} [[Liberty L-12]] engine, one built.
;F-7 Reconnaissance: production variant of model F, one or two built.
;Mailplane: extensively modified for the [[United States Postal Service]], one built.

==Operators==
''info from www.aerofiles.com'' (2008)
[[File:LWF type V (8190366409) (cropped).jpg|thumb|LWF model V survivor on display in [[Prague]]]]
;{{flag|Czechoslovakia}}
*[[Czechoslovakian Air Force]] - bought 28 well worn second-hand examples from the USAAS.

;{{USSR}}
*[[Soviet Air Forces|''Glavvozduhflot'']] - captured a small number of examples from the retreating Czechoslovakians

;{{USA}}
*[[United States Army Air Service]] - purchased 135 examples
*[[United States Post Office]] - tested one example
*[[Michigan National Guard|Michigan State Militia]] - operated a VH-1 until damaged in a storm

==Survivors and aircraft on display==
The sole surviving example of an LWF model V is made up from parts from several surviving examples that had been used by the Czech legions, and is on display at the [[Národní technické muzeum]] in [[Prague]], where it is suspended from the ceiling, marked as number 4.<ref name=NTM>{{cite web|author=National Technical Museum|title=Military airplane L.W.F. model V – Tractor|url=http://www.ntm.cz/en/en-heslar/tractor|website=www.ntm.cz|location=Prague|date=2016}}</ref>

==Specifications (model V-1) ==
[[File:LWF model V 3-view drawing.jpg|thumb|LWF model V 3-view drawing]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Flight magazine<ref name=Spooner>Spooner, 9 August 1917, pp.807-810</ref>
|prime units?=imp
<!--General characteristics-->
|crew=Two
|capacity=
|length ft=27
|length in=0
|length note=
|upper span ft=46
|upper span in=6
|upper span note=<br/>
*'''Wing chord upper:''' {{cvt|80|in|m}}
|lower span ft=38
|lower span in=8
|lower span note=<br/>
*'''Wing chord lower:''' {{cvt|80|in|m}}
|height ft=11
|height in=4
|height note=
|wing area sqft=490
|wing area note=
|airfoil=L.W.F No. 1
|empty weight lb=2134
|empty weight note=
|gross weight lb=3129
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity={{cvt|81|usgal}}<br/>
*'''Oil capacity:''' {{cvt|8|usgal}}
|more general=<br/>
*'''Undercarriage track:''' {{cvt|5|ft|6|in|m}}
<!--Powerplant-->
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Sturtevant model 5
|eng1 type=liquid cooled V-8
|eng1 hp=140<!-- prop engines -->
|eng1 note=
|prop blade number=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop name=
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia ft=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia in=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia note=
<!--Performance-->
|max speed mph=95
|max speed note=
|cruise speed mph=81
|cruise speed note=
|minimum control speed mph=42
|minimum control speed note=
|range miles=
|range note=
|endurance=4 hours<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling ft=15,500
|ceiling note=
|climb rate ftmin=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=10 mins to {{cvt|3800|ft}}
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=
|more performance=
<!--Armament-->
|guns= 
}}

==References==
{{commons category|LWF Model V}}

===Notes===
{{reflist|group=note}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|last=Faurote|first=Fay L.|title=Aircraft Year Book 1919|url=https://www.aia-aerospace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/THE-1921-AIRCRAFT-YEAR-BOOK.pdf|year=1921|publisher=Small, Maynard|location=Boston|asin=B0033HSKZ4|pages=169–181|access-date=2020-03-04|archive-date=2020-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102155414/https://www.aia-aerospace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/THE-1921-AIRCRAFT-YEAR-BOOK.pdf|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite magazine|editor=Stanley Spooner|title=The LWF Tractor biplane (with scale drawings)|magazine=Flight|date=9 August 1917|volume=IX|issue=32/450|publisher=Royal Aero Club|pages=807–810}}
*{{cite web|last1=Eckland|first1=K.O.|title=American airplanes: Lo - Lu|url=http://aerofiles.com/_lo.html|website=aerofiles.com|date=2 September 2008|accessdate=3 March 2020}}
*{{cite magazine|last=Týc|first=Pavel|title=LWF (Lowe, Willard, Fowler) Model V "Tractor"|magazine=Letectvi + Kosmonautika|location=Prague, Czech Republic|language=Czech|date=January 1993|pages=27–29}}
*{{cite magazine|last=Týc|first=Pavel|title=LWF (Lowe, Willard, Fowler) Model V "Tractor"|magazine=Letectvi + Kosmonautika|location=Prague, Czech Republic|language=Czech|date=February 1993|pages=26–29}}
*{{cite magazine|last=Týc|first=Pavel|title=LWF (Lowe, Willard, Fowler) Model V "Tractor"|magazine=Letectvi + Kosmonautika|location=Prague, Czech Republic|language=Czech|date=March 1993|pages=25–27}}
*{{cite magazine|last=Týc|first=Pavel|title=LWF (Lowe, Willard, Fowler) Model V "Tractor"|magazine=Letectvi + Kosmonautika|location=Prague, Czech Republic|language=Czech|date=April 1993|pages=27–29}}
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[[Category:L-W-F aircraft]]
[[Category:1910s United States military reconnaissance aircraft]]
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[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1917]]
[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]