Folbert-Lapidot
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merger |
| Founded | 30 May 1915 |
| Defunct | 1974 |
| Headquarters | Artwingen, Lindenholt |
Key people | Laurens Lapidot and Ruud Folbert |
| Products | Commercial airliners Military aircraft Launch Vehicles and satellites (Aerospace) Defence products |
Folbert-Lapidot was an aircraft and aerospace designer and manufacturer based in Lindenholt founded in 1916 by entrepreneurs and engineers Ruud Folbert and Laurens Lapidot. The duo formally started producing aircraft in an old textile mill, however Folbert and Lapidot had been designing and testing aircraft together since 1905.
History
The Great Wars
During the First Great Sunalayan War Folbert-Lapidot started production of one of their prototype aircraft for the Lindian war effort. The two seater reconnaissance plane Folbert-Lapidot Model 1 "Vogel" was commissioned in 1916 with the newly founded Air Reconnaissance Service (Lucht Verkennings Dienst) of the army. This biplane could mount a small calibre machine gun on its back for self defence means. In the early 1920's the production of the plane stopped and the new Folbert-Lapidot Model 2 "Buizerd" was released just a few years after in 1924. This biplane had real dog fighting capabilities and was designed to be the main fighter of the newly formed Air Combat Unit of the army.
The Buizerd's reputation as a reliable interwar fighter proved to be the key to success for the company, as new orders came in for a sea plane meant to service the Lindian colonies. The Model 3 Gans made its first flight in 1929, and was one of the first amphibious aircraft in the world.
The ageing design of the Buizerd became an issue for the Lindian military in the 1930's, and in 1934 work on new and more modern aircraft had started. In 1937 a top of the line fighter entered production, the Lindian Army ordered enough to replace all the Buizerds and Vogels.
In 1937 the company moved to a more sizeable location in order to expand series production of the new Arend fighter and the Model 24 tactical bomber. In 1939, two years after the opening of the new facility, production numbers reached their peak of an impressive 5 aircraft per day. Most were meant for the domestic needs of the Lindian military, but some were also destined for international customers.
By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War more than a thousand Arend fighter aircraft were fully operational, supported by around 500 Model 24 bombers and around 500 older Vogel and Buizerd models that were not fully operational due to their age.
The performance of the aircraft was outstanding compared to its adversaries, and even a few ace pilots emerged during combat, however the overwhelming forces during the invasions of 1940 lead to the quick disintergration of any ground forces. In a last ditch effort to keep the enemy from taking vital industrial centres, the Lindian government ordered the destruction of the Folbert-Lapidot production plants, effectively killing the entire Lindian aircraft industry for the duration of the war. No new Folbert-Lapidot aircraft would see production until the early 50's, however Folbert-Lapidot aircraft would still remain a common sight in the skies, as a large part of the Lindian air forces made an escape to Capsland.
Rebuilding
Hours before Lindenholt's surrender in the second world war, military command ordered the destruction of the entirety of the Dravendrecht facilities along with other key industries. This meant that after the war Folbert Lapidot had to start out from scratch to rebuild the Lindian aircraft industry.
The Lindian government was reluctant to support Folbert Lapidot in rebuilding a Lindian aircraft industry, as they thought that buying from the already highly developed aircraft industry from allied countries would be less costly than restarting a small domestic industry. Folbert Lapidot managed to sway the opinion of the post-war government by suggesting that Folbert Lapidot could license build foreign aircraft, and that if Folbert Lapidot were to develop their own aircraft it would bring a sense of pride and be an indicator of Lindenholt's recovery from the war. Folbert Lapidot received millions of government funding from 1947 until 1951 when the company made their first annual profit since the war. Their success came from producing Aznazian jet aircraft under license and supplying them to not only the Lindian air force, but also to other Ventismarien air forces.
The main goal of the company remained to design an all Lindian jet fighter. Something that became a reality when in 1955 the Lindian air force adopted the Folbert Lapidot Model 13. A one seater jet fighter that had a cruise speed of 780 km/h. Although exports of the aircraft were largely a failure, the development of the M13 was the start to more developments through the 1960's.
The Cold War
The Cold War's rapid technological development and arms race proved to be difficult for the air defence branche of Folbert Lapidot, as the aircraft industries of Ophion and the nations in the West spared from the horrors of the second world war could compete a lot better due to their experience gained during the war and mostly intact industry.
Whilst the military branche was struggling to keep up, the newly created civil aviation branche experienced a golden age. The conditions of Lindians started improving, and mobility (both social and physical) started improving as a result. This created a new middle and upper middle class of people who wanted to go on vacations and trips. Developments in the early fifties for a turboprop passenger plane were already on the drawing board, but were left mostly untouched as the entire development team was working on the Model-13's development.
In 1958 however, the Folbert Lapidot Model 27 made its first flight, only to be adopted in 1960 by the newly founded Lindian Airways. This twin engine aircraft could fit 48 passengers, reached a top speed of 460 km/h and had a range of 2600 kilometres. What made this plane special was its pressurised cabine. A rarity at the time.
Engineers at Folbert Lapidot correctly theorised that the demand for commercial planes would only grow in the coming years, and development of the Model 26 ended in 1965. The Model 26 sold only 47 units, of which 14 were used by airlines based in Lindenholt. The plane had a cruising speed of 800 km/h and a range of 1000 kilometres provided by the two unusually placed 23 kN engines located under the fuselage.
The Cold War also brought the threat of nuclear warfare, although Lindenholt did not and still does not posses a nuclear arsenal, released documents revealed that the Lindian government actively supported Folbert Lapidot to pursue intercontinental ballistic missile technologies, and afterwards the means to shoot down such missiles. The missiles were never weaponised, and instead further developed in to the Virgo I, II and III rocket systems meant for peaceful space exploration.
The End
By the time the Model 26 was fully in service Folbert Lapidot knew they had to develop another jetliner that could carry more people further away at a higher speed. Development began for the Model 29 in 1969. The design was a lot more conventional than its predecessor. It was a wide-body airliner with two engines attached to the wings. The rudder had a high mounted elevator, a signature feature of the aircraft. Development continued on until the end of the company, when Folbert Lapidot merged with several other Ventismarien aerospace companies, in order to form Aerobus. After the merger the project was continued, however the size of the aircraft was reduced to fit the role of a domestic airliner, and instead Aerobus created wide-body passenger planes from scratch combining all the knowledge of the preceding corporations.