Siebel Si 204
| Si 204 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Siebel Si 204D PH-NLL displayed at Hilversum Airport in 1967 | |
| Role | Light transport/trainer |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Siebel |
| Primary users |
Luftwaffe Czechoslovakia France |
| Number built | 1,216 (to January 1945) |
| Developed from | Siebel Fh 104 |
The Siebel Si 204 was a small twin-engined transport and trainer aircraft developed during World War II. It was based on the Fh 104. Originally designed in response to an RLM development order for a small civil transport aircraft in 1938, it was eventually produced for the Luftwaffe.
The Si 204 was planned as a small all-metal passenger aircraft with 2 crew and 8 passengers for German airline Deutsche Luft Hansa (DLH). Development was initiated in 1938. The contractor was, as usual, the RLM, but the development was conducted in close collaboration between DLH and Siebel in Halle. After the beginning of the war the aircraft was re-designed as a trainer aircraft with a full "stepless" glass cockpit, with no separate flat windscreen for the pilot (much as almost all German bomber aircraft of the time were being designed), which seemed to be better for blind flying in the Si 204's case.
The first two prototypes only were delivered as passenger aircraft with the old cockpit. The maiden flight of the first prototype was before September 1940, possibly on 25 May 1940, that of the second prototype before February 1941. The third prototype was re-designed as a trainer aircraft for blind flying. As a result of this, the maiden flight was not earlier than the end of 1941 or the beginning of 1942.
At that time Siebel produced the Junkers Ju 88 under licence, and therefore only 15 prototypes were able to be built in Halle. As a result, SNCAN (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Nord)) in France produced the A-0 pre-series A-1 production passenger aircraft between April 1942 and November 1943. Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk (ČKD) / Böhmisch-Mährische Maschinenfabrik AG (BMM) in the Czech Protectorate delivered the first blind flying trainer D-0 in January 1943 followed by the production of a further 44 D-0 pre-series aircraft. The D-1 series was begun in March 1943 by the Aero company, also located in the Czech Protectorate, and by BMM in June or July 1943. In August 1943, SNCAN also delivered their first D-1.
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