The M.F. 9 was a Norwegian floatplane fighter which was unofficially known as the "Hoverjager". It was designed by Johan Hover and built by the Marinens Flyvebätfabrikk (Navy Flying Boat Factory) at Horten, Norway. The prototype was flown for the first time on 4th June 1925 and was an unequal-span unstaggered single-bay biplane made out of wood powered by a 300hp Hispano-Suiza Type 42 eight-cylinder water-cooled engine with strut-mounted Lamblin radiators. It was armed with one synchronised 7.62mm Colt machine gun. Three additional machines were built for evaluation by Marinens Flyvevaesen and flown in May 1926. By that time the prototype had already stablished a new European altittude record of 28.215ft (8.600m).
To correct the prototype's spinning flaws, these and the next four M.F.9s, which were completed during July and August 1928 were fitted with a larger rudder, being called M.F.9B. The original prototype was lost in an accident and a replacement was built and flown in June 1930 with six further ones built during the spring and summer of 1932, being two of those replacements for another two aircrafts lost in accidents. The last production aircraft was fitted with redesignated tail surfaces, with the tailplane raised and strut-braced with a central fin added. One aircraft was experimentally fitted with a licensed-built 425hp Bristol Jupiter engine air-cooled radial engine.
The tendency to spin and its extreme control sensibility rendered this fighter very unpopular among Norwegian pilots, but it remained in active service until 1936 nonetheless. Every M.F.9 was scrapped during the second half of the 1930s except for one which was kept by the ministry of defence to be preserved in a museum. It was, however, burnt by the German occupation forces.
Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marinens_Flyvebaatfabrikk_M.F.9
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