UNITED STATES PLANES THE WINDOW .4111erica is at present h, tluJ midst of the 'noM tzlensh-e armamenl program oJ .. AiMof-y. In recent mon/h" the 'lame.! oj US plane" appeared in 'he prtU wi4A i_"illg Jrequency. TIli" ill due more tf} tlae eJforl4 oj the American prop- GflII'Ila macl,ine and /0 tile pltblicity of riool American jima.! titan to actlwl performance on the baJeltfieid. Indeed. the latter lIall as yet beela very limited, and ill alntOll ftlflry caSt the AlIIerican pIal/til lIat'e 'hemaelvell to be clearly inferior 10 U10n of 'he .'lxill. For the reader il ill qllite diflicult to ketp ti,e l1ariOIU plane typu lJfIIIrt, "ina Mey are de"ig"ated by combillatiQ/aII of leiter" mad fi!1llrtll a" tOe/I aot by !"';/ul nomu. The follolllill(l article dtscribt.a l1fe m08' imporla,,' US Iypu. The ....,.,.... for it was tal'tn from ,-tmuican sources, (lIld the ptrformanctll MfIfI14 6e rtf}CIrded nccordill!Jly.-K . .u. about 3!O mph), has, after five revisions, at last entered into mass production. The Bell P·39 "Airacobro." is equally well known. In this plane, the engine is behind the pilot, the propeller being driven by a shaft rUlming between the pilot's legs. Thus the engine, which is the heaviest part of the plane, is in the center. making the plane easier to maneuver. The pilot is shielded at his most vulnerable spot. his back. by the heavy metal mass of the engine, which obviates the insertion of heavy armor plating. Since tbe "Airacobra" has entered into mass production. several hundred of them have probably already found their way to England. The top speed of this plane is also "around 400 mph." It is an interesting fact that on October 20 the US War Information Bureau. in a detailed report on the quality of American planes and their performance at the front, frankly admitted that, at great altitudes such as are common in modern aerial war· fare, both the Bell P·39 and the Curtiss p.4Q are inferior to the German Messer. schmidt 109 and Focke·WuJf 190. American pursuit pilot.s in England are now said to be flying "Spitfires" instead of their own Curtiss p·4Q's. Moreover. according to a report by Frank Sinclair, Se¥ersky engineer teat pilot. that was quoted in a widely read American magazine. "the Japanese have & light single- seater with a 1,000.hp motor that will run rings around anything in this countn- [America]." • The Lockheed P·38 "Lightning" is a plane of ne\\' design. Powered with two 1.200· INOE the matter of maximum speed is ODe of utmost importance to the fighting value of a pursuit plane. American pop.pnda, especially the propaganda of ibe various airplane manufacturers, is in· eliDed to publiah performance fignres which, IiI&bougb individually perhaps possible or .., ilightly exaggerated. are impossible ... combined with each other. A manu· "lea. will say, for instance, that his .. baa a speed of 400 mph, a radius of 1,000 miJee, carries 6 machine guns, and 1DA1 take five lOO-pound bombs. On analy. .. we find that his model has once flown at • Ipeed of 392 mph: but in that case it ... etripped of everything that couJd be nmoved, it carried no guns, no ammunition, it bad a very limited fnel supply. and this fuel again wu a special racing fuel. With ita full fighting equipment, the plane has a. apeec1 of no more than 3!O to 350 mph. Should the plane be loaded with bombs or oury • fuel supply sufficient for the 1,000. mile rqe claimed, the maximum speed ...... be further reduced. PURSUIT pus},: First and fore. most among American pursuit planes i 8 the much .advertised Cur tis s P·40 ltromahawk." This plane. C1n111l'010 -r•••1.. rI" which has a wing spread of some 18 ... aad " oIajrped speed of lIabout 400 __ aD hoar" (i.e., a fighting speec.l of
Transcript
UNITED STATES PLANES
THE WINDOW
.4111erica is at present h, tluJ midst of the 'noM tzlensh-e armamenl programoJ .. AiMof-y. In recent mon/h" the 'lame.! oj US plane" Ita~ appeared in 'he prtUwi4A i_"illg Jrequency. TIli" ill due more tf} tlae eJforl4 oj the American propGflII'Ila macl,ine and /0 tile pltblicity of riool American jima.! titan to actlwlperformance on the baJeltfieid. Indeed. the latter lIall as yet beela very limited, and illalntOll ftlflry caSt the AlIIerican pIal/til lIat'e 81,owl~ 'hemaelvell to be clearly inferior10 U10n of 'he .'lxill.
For the a~ral1e reader il ill qllite diflicult to ketp ti,e l1ariOIU plane typulJfIIIrt, "ina Mey are de"ig"ated by combillatiQ/aII of leiter" mad fi!1llrtll a" tOe/I aot by!"';/ul nomu. The follolllill(l article dtscribt.a l1fe m08' imporla,,' US Iypu. The....,.,.... for it was tal'tn from ,-tmuican sources, (lIld the ptrformanctll "~lItiolled
MfIfI14 6e rtf}CIrded nccordill!Jly.-K..u.
about 3!O mph), has, after five revisions, atlast entered into mass production.
The Bell P·39 "Airacobro." is equally wellknown. In this plane, the engine is behindthe pilot, the propeller being driven by ashaft rUlming between the pilot's legs.Thus the engine, which is the heaviest partof the plane, is in the center. making theplane easier to maneuver. The pilot isshielded at his most vulnerable spot. hisback. by the heavy metal mass of the engine,which obviates the insertion of heavy armorplating. Since tbe "Airacobra" has enteredinto mass production. several hundred ofthem have probably already found theirway to England. The top speed of thisplane is also "around 400 mph."
It is an interesting fact that on October20 the US War Information Bureau. in adetailed report on the quality of Americanplanes and their performance at the front,frankly admitted that, at great altitudessuch as are common in modern aerial war·fare, both the Bell P·39 and the Curtissp.4Q are inferior to the German Messer.schmidt 109 and Focke·WuJf 190. Americanpursuit pilot.s in England are now said to beflying "Spitfires" instead of their own Curtissp·4Q's. Moreover. according to a report byFrank Sinclair, Se¥ersky engineer teat pilot.that was quoted in a widely read Americanmagazine. "the Japanese have & light singleseater with a 1,000.hp motor that will runrings around anything in this countn-[America]." •
The Lockheed P·38 "Lightning" is a planeof ne\\' design. Powered with two 1.200·
INOE the matter of maximum speed isODe of utmost importance to the fightingvalue of a pursuit plane. American
pop.pnda, especially the propaganda ofibe various airplane manufacturers, is in·eliDed to publiah performance fignres which,IiI&bougb individually perhaps possible or.., ilightly exaggerated. are impossible... combined with each other. A manu·"lea. will say, for instance, that his.. baa a speed of 400 mph, a radius of1,000 miJee, carries 6 machine guns, and1DA1 take five lOO-pound bombs. On analy... we find that his model has once flownat • Ipeed of 392 mph: but in that case it... etripped of everything that couJd benmoved, it carried no guns, no ammunition,it bad a very limited fnel supply. and thisfuel again wu a special racing fuel. Withita full fighting equipment, the plane has a.apeec1 of no more than 3!O to 350 mph.Should the plane be loaded with bombs oroury • fuel supply sufficient for the 1,000.mile rqe claimed, the maximum speed...... be further reduced.
PURSUIT pus},:
First and fore.most amongAmerican pursuitplanes i 8 themuch .advertisedCur tis s P·40ltromahawk."This plane.
C1n111l'010 -r•••1..rI" which has a wingspread of some
18 ... aad " oIajrped speed of lIabout 400__ aD hoar" (i.e., a fighting speec.l of
160 THE XX&h CENTURY
although still in the experimental stage,might introduce a new type of pursuit plane.However, other firms all over the world havemade experiments in past years with similartypes of planes which all foundered OD theproblem of stability.
DIYE BOMBERS
MEDIUMBOMBERS
lIBAVYBOMBERS
After theGermans hadgained greatvictories withtheir "Stukas,"the Americansbe gan constructing di\"ebombers ill Curtiu SB2C·]earnest. Thelatest are the Vultee .. Vengeance," theBrewster SB2A-l, and the Curtiss SB2C-l,aU of which have entered mass productionand arc powered with the Dew 1,700.hpWright "Cyclone Double Row" engine.Their speed is "about 350 mph." TheVultee "Vengeance" is being &ent to Britain.None of these models has been actuallyemployed at the front to any large extentyet, 80 that there are no reports about theirachievements.
Marlin B·26
Among the American medium bombers isthe North American B-25, which becamefamous overnight through the attack onTokyo. This plane. powered by two Wright"Double Cyclone" 1,500.hp engines, has a"top speed of 310 mph" and a range of over2,500 miles, and carries a ton of bombs.There are also the fast Douglas A-20 andthe Martin B.26, both powered by two1,600.hp engines and with a speed of 350mph or more, their ranges being 2,000 to2,500 miles.
~Boring B·Il
Among the American heavy bombers, themost famous is the Boeing B.17. calledthe "Flying Fortress" in America. Thisfirst appeared in 1935 and, after undergoingfive changes, the lat,est E type, powered withfour 1,600-hp engines and with & range of
horsepower .Allillon engines, it is said to be80 fut that, in the cl'088-country test flight,the pilot l08t control and crashed. ThisBhows that the main problem of modemmilitary aircraft construction is not speedalone but speed with simultaneous maneu·verability. In this regard Japan has pro·duced a fine combination in her crackHayabusa and "Zero" fighters: speed andmaneuverability have been coupled to attaina combination as yet unattained by anyother fighter in the world except the Germanones. The new Lockheed ., Lightning"claims a top speed of more than 400 mphand a large cruising range, which meansthat it was designed for escorting bombers.For the same purpose, the German Luftwaffeuses the Messerschmidt 110, a "destroyerplane" with just as large a cruising rangeas the Lockheed P·38. Moreover, theMesserschmidt 110 is superior to the Lockheed P-38 in that it is a two-seater plane.The second man relieves the pilot of hisburden of radio communications, navigation,and watching the air; in addition to this,he can use a pivoted gun to fight off oppo.nents a,ttacking from behind.
Besides these there are the Vultee P·48"Vanguard," the Republic P.43 "Lancer,"the North American P·51 "llustang," andothers. All are supposed to have a speed"exceeding 400 mph" and to be producedin large numbers. There are al80 somenewer deaigns with l,600.hp engines beingtested now or about to enter mass production. These are the Vultee P-61, the CurtissP-42, and the Vought-Sikorsky F4U-l, allpowered by 1,600-hp Wright "Double Wasp"or Pratt & Whitney twin·row engines of thesame power. The Vought-Sikorsky FlU·lis advertised by its producers 1\8 being the"fastest plane in the world." The RepublicCompany has come out with a 2,000.hppursuit plane, the P-47 "Thunderbolt,"which they in turn swear is the "fastest inthe world." (Even in war time the Ameri.cans must, for reasons of commercial competition, keep up publicity. The world'sabsolute speed record is held by the Messer·schmidt 109 R, a stripped and suped.upversion of the Messerschmidt 109, and wasset up in the spring of 1939 with a speed of7M kilometers per hour, i.e., 463 miles perhour. It is hardly possible to believe thatany American firm could have broken thisrecord in the meantime without letting theworld know about it.)
Another interesting design is Northrop'stail1e88 "Flying Wing" pursuit plane, which,
THE WI},T])OW 161
3,500 miles carrying 3 tons of bombs, isbeing produced in numbers for Englandas well as for the US Army. The greatestdifference between the D type and theE type is that the engine power has beenincreased from 1,200 to 1,600 hp each, andthat additional machine guns ha,-e beenmounted in the tail of the plane as a resultof the lessons learnt while on active sen;ce inEngland, when they suffered great losses atthe hands of German pursuit planes whichattacked their undefended tails. However,many of the new E type have already beenshot down over northern France and westernGermany.
Next comes the Consolidated B-24"Liberator," which has a wing spread ofno feet (or 6 feet more than that of theBoeing B-17) and a range of 3,000 miles with4 tons of bombs. This plane is in massproduction and has been sent to England.It was recently reported that the firstAmerican air units to appear on the l\:ledi·terranean front were equipped with "Libera·t<>rs."
According to the latest reports, the evenlarger Douglas B-IS has completed all testsand is being prepared for serial production.This huge plane weighs no less than 70 tom;and baa .. wing spread of 210 feet. It isBII))JlOIed to have a range of 12,000 miles,wJille, at a coD8iderahly reduced range, itcan carry a reported 18 tons of bombs.However, the truth of these data is doubtedby many experts.
PATROL AND TRANSPORT PLANES
The Cons<>lidat.ed "Catalina," which hasa range of 4,000 miles and is powered bytwo 1,200-hp engines, is advertised by theAmericans as the best patrol plane in theworld. Many of them are now beingproduced in .America and sent to England.
Then there are what the Americans haveoalled the "Flying Battleships": the Consoli·dated PB2Y and the Vought-Sikorsky PBS-I,both powered by four 1,200·hp engines andwith elaborate heating systems, telephone, etc.These planes have a wing spread of about115 feet and weigh 30 tons. The somewhat8IIl&Der Consolidli.ted 31 is claimed t<> be thefaateat large aeaplane in the world. Poweredwith two Wright "Duplex Cyclone" 2,000.hpengines, this plane, weighing 23 tons andwith & wing spread of no feet, has a rangeof' 6,000 miles.
After five years of planning, the :MartinCompany has completed its PB2M "Mars,"
that has a wing spread of 200 feet and turnsthe scales at 70 tons. This plane not onlycarries a motorb<>at but also loads cannonsof fairly large caliber. Powered with fourWright "Duplex Cyclone" 2,000-hp enginf'8,the rumored range is over 10,000 miles,which seems hardly credible. As far as weknow, it has not yet been decided whetherthis plane, of which there is as yet only oneexperimental model, is to be put into massproduction or not.
The Anglo-American tonnage losses havebeen so tremendous that everything is beiJlgtried to circumvent the perilous voyageacross the Atlantic. Even the employmentof planes is being seriously contemplated.The ~Ia.rtin Company is said to have alreadyfinished plans for a 120-ton plane, powert-dwith six 2,500-hp engines, for th<> transportation of war material to England. Boeingand Consolidated are also preparing for thecOllstrnction of 100- to ISO-ton monsters for'the same purpose as well as for bornbing.However, much time is bound to pass beforethese plans can materialize, and still moretime before such pla.nes pass from the experimental stage into mass productionsupposing that these projects are e,"er carriedout at all.
E"SGD;ES
During theGreat 'War, plu.neswere equippedwith engines ofless than 300 VatUJht-Sikorsky F4l.:·Jhorsepower. Bothair· and liquid.cooled motors were used.Germany preferred the liquid-cooled motorand developed it to a high standard, whilethe Allies concentrated mainly 011 the air·cooled motor because of its greater lightness.Hence after the war the American aircraftmotor industry continued to build almostexclusively air-cooled engines. However,after the coming into power of Adolf Hitler,when the shackles imposed by Versailleswere cast off and when Germany began tobuild up her air arm again, sbe took up theGreat War tradition of liquid-cooled motors.Through the employment of modem tech.nical knowledge, Germany's achievementswere very soon such that her liquid-cooledmotors were on a par with the best air·cooled motors of other countries.
"When the teehnical and military advantages of liquid-cooled motors, especially forfast, streamlined planes, became apparent,
162 THE XXth CE!\T"fURY
radial motors. With these they achievedfar higher performances and far greater'reliability than the liquid-cooled Allisonmotor, As a result, the American aircraftindustry has largely reverted to the use ofair-cooled motors, which, in the last fewyears, ha,'c been den-loped to all output ashigh as 2,000 hp.
At t he present moment, America is in themidst of redesigning planes that have showntheir defects in the fighting in East Asia andEurope and is trying to bring them up tothe lo'-el of the Axis planes. Experience bassbown that it take at least two years toget a lIew type ready for mass prOductionafter the ('xperimental 1II0dels have pro,'C'delltirel~' sati~fllctor.r. The salllc is true incase" wllf're planes that are already in mu"sproductiun 11I1."c to be redcsigned. (Wcwish to call our readers' attention to thc,"cry interc ting acticle "The American AirForce" ill the December 1942 issue of tbeOrienfal Economist). All this would eeemto indicate that it will take at leutanother two years before Americanplane are a match for the preaent Axismodels. However, the designing offices andthe factories of the Axis countries are notidle either, and they have the added advantage of far greater actual fighting experience011 the part of their air forces.-X.K.
the ~.\merioan aircraft industry was filledwith consternation. Since, in order to catchthe air, the cylinders of an air-cooled engineare arranged in a circle around the propellershaft, every increase in power meant anincrease in size and consequently an increasein air resistance, till at one point the addedwind resistance would practically nullify theadded power. The liquid-cooled engine isnot concerned with this problem, as naturallythe cylinders need not be exposed to theair and can therefore be built in a row onebehind the other, 8S they are in an automobile engine.
Therefore, the Alii on di,-ision of GeneralMotors began to develop liquid-cooled motorsfor the US Army. The American aircraftindustry enthusiastically took up the newAllison motors but was dceply disappointed.'ince Allison lacked the necessary experi.
ence, the motors de,-eloped all kinds of"growing pains," so that to tbis day thereputation of the Alii on motor is none toogood. (The Curt,iss P-40 is powered by anAllison engine.) In order to o,'erc-ome the~hortage of American-made liquid-cooledluotor" of high performance and reliability,the USA had to purchase the Iic('l1scs ofgood British motors.
Meanwhile, however, the American firmsspecializing in air-cooled motors had begunsome ten years earlier to develop twin-row
