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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0123.PDF
JANUARY 16, 1936- FLIGHT. 59 „f ammunition were stowed. Twin for the observer and twenty fragmentation bombs com- the offensive armament. The guns 3-pounc engine was an unsupercharged Curtiss r»i2 of 4^5 h-P-< an^ ^he maximum speed rather over 140 m.p.h. 4s in most other branches of mili ary aviation, the monoplane threatens to supersede the biplane en- tireiv. Probably this type shines as an attack machine more brightly than in other categories. Extremely high load factors are not essential and the low wing can be used to house the front gnus and their bulky belt boxes in addition to the retractable under carriage which makes for the extreme speed desirable in an attack machine. It is usually possible, moreover, to place the pilot over the leading edge of the wing where he can see his target to advantage. To-day there are three standard tvpes of attack machines in service wdth the U.S. Army Air Corps, these being the Curtiss A.8 or Shrike, the Cur tis? A. 12, and the new Northrop A. 13, which resembles A standard type in the U.S. Army Air Corps, the Curtiss A. 12 has slots and flaps. A Cyclone engine gives it a maximum speed of about 212 m.p.h. in general design the Northrop bomber lately purchased by the British Air Ministry for experimental purposes. The A.8, fitted with an unsupercharged direct-drive Curtiss Conqueror, does 197 m.p.h. at sea level. Basic ally a low-wing wire-braced monoplane, it is slotted and flapped, and has roofed cockpits for pilot and observer. The fairings over each half of the divided undercarriage are used for the mounting of four Brown ing guns, for which are provided 2,400 rounds of am munition. A track-type mounting over the rear cock pit carries a fifth Browning, for which 600 rounds are supplied. For comparatively short ranges about 500 lb. of bombs may be carried. The A.12 is essentially a development of the Shrike, the main point of difference being the installation of a Wright Cyclone radial in place of the Conqueror. Other minor variations are the revised cockpit arrangements whereby the pilot is no longer enclosed (presumably for psychological reasons) and the undercarriage. Happily enough for American manufacturers, ever watchful of the export market, the single-engined trans port monoplanes like the Northrop, Vultee and Lockheed designs can be developed comparatively easily into attack machines. The Northrops going into service with the U.S. Army are, in fact, direct descendants of the Gamma. 1n attack-bomber version of the single-engined Vultee is ready familiar to regular readers. In the various untries supplied by America it is frequently necessary to r100 UP revolutionaries, bandits, or unwelcome visitors /°m neighbouring states, and so a large number of mili- ty aircraft which have been exported have been planned • The Breda 65 is a new " assault " type developed in Italy. It has a Gnome-Rhone Mistral Major engine of 800 h.p. and a maximum speed in the region of 250 m.p.h. with a view to possible employment as attack machines. Two, if not more, of the Hawker Hartebeest biplanes to be used by the South African Air Force are to be fitted with armour-plating for the protection of the crew when flying low over mobs. Contrarv to a common idea, how ever, the normal attack aeroplane is not armour-plated. With full armament load and fuel for a reasonable range it usually comes out heavy enough, in all conscience. At least two Italian manufacturers have lately built assault machines for the Italian Government. The assault types are really rather different from anything else in the air, and seem, according to the somewhat scanty informa tion which has left Italy, to be intended as single-seater ground strafers, bombers, fighters and reconnaissance machines. One of them, the Breda 64, was described in Flight of November 21 last year. It may be recalled that this type is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a radial engine of 600 h.p. and a maximum speed of about 220 m.p.h. Since that date a few particulars of an even later type have filtered through. The machine concerned is designated the Breda 65, and although resembling its forerunner in that it is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a radial engine and retractable undercarriage, it seems to be of stressed skin construction, and is fitted with a Gnome Rhone Mistral Major fourteen-cylinder two-row engine of 800 h.p., which gives a maximum speed of some thing like 250 m.p.h. Another assault monoplane has been constructed by Cantieri Aeronautici Bergameschi, a subsidiary of the Caproni Company, and the builders, it may be recalled, ol a monoplane which was entered for the England-Australia Race, but which never took part. Hendon Memories Those addicted to R.A.F. Displays will know plenty about low attacks as made by fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force. The days of the Flycatchers are over— their cacophonous converging attack will be long remem bered as one of the best events at Hendon—but the Bull dogs' of No. 17(F) Squadron have carried on the good work with apparent abandon, though actually with masterly precision. Fighters of the R.A.F.—excepting specialised interceptors—are provided with a rack for four twenty-pound bombs which, together with their fixed guns, forms their armament for use against ground targets. In war-time the '' strafe '' is one of the most dangerous tasks undertaken in the air. Surprise contributes very greatly to its effectiveness, and to achieve this it might be necessary to '' hide behind hills or wroods before launch ing the attack. Engine failure a few feet up is, to say th? least, undesirable, and there, incidentally, the low-wing monoplane with retractable undercarriage scores in attack work, for, with the wheels retracted, the machine might slide along on its nether surface without nosing over.
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