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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1712.PDF
FLIGHT JULY 31ST, 1941. Thirtieth of the Series FRIEND or FOE? Two More American Fighters : Curtiss Mohawk and Vultee Vanguard CURTISS MOHAWK : Low-wing, tapers on trailing-edge,dihedral from roots. Radial engine, no spinner. Deep oval section fuselage. Undercarriage retracts backwards withfairings for the legs. Tapered tailplane with curved elevators is set at base of fin ; rudder has curved trailing-edge. CURTISS Mohawks have already been delivered in fairnumbers to the R.A.F., but the Vultee Vanguardshave still to make their bow on this side of the Atlantic. These two machines resemble each other veryclosely in general appearance and are almost exactly the same size, but there is a difference in wing-plan whichwill distinguish them when more or less directly overhead, and an even sharper difference in the shape of their respec-tive fins and rudders which furnish an easy point for dis- crimination when a side view is obtained. From a head-on view, however, about the surest way of recognising these two machines apart is provided by the leg fairings whichcan be seen below the wings of the Mohawk, the under- carriage of which retracts backwards from beneath theleading-edge. The Vanguard undercarriage retracts in wards and leaves no protuberance beneath its wings. Toenable the wheels of the Mohawk to stow away in recesses in the wings,.they rotate through 90 degrees as retractiontakes place. The wings have a straight leading-edge but a generous taper on the trailing-edge which has fillets atthe roots and which curves forward into the leading-edge at the tips. The long j .-,-.„ A ^TVchord cowling of the radial : MOHAWK engine has controllable gillsat the back, while the busi- ness ends of a pair of itsguns give the appearance of two protruding eyes on top.The cockpit cover has a well-raked front and isfaired smoothly off into the " after -deck " of the deepsection, oval fuselage, in which it differs hardly at allfrom the Vanguard. The fin and rudder, however,are very different, having a straight slope to the lead-ing-edge and a rounded apex, the curve of which con-tinues smoothly down the trailing-edge to blend intothe bottom line of the fuse- lage tail. The tailplane,with a straight taper to the VULTEE VANGUARD : Low-wing, tapers on both edges torounded tips ; dihedral from roots. Radial engine, no spinner. Fuselage of very similar proportions to the Mohawkbut tailplane and fin and rudder have straight taper on both edges, the latter having small, round apex. leading-edge and a curved trailing-edge to the elevators,is set level with the base of the fin. The plan view of the Vanguard's wings show a slighttaper to the leading-edge, a rather more pronounced one to the trailing-edge and evenly rounded tips. The cowledradial engine and the fuselage are, as already indicated, almost identical in appearance with those of the Mohawk, jsuch small differences as exist being only apparent when ; the two aircraft can be compared side by side and in similar •attitudes as depicted. The tail of the fuselage, however, projects beyond thebase of the rudder which sits upon it and, with the fin, makes an inverted "V" with a rounded apex. The plan of the Vanguard's tailplane is perfectly sym-metrical ; both edges taper equally to small rounded tips and the trailing-edges of the elevators line up with theextremity of the fuselage, the tailplane being set prac- tically on the thrust-line. If you study carefully the pictures above it will also benoticed that the wings of the Vanguard are set a shade farther back from the nose,that the cowling lacks the protruding '' eyes '' of the :Mohawk and that it has- larger cooling gills, theVanguard being equipped with a Pratt and WhitneyTwin Wasp engine, whereas i the Mohawk has the Wright ~Cyclone power unit. Reference to the generalarrangement drawings will make clear at a glance thevarious points of difference observable from the threedifferent angles. These may be summed up briefly asfollows: Head-on view, leg fairings; side view, finand rudder; plan view, wings. Note, also, the pro-jecting guns on the wings of the Mohawk. Next week: V ought-Sikorsky Chesapeake and Northrop A 17-A. VANGUARD
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