Misplaced Pages

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49-950: In 1931, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation , parent company of the Lockheed Aircraft Company , built a two-seat single-engined fighter aircraft based on the Lockheed Altair high-speed transport as a private venture. The prototype, the Detroit-Lockheed XP-900, flew in September 1931 and was purchased by the United States Army Air Corps as the Lockheed YP-24 . It had impressive performance, being faster than any fighter then in service with

98-811: A 90% interest in the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company , practically all of the capital stock of the Lockheed Aircraft Company and a 40% interest in Winton Aviation Engine Co. During the Great Depression the Detroit Aircraft holding company found that rising losses from other operations were draining the company coffers. On October 27, 1931, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation went into receivership . The heavier than air portions of

147-640: A P-35 with naval equipment was supplied to the United States Navy for a design competition to replace the Navy's biplane fighters with an all-metal monoplane . Contrary to usual Navy practice, the single test aircraft was operated under civil registration as NX1254 and was not assigned a formal Navy serial number nor a type designation, and was instead operated as the NF-1 , a company designation standing for "Naval Fighter One". The prototype competed against

196-451: A demonstrator on a tour of Europe in early 1939. As a result of this demonstration, Sweden ordered 15 EP-106 fighters on 29 June 1939, a development of the P-35 powered by a 1,050 hp (783 kW) R-1830-45, which improved performance by over 25 mph (40 km/h) and armed with two 7.9 mm (.311 in) machine guns in the cowl and two 13.2 mm (.52 in) machine guns in

245-647: A new fighter to replace the Boeing P-26 Peashooter . It was larger and heavier than the other competitors and was much more expensive. It crashed during testing, with the Seversky P-35 being ordered into production. One A-11 was converted to the XA-11A testbed with the new 1,000 hp (750 kW) Allison XV-1710-7 engine. While the PB-2 was sturdy, the two-seat fighter concept was obsolete by

294-687: A single seat version of the PB-2 . The SEV-1XP was re-engined again, with a two-row Pratt & Whitney R-1830 -9 "Twin Wasp" replacing the Cyclone and a modified vertical stabilizer fitted, becoming the SEV-7. The P&W also failed to deliver its rated power as it put out only 738 hp (550 kW) , and top speed was again well below 300 mph. While more expensive than the Curtiss and Vought designs,

343-811: Is an American fighter aircraft built by the Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109 , the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in United States Army Air Corps to feature all-metal construction, retractable landing gear , and an enclosed cockpit . The origins of the P-35 can be traced back to the Seversky SEV-3 three-seat amphibian , designed by Alexander Kartveli , Seversky's chief designer and Seversky's first aircraft. The SEV-3 first flew in June 1933 and

392-570: The 1st Pursuit Group (27th, 71st and 94th PS) stationed at Selfridge Field in Michigan. The aircraft used a wet wing to save weight and ground personnel quickly learned about the persistent fuel leaks. The P-35's performance was poor even by contemporary standards and, although USAAC aviators appreciated the aircraft's ruggedness, it was already obsolete by the time deliveries were finished in 1938. On 18 June 1940, United States declared an embargo against exporting weapons to any nation other than

441-530: The Asahi Shimbun newspaper as "hacks." Sweden ordered 52 2PAs (Swedish designation B 6 ), able to carry 1,350 lb (612 kg) of bombs, but received only two prior to the U.S. embargo directed to combatants. The remaining 50 were appropriated by the USAAC, re-armed with 0.30 in and 0.50 in machine guns, and used as advanced trainers named AT-12 Guardsman . The first P-35s were delivered to

490-675: The Brewster F2A and Grumman F4F , but was found unsatisfactory, with the F2A being ordered into production. According to some sources, the type designation of FN was assigned to the Seversky under the 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system , but others claim this is in error. Seversky continued to develop the design with the hope of selling more aircraft both to the Air Corps and to civil and export customers. It modified

539-791: The Japanese invasion of Vigan in northern Luzon . Marrett made multiple strafing runs against W-10 , until the ship blew up. The explosion was so powerful it tore a wing off of Marrett's P-35, causing him to crash into the sea. In late December 1941, most of the remaining strength of the Army Air Force in the Philippines was evacuated to airfields on the Bataan Peninsula . On 2 January 1942, five surviving P-35As attempted to fly from Pilar Field to Bataan Airfield , but two were hit by anti-aircraft fire, with one crashing and

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588-586: The Mitchell Trophy air race with a speed of 217.5 miles per hour (350.0 km/h). Since the PB-2A was one of the few aircraft at the time to have retractable landing gear, they were frequently damaged in "wheels-up" landings when the pilots forgot to extend the landing gear. One PB-2A was modified to a single-seat configuration as the PB-2A Special, to compete in a 1936 Air Corps competition for

637-621: The Sea Rover and Sea Pirate flying boat ranging In price from $ 7,500 to $ 10,000. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Blackburn Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan, May 20, 1929. to acquire design and patent rights on entire line of metal aircraft of Blackburn Airplane & Motor Co., Ltd. of England. DAC controlled 90% with the UK company holding 10% of the stock. Detroit Aircraft Export Co. Incorporated in December 1928 for

686-506: The ZMC-2 , was constructed for the U.S. Navy in 1929. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Edsel Ford , William May and William Stout , invested in the venture in an effort to make Detroit the manufacturing center of the dirigible industry. The Ford name was not closely associated with the ZMC-2 at the insistence of Henry and Edsel Ford, but Ford laboratories, on the property of

735-404: The 1920s. However, in 1929, the management of Lockheed voted to sell majority share ownership to the Detroit Aircraft Corporation. In July 1929, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation acquired 87 percent of the assets of Lockheed Aircraft Company . Park's Air College and Affiliated Companies, Inc. , see Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology . Seversky P-35 The Seversky P-35

784-503: The 50 PB-2As were completed by August that year. While intended as a high altitude fighter, the PB-2 flew relatively few high-altitude flights, partly because of the discomfort for the crew. One exception took place in March 1937, when a PB-2A was flown to 39,300 feet (12,000 m) before being forced to return to lower altitudes when the aircraft's controls froze. On 17 October 1936, a PB-2A flown by Lt.  John M. Sterling won

833-509: The Air Corps placed an order for four P-30 fighters and four A-11 attack aircraft. These production variants differed from the prototypes in having stronger fuselages, simplified undercarriages and more powerful engines. The first P-30 was delivered in January 1934. Testing showed that the gunner's cockpit was uncomfortable and cold at the high altitudes where the P-30 was intended to fight, while

882-458: The Air Corps, and an order for five Y1P-24 fighters and four Y1A-9 attack aircraft was placed for the new aircraft, despite the loss of the prototype on 19 October 1931. The Detroit Aircraft Corporation went into bankruptcy eight days later, however, leading to the cancellation of the contract. When the Detroit Aircraft Corporation failed, the chief designer of the YP-24, Robert J. Woods

931-649: The Air Corps. One was the XP-41 (which had the company designation AP-4D, which was a P-35 with a 1,200 hp (895 kW) R-1830-9 engine fitted with a two-stage supercharger ) and the AP-4, which had a turbo-supercharger mounted in the belly of a deeper fuselage. The Air Corps preferred the AP-4D, which was ordered into production as the P-43 Lancer . Aiming to increase sales, Alexander P. de Seversky personally took

980-693: The Detroit River. The airport covered 403 acres (1.63 km ) of land and has water approaches on three sides. Contains a circular landing field. 3,000 feet (910 m) in diameter, and an airship hangar . Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Marine Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan, June 11, 1929, to specialise exclusively in all-metal amphibian and flying boat construction for commercial and naval uses. Manufactured an all-metal six-place cabin amphibian plane. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Eastman Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan. Nov. 26, 1928. Manufactured

1029-679: The Far East Air Force, placing a strain on the engines of all the aircraft since no replacement engines were available. In October 1941, the P-35s were earmarked for transfer to the Philippine Army Air Corps after sufficient Curtiss P-40 Warhawks were received by the FEAF. In November 1941, after the 3rd and 17th PS received new P-40E aircraft, most of their P-35As were passed to two newly arrived squadrons attached to

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1078-443: The P-35, the 2PA was a two-seat fighter and fighter-bomber with a fundamentally similar airframe and offered with either a similar undercarriage to that of the single-seater as the 2PA-L (Land) or with an amphibious float undercarriage as the 2PA-A (Amphibian). Dubbed "Convoy Fighter" by the manufacturer, the 2PA was powered by a Wright R-1820-G2 or G3 Cyclone nine-cylinder radial engine, the former rated at 1,000 hp for take-off and

1127-560: The PAAC on 30 April, and flew its last sortie out of Del Monte Airfield, accompanying a P-40 on a strafing attack of Japanese landings at Macajalar Bay on 3 May 1942. The Swedish Air Force received 60 J 9s in the spring-summer 1940. The aircraft were operated alongside other units assigned to the Svea Air Force Wing (F 8) protecting Stockholm, replacing the obsolete Gloster Gladiators . Swedish J 9s served with Flygvapnet as

1176-415: The Seversky was a clear winner of the Air Corps' competition, with an order for 77 P-35 fighters and spare parts equivalent to eight airplanes being placed on 16 June 1936 at a cost of $ 1,636,250. Modifications from SEV-1XP to production P-35 standard included partial instead of complete mainwheel fairings and seven degrees of dihedral to the outer wing panels. The first production P-35 was delivered to

1225-661: The USAAC in May 1937, preceded by a company owned pre-production aircraft and demonstrator, the AP-1. Only 76 P-35s were built, delivery being completed in August 1938, with the 77th aircraft finished as the prototype XP-41 . When it wanted further fighters in 1937, the Air Corps, who were unhappy with both the slow delivery of the P-35, and sale of 2PA two-seat aircraft to the Japanese Navy, ordered 210 Curtiss P-36s . Also in 1937,

1274-844: The United Kingdom. Optimistically, Republic continued to manufacture EP-106s which, by the 24 October 1940 order, 60 were taken over by the USAAC as the P-35A . The aircraft were re-armed to American standards with a pair of 0.50 in machine guns that fired through the propeller, but retained the Swedish specification of a 0.30 in machine gun mounted in each wing. Flight instruments were metric, and both their labeling and flight manuals written in Swedish. Of these, three aircraft were kept in United States as instructional airframes for mechanics. Six P-35As were delivered to Ecuador to form

1323-401: The aircraft extremely vulnerable (12 P-35As were destroyed and six damaged by a Japanese strafing attack on Del Carmen Airfield on 10 December ) and by 12 December 1941, only eight P-35As were still in flying condition. However, also on 10 December 1941, a P-35A of the 34th Pursuit Squadron piloted by 1st Lt. Samuel H. Marrett is credited with the sinking of Japanese minesweeper W-10 during

1372-741: The assets and business of the Mahoney-Ryan Aircraft Corporation, the successor to Ryan Air Lines. Ryan Aircraft manufactured four and six-place cabin monoplanes at their St. Louis facility, adjacent to the municipal airport. The Detroit Aircraft Corporation owned Ryan Aircraft's entire capital stock. Aircraft Development Corporation : was incorporated on July 12, 1929 in Michigan to take over and continue development and construction of "metal-clad" airships for commercial, military and naval uses. Company held patents covering design and construction of "Metalclad" rigid airships and airship mooring towers. The first "Metalclad" airship,

1421-727: The company were amalgamated under Lockheed, while the lighter than air divisions were formed into a new unit called the Metalclad Airship Corporation. This company is not related to the Detroit Aircraft Company, incorporated in 2011, and developing the Vertical Takeoff electric vehicle called the MOBi. The operator will be Airspacex. Ryan Aircraft Corporation : Incorporated into Detroit Aircraft on July 5, 1929, Ryan Aircraft acquired

1470-777: The first combat unit, the Escuadrilla de Caza . The remainder were sent to the Far East Air Force in the Philippines beginning in February 1941. Eventually all pilots of the three pursuit squadrons on Luzon transitioned to the P-35A from the P-26 . About 10 of these were lost in accidents. The P-35s were used primarily as gunnery trainers by all three squadrons because of a critical shortage of .50-caliber ammunition in

1519-524: The fly-offs at Wright Field . To compete with the Curtiss Model 75 , a single-seat aircraft with retractable undercarriage, Seversky rebuilt the aircraft into the single seat SEV-1XP, replacing the SEV-2XP's fixed landing gear with a retractable undercarriage where the mainwheels retracted backwards into the wing, and an 850 hp (634 kW) R-1820-G5 replacing the -F3 of the SEV-2XP. The SEV-1XP

Consolidated P-30 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1568-491: The group, the 21st and 34th PS, with the latter receiving most. The 21st PS received its P-40Es on the eve of war and transferred its few P-35s to the 34th Pursuit Squadron, which then had nearly a full squadron. It then fought with them in the futile defense of the islands in December 1941, initially at Del Carmen Airfield . They were hopelessly outclassed by the Japanese fighters. Lack of armor and self-sealing fuel tanks made

1617-553: The latter at 875 hp. Armament comprised two wing-mounted 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm Browning guns, one 7.62 mm Browning on a flexible mount in the rear cockpit, plus two forward-firing fuselage-mounted 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm Browning guns. Provision was made for a bomb load of up to 227 kg (500 lb) on internal wing racks. One 2PA-A and one 2PA-L were procured by the Soviet Union in March 1938, one with conventional landing gear and one with floats, along with

1666-604: The manufacturing license, but it appears that the Soviets never put it into production. In what proved to be an unpopular move for Seversky, 20 2PA-B3 s were sold to the Japanese Navy , which briefly employed them in the Second Sino-Japanese War as Navy Type S Two-Seat Fighter or A8V-1 (Allied codename "Dick"). The Japanese were unimpressed with the aircraft and eventually relegated two of them to

1715-513: The newly completed Ford Airport conducted tests on the ZMC-2 and paid $ 500,000 for the 225-foot (69 m) dirigible mooring at Ford's airport Aviation Tool, Co. Incorporated in Michigan, June 11, 1929, to take over and continue the development of automatic riveting machines and their application to all types of aircraft. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Grosse Ile Airport , Inc. Incorporated in Michigan, Nov. 15, 1926. Owned and operated an airport on Grosse Ile, an island in

1764-680: The prototype SEV-1XP as a single seat racer, the S-1 entering it into the 1937 Bendix Trophy , where it finished in fourth place. The competition was won by the S-2 ( registration number NR70Y), a similar aircraft built for Frank Fuller of the Fuller Paint Company. S-2 also won the Bendix Trophy in 1939 and placed second in 1938. The aircraft was used to portray the "Drake Bullet" in the 1938 film Test Pilot . Another civil aircraft

1813-473: The purpose of handling export sales in South and Central China. Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Gliders, Inc. Engaged exclusively in the manufacture of sailplanes . Factory located In Detroit, Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. The Lockheed Aircraft Company of Santa Barbara, California had been a going concern all throughout

1862-618: The rearward-facing gunners were liable to black out when the aircraft was maneuvered. Despite these concerns, on 6 December 1934, the U.S. Air Corps placed an order for a further 50 P-30As, with more powerful V-1570-61 engines driving a three-bladed variable-pitch propeller and with oxygen supplies for the crew. Three of the four P-30s were delivered to the 94th Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge Field in 1934. The first P-30A, by this time redesignated PB-2A (pursuit, biplace), made its maiden flight on 17 December 1935, with deliveries to service units starting on 28 April 1936. The last of

1911-486: The second prototype was quickly changed to a Y1A-11 attack aircraft, omitting the supercharger. First to fly was the Y1P-25, which was delivered to the Air Corps on 9 December 1932. It demonstrated promising performance, reaching a speed of 247 miles per hour (398 km/h) at 15,000 feet (4,600 m), but was destroyed in a crash on 13 January 1933, killing its pilot, Capt. Hugh M. Elmendorf (whose name

1960-403: The second returning to Pilar where it was wrecked on landing. On 11 January, the two remaining P-35s evacuated to Del Monte Airfield on Mindanao , carrying several unit personnel in their baggage compartments. On 4 April, they returned briefly to Bataan to evacuate other personnel, and one was lost crash-landing on Cebu on 10 April. The sole surviving P-35 was turned over to Capt. Ramon Zosa of

2009-580: The time the aircraft entered service, and by 1939, all had been replaced in front-line service by Seversky P-35 and Curtiss P-36 Hawk aircraft. The survivors remained in use as training aircraft until after the start of World War II , with the last being withdrawn from use on 2 June 1942. Data from Singular Two-Seater General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Detroit Aircraft Corporation The Detroit Aircraft Corporation

Consolidated P-30 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2058-418: The wings. A second order for 45 EP-106s was placed on 11 October 1939, with a third order for 60 aircraft, placed on 6 January 1940, although by this time Seversky had been thrown out of the company bearing his name by the board of directors, with the company renaming itself Republic Aviation . The Swedish Air Force designated them J 9. Seversky also built a two-seater, the 2PA . Evolved in parallel with

2107-459: Was armed with one .50 in (12.7 mm) and one .30 in (7.62 mm) forward-firing machine guns plus an additional .30 in (7.62 mm) gun for rear defence. When the USAAC announced a competition for a new single-seat fighter in 1935, Seversky sent the SEV-2XP, confident it would win despite being a two-seater. However, the aircraft was damaged on 18 June 1935 during its transit to

2156-658: Was delivered to Wright Field on 15 August for evaluation, which was generally successful, although the Cyclone failed to deliver its rated power and the SEV-1XP only reached 289 mph (465 km/h) rather than the 300 mph (483 km/h) predicted by Seversky. Protests from Curtiss led to the formal flyoff between the fighters to be delayed until April 1936. The delay was used by both Seversky and Curtiss to improve their aircraft, while allowing additional fighters from Vought (the Vought V-141 ) and Consolidated with

2205-571: Was developed into the Seversky BT-8 basic trainer, 30 of which were ordered by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) in 1935. This proved grossly underpowered and was quickly replaced by the North American BT-9 . The second prototype SEV-3 was completed as a two-seat fighter derivative, the SEV-2XP. It was powered by a 735 hp (548 kW) Wright R-1820 radial engine, had fixed landing gear in aerodynamic spats and

2254-412: Was hired by Consolidated Aircraft . Woods continued to develop the YP-24, the design becoming the Consolidated Model 25, with all-metal wings replacing the wooden wings of the YP-24 and with a larger tail. The Army Air Corps ordered two prototypes as the Y1P-25 in March 1932, to be powered by a Curtiss V-1570 -27, fitted with a turbo-supercharger on the port side of the forward fuselage. The order for

2303-445: Was incorporated in Detroit , Michigan on July 10, 1922, as the Aircraft Development Corporation. The name was changed in 1929. The Detroit corporation owned the entire capital stock of the Ryan Aircraft Corp., Aircraft Development Corp., Aviation Tool Co., Grosse Ile Airport, Inc., Marine Aircraft Corp., Park's Air College and Affiliated Companies, Detroit Aircraft Export Co., Gliders, Inc., and Eastman Aircraft Corp. It also owned

2352-425: Was later given to Elmendorf Air Base in Alaska). The Y1A-11, armed with four forward-firing machine guns instead of the two of the Y1P-25 and racks for 400 lb (180 kg) of bombs, was delivered to Wright Field on 5 January 1933. On 20 January 1933, the Y1A-11 disintegrated in midair, killing pilot Lt. Irvin A. Woodring. Despite the loss of both prototypes in a week, on 1 March 1933,

2401-413: Was the DS, (or Doolittle Special), a single seater for James Doolittle , employed at the time by the Shell Oil Company , while the AP-7 was another racer, powered by a 1,200 hp (895 kW) R-1830 engine and used by Jacqueline Cochran to win the 1938 Bendix Trophy race and to set a women's air speed record. Seversky entered two aircraft based on the P-35 in a 1938 competition for a new fighter for

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