Arsenal VB-10
| Arsenal VB-10 | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Arsenal de l'Aéronautique (development) |
| First flight: |
July 7, 1945 |
| Commissioning: |
- |
| Production time: |
1947-1948 |
| Number of pieces: |
~ 20 (all scrapped before use) |
The Arsenal VB-10 is a fighter aircraft produced by the French manufacturer Arsenal de l'Aéronautique .
history
The VB-10 goes back to the idea of the then director of the Arsenal de l'Aéronautique Michel Vernisse to build a fighter with two engines one behind the other for better flight performance and higher reliability. Both motors should each drive a propeller at the bow, with the rear motor should transmit its power by long-distance wave . The cockpit should be located between the two. Together with the head of the development department Jean Gaultier , the construction of an experimental aircraft called VG-10 (Vernisse-Gaultier-10) in wood construction began in 1937. The possible series version should be named VG-20. Two liquid-cooled twelve - cylinder Hispano-Suiza 12 Y engines were to serve as the drive . In order to protect the technically demanding long-distance shaft from deformation, it was divided into individual elements with couplings . The first test bench tests were successful, but the VG-10 was never built because there were problems with the stability of the engine cowlings, the reinforcement of which would have made the fighter too heavy.
While Gaultier then occupied himself more with the design of the Arsenal VG-30 , the engineer Robert Badie took on the design, who redesigned the design now called VB-10 using a metal construction. The French government ordered 40 copies, which could not be produced after the German invasion due to the relocation of the Arsenal plant to the south of the country. After the occupation of the country by the Germans and the inspection of the machine, representatives of the Reich Aviation Ministry suggested the installation of two Junkers Jumo 213 engines in the version designated as VB-15, which was not implemented until the end of the war. After the end of the occupation, the development of the machine continued. Two Hispano-Suiza 12Z were now planned as the drive. Due to the lack of engineers and facilities, production should take place at the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Nord in Méaulte .
The first flight took place on July 7, 1945 in Lyon-Bron with test pilot Modeste Vonner at the wheel. As early as December 22, 1945, the order for 200 machines for the French air force was hastily placed , and these were to be delivered by January 1948. The flight tests, however, showed some defects in the design. So there were problems with the synchronization of the propellers, the cooling of the engines and the achievement of flight performance due to an outdated aerodynamics . Since the machine only reached 491 km / h near the ground and 610 km / h at higher altitudes (required 700 km / h), the order was reduced to 50 pieces in February 1946. On July 11, 1946, the first prototype was damaged during a test flight because the rear engine had failed and caught fire. However, the pilot Roger Receveau was able to land safely. On September 21, 1946, the improved second prototype took off on its maiden flight. It was equipped with a modified air intake for the engines, a new cockpit canopy and the complete set of armaments (four 20-mm cannons and six 12.7-mm machine guns). At the end of 1946, however, the Luftwaffe decided to use the aircraft only as a reconnaissance aircraft, for which two cameras were to be installed in the rear fuselage. The test of the second prototype from February 1947 confirmed the results of the first machine. The VB-10 was too heavy, too slow and too cumbersome for its time.
Nevertheless, launched on November 3, 1947. Pierre Decroo aboard the first production aircraft for its maiden flight, which stand out mainly due to an enlarged rudder different and the discontinuation of the MG of the prototype. After an accident on January 10, 1948, which Decroo survived only seriously injured because he got out of the machine too late as a result of an attempt to crash the machine over uninhabited areas, the then Army Minister Pierre-Henri Teitgen ended on February 18, 1948 the program. The cause of the accident turned out to be the adjustment mechanism of the rear propeller, which adjusted the propeller in the wrong direction during the flight and over-revved the rear motor, which led to its destruction and the fire. Due to the high costs and ten machines already completed, the machine was given one last chance, which ended tragically. During the maiden flight of the third series machine with Henri Koechlin on board, it crashed after just ten minutes, killing the test pilot. As a result, all flights were banned and all machines (including the never flown third prototype with Jumo engines) scrapped.
construction
The VB-10 was a single-seat, twin-engine, low - wing aircraft made of metal. Its specialty was the installation of a liquid-cooled twelve-cylinder Hispano-Suiza 12Z engine in front of and behind the cockpit, each of which was supposed to drive a three-bladed Ratier propeller on the bow. The engines were using turbochargers of Turboméca equipped. The rear engine transmitted its power to the front propeller via a multi-part, coupling-connected long-distance shaft running under the pilot's seat. The fuselage was a construction made of welded steel tubes that were covered with mostly removable metal plates. These plates consisted of smooth duralumin sheet on the outside, which were reinforced on the inside with corrugated metal plates. The two-spar wings were also clad with metal. As armament in the production version of four 20 mm were machine guns provided in the wings.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 12.98 m |
| span | 15.49 m |
| height | 5.20 m |
| Wing area | 35.5 m² |
| Empty mass | 6600 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 9500 kg (planned) |
| Cruising speed | ? km / h |
| Top speed | 610 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 6250 m |
| Range | 1700 km (planned) |
| Engines | two Hispano-Suiza 12Z with 772 kW (1,050 PS) each |
| Armament | four 20 mm HS 404 cannons |
See also
Web links
- Aviastar: Arsenal VB-10
- aviationprojects: Arsenal VB-10