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Loire 43
The Loire 45 was a 1930s French single seat fighter. Variants Loire 43 A high-wing, all-metal, working-surface, fixed-wing, single-hulled monoplane, this aircraft featured a gull wing on the upper fuselage between the cockpit and the engine and was fitted with two .5mm Darne 7 machine guns. The prototype took off for the first time from La Baule beach on October 17, 1932. January 14, 1933, before the official tests started, the aircraft went into a spin at 9000 m and crashed, killing the pilot who seemed to have lost consciousness due to the altitude reached. Loire 45 At the moment when the Loire 43 was accidentally destroyed, the construction of a second prototype was completed at Saint-Nazaire, equipped for comparison with a 14-cylinder Gnome et Rhône 14 Kd engine of 740 hp and armed with two 20mm Oerlikon guns in the wing. Except for the engine, it was distinguished from its predecessor only by thicker mats supporting the landing gear and the cantilever of the wing. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gull Wing
The gull wing, also known as Polish wing or Puławski wing, is an aircraft wing configuration with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles and from the Polish aircraft designer Zygmunt Puławski who started using this design in his planes. Numerous aircraft have incorporated such wings for a diverse range of purposes. The gull wing was commonly used to improve visibility in a high wing arrangement, because such wing could be thinnest by the fuselage, and in theory should limit pilot's view no more than A-pillars of a windscreen in a car body. Gliders were the first aircraft to feature the gull wing, starting with the Weltensegler in 1921; it was not until the record-breaking Fafnir at the end of that decade did the configuration gain popularity. Beyond becoming popular for the next three decades amongst high-performance gliders, various ground-based aircraft and flying boats also adopted var ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darne Machine Gun
The Darne machine gun is a machine gun of French origin. Development The French gun-making company Darne, which became famous for its innovative shotguns, began making military weapons in 1915, when it was contracted by French government to manufacture Lewis machine guns. In 1916 this same company announced the development of its own indigenous design of machine gun. This belt-fed weapon was designed especially for quick manufacture, without unnecessary refinements typical for most contemporary small-arms. External finish and appearance of the Darne machine gun was crude, but worked well and its price was much lower than of any contemporary weapon with comparable combat characteristics. The French Army tested Darne machine guns from 1917 to 1918, but the war ended before production contracts could have been signed. Despite this, during the 1920s and 1930s the Darne company managed to refine an aircraft variant of the machine gun to the point where it was adopted by French and so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loire 46
The Loire 46 was a French single-seater fighter aircraft of the 1930s. A high-winged monoplane designed and built by Loire Aviation, it was purchased by the French Air Force. It was also supplied to the Spanish Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, but was almost out of service by the outbreak of World War II. Design and development The Loire 46 was an improved modification of two previous Loire fighters—the Loire 43 and 45. Although improved, it resembled the earlier machines retaining their gull mono-wing configuration, open cockpit, and fixed landing gear. The first of five prototype Loire 46s flew in September 1934. It demonstrated excellent handling characteristics and 60 production aircraft were ordered by the ''Armée de l'Air''. Operational history The initial machines arrived at fighter Escadrilles in August 1936. In September 1936, the five prototype Loire 46s were sent to the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War.Taylor and Alexander 1969, pp. 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
