Arsenal VG-33
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The Arsenal VG-33 was one of a series of fast French
light fighter A light fighter or lightweight fighter is a fighter aircraft towards the low end of the practical range of weight, cost, and complexity over which fighters are fielded. The light or lightweight fighter retains carefully selected competitive fea ...
aircraft under development at the start of World War II, but which matured too late to see extensive service in the
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...
during the
Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
.


Development

The original specification that led to the VG series was offered in 1936 in order to quickly raise the number of modern aircraft in French service, by supplying a "light fighter" of wooden construction that could be built rapidly in large numbers. The contract resulted in three designs, the VG-30, the Caudron C.714 and the Bloch MB.700. Prototypes of all three were ordered. Named for engineer Michel Vernisse (V) and designer Jean Galtier (G), the VG-30 was all wooden in construction, using
plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...
over stringers in a semi-
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
construction. The layout was conventional, a low-wing
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
that bore a striking resemblance to the later
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
Macchi C.202. Armament consisted of a 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 engine-mount ''moteur-canon'' firing through the
propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
hub, and four 7.5 mm MAC 1934 M39 drum-fed machine guns, two in each wing. The design was supposed to be powered by the Potez 12Dc flat-12 air-cooled inline engine, but this ran into development problems. The prototype was then fitted with a
Hispano-Suiza 12X The Hispano-Suiza 12X was an aircraft piston engine designed in France by Hispano-Suiza during the early 1930s. A 12-cylinder Vee, liquid-cooled design, the 12X was used on several aircraft types, some of them being used in limited numbers durin ...
crs instead, and flew in this form in October 1938. In order to find some solution to the engine problem, the VG-31 was to use the 632 kW (860 hp)
Hispano-Suiza 12Y The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was an aircraft engine produced by Hispano-Suiza for the French Air Force before the Second World War. The 12Y became the primary French 1,000 hp (750 kW) class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft ...
-31 and the VG-32 the
Allison V-1710 The Allison V-1710 aircraft engine designed and produced by the Allison Engine Company was the most common United States, US-developed V12 engine, V-12 Internal combustion engine cooling, liquid-cooled engine in service during World War II. Ve ...
C-15. The VG-31 flew in 1939 and proved to have excellent performance. The prototype VG-32 was completed in 1940 and awaiting its test flight when it was captured by the advancing
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forces at Villacoublay. The VG-33 was a modified version of the VG-31 using the same 12Y-31, and first flew on April 25, 1939. It had a surprisingly good performance of 560 km/h (348 mph), and was ordered into production with a contract for 220 aircraft in September, later raised to 1,000. Production did not take long to start, but most of the airframes never received engines and sat at the factory when it fell to the Germans. Further developments continued while the VG-33 production started. The VG-34 mounted the newer 688 kW (935 hp) 12Y-45, the VG-36 used the 735 kW (1,000 hp) 12Y-51 originally intended for the VG-35, and introduced a new streamlined
radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...
bath that looked similar to the one on the
P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...
. Single prototypes of all three were built and flown in early 1940. The VG-37 was an extended-range version of the -36, while the VG-38 was to have used the 12Y-77, but neither was built. The last in the series was the VG-39, originally powered by the new 882 kW (1,200 hp) 12Y-89 using an extension shaft on the propeller to streamline the nose profile, giving the plane an excellent speed of 625 km/h (388 mph) even when loaded down with two more machine guns. The actual production version was to have been the VG-39bis, powered by the new 1177 kW (1,600 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Z-17, using the streamlined radiator intake design from the VG-36. Two more designs were projected, both based on the VG-39bis airframe. The VG-40 mounted the Rolls-Royce Merlin III and the VG-50 the newer Allison V-1710-39. Neither was built.


Operational history

The continual production problems that plagued the VG-33 meant that it never took part in combat. Only 19 aircraft, out of about 40 completed (and about 160 close to completion), had been received by the ''Armée de l'Air'' by the time of Armistice. Only two machines ever flew in an active unit – ''GC 1/55'' which commenced operations under chaotic conditions, four days before the armistice. Although the VG-33 used an older, less powerful version of the Dewoitine D.520's engine, the VG-33 prototypes could climb faster than the D.520, and their respective top speeds were comparable. While it was under-armed in comparison to the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...
, the VG-33 could have matched it in speed and maneuverability below 5,000 metres. As was also the case with the D.520, the limitations of the supercharger used meant that the VG-33 could not match the speed of the Bf 109 above 5,000 m. The Germans captured four VG-33s, and one of them was tested by the ''
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
'' at
Rechlin Rechlin is a municipality in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, around 100 km (60 mi) northwest of Berlin. The town's airport has a long history and was the Luftwaffe's main testing ground for new aircraft designs in Nazi Germany. ...
in late 1940.


Variants

* VG-30 – The original powerplant was the Potez 12Dc
flat-12 A flat-twelve engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-twelve, is a twelve-cylinder piston engine with six cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft. Flat-twelve engines are less common than V12 engines, but they have been used in vari ...
air-cooled inline engine, but the prototype was fitted with a Hispano-Suiza 12Xcrs, and flew in this form in October 1938. * VG-31 – prototype with reduced wing surface and radiator moved back. * VG-32 – Allison V-1710C-15-powered prototype. * VG-33 – First production model with Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engine (160 near completion at Fall of France. Unknown number completed.) * VG-34 – 679 kW (910 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 engine. 357 mph (575 km/h). Prototype only. * VG-35 – VG-33 variant with 746 kW (1,000 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 engine. One built. * VG-36 – VG-35 variant with new radiator and new canopy. Prototype only. * VG-37 – Extended-range version of the VG-36. Not built. * VG-38 – projected for Hispano-Suiza 12Y-77 engine. Not built. * VG-39 – 895 kW (1,200 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Z engine. 388 mph (625 km/h). 6 machine guns. Prototype only. * VG-39bis – proposed production version powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12Z. * VG-40 – projected variant powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin III. * VG-50 – projected variant powered by an Allison V-1710-39. (N.B. The designation VG 50 was also used for a projected four-engined transatlantic transport) * VG-60 – The ultimate projected variant powered by a 1,000 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 supercharged by a two-stage Sidlowsky-Planiol turbocharger.


Operators

; *
Armée de l'Air The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...
– out of 19 VG-33s completed, eight were officially delivered. ; *
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
– used a single VG-33 for testing purposes.


Specifications (VG-33)


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Breffort, Dominique & Jouineau, André. ''French Aircraft from 1939 to 1942, Volume 1: from Amiot to Curtiss''. Paris, France: Histoire & Collections, 2004. . * Brindley, John F. ''French Fighters of World War II, Volume One''. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Hylton Lacy Publishers Ltd., 1971. . * * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume One''. London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1960. . * Pelletier, Alain. ''French Fighters of World War II in Action (Aircraft Number 180)''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 2002. . * Weal, Elke C., Weal, John A., Barker, Richard F. ''Combat Aircraft of World War Two''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arsenal Vg-33 VG 33 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft 1930s French fighter aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1939 Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft