The Fletcher FD-25 Defender was a light

ground-attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

developed in the United States in the early 1950s.

Design and development

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 ...

with fixed tailwheel undercarriage. Provision was made for two machine guns in the wings, plus disposable stores carried on underwing pylons. Construction throughout was all-metal, and the pilot sat under a wide perspex canopy.

Operational history

Three prototypes were built, two single-seaters and a two-seater, but no orders were placed by the US military. In Japan, however, Toyo Aircraft Industry acquired the rights to the design, and built around a dozen aircraft, selling seven (five single-seater attack versions and two two-seat trainers) to

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

,Grandolini 1988, p. 39. and four to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. One example (FD-25B JA3051) served with the

Royal Thai Police The Royal Thai Police (RTP) (; ) is the national police force of Thailand. The RTP employs between 210,700 and 230,000 officers, roughly 17 percent of all civil servants (excluding the military and the employees of state-owned enterprises). The R ...

Survivors

One example (FD-25B N240D) remains in an airworthy condition today and appeared at the

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscon ...

airshow in 2010. Two (a single-seater and a two-seater) are on museum display at the Tokyo Metropolitan College of Industrial Technology in Japan.

Related development

The wing design of the Fletcher FU-24 aerial topdressing plane was loosely based on that of the FD-25 Defender. Almost 300 were built under licence in New Zealand from the mid-1950s and used for agricultural and skydiving operations.

Specifications

References

Notes Bibliography *Bridgeman, Leonard (ed.). ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955–56''. New York: The McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. *Grandolini, Albert. "L'Aviation Royale Khmere: The first 15 years of Cambodian military aviation". ''Air Enthusiast'' (Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll) (Thirty-seven, September–December 1988): pp. 39–47. ISSN 0143-5450. * Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions. 1989. p. 393. . * ''World Aircraft Information Files''. London: Bright Star Publishing, 1985, pp. File 894 Sheet 25.

External links

''Flivver Plane Totes Guns and Bombs''
November 1951

Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

article on FL-25—rest of article and photos on following page {{Fletcher aircraft FD-25 1950s United States attack aircraft Counter-insurgency aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1953 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft