Les Mureaux 3
Les Mureaux 3 C.2 | |
---|---|
Role | two seat fighter aircraft |
National origin | France |
Manufacturer | Ateliers Les Mureaux |
Designer | André Brunet |
First flight | Spring 1927 |
The Les Mureaux 3 C.2 and Les Mureaux 4 C.2 were
Design
The Les Mureaux 3 C.2 (with C.2 the standard French military designation for a two-seat chasseur or fighter) was designed by André Brunet and his name is often combined with the manufacturer's in the aircraft name. It had an almost entirely duralumin structure and the forward fuselage was also dural covered. The wings and rear fuselage were fabric covered.[1]
Its wing was built around two
The wing mounting was unusual, with airfoil section, N-form struts on each side connecting the wing spars not to the lower fuselage but instead to the frames that carried the independently rubber sprung undercarriage mainwheels. These frames, enclosed in streamlined fairings 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in) apart, were also braced the upper fuselage longerons with shorter N-struts and with inverted V-struts to the central fuselage underside. Short, inverted V-struts attached the wing centre section to the upper fuselage. There were no wing bracing wires.[1]
The fuselage of the Mureaux was built around four duralumin tube longerons, with easily repaired connections to tubular diagonals and with removable panels covering the forward part. Two removable engine mountings allowed either a 440 kW (590 hp)
The pilot's open cockpit was under the wing cut-out, with the gunner/observer, equipped with cameras, small bombs and guns, separately behind him. The tail unit was conventional, with a flight-adjustable tailplane mounted on top of the fuselage and braced from below with a single strut on each side. Both it and the fin had straight leading edges which led to rounded tips. Both rudder and elevators were unbalanced; the rudder was rounded and extended to the keel, operating in a notch between the elevators. On the fuselage underside below the tail was a rubber sprung, steel and dural tailskid with a steerable shoe.[1]
Development
The exact date of the Les Mureaux 3 C.2's first flight is not known; it appeared at the Paris Aero Show in December 1926
Between the 11th and 12th Paris Aero Shows (July 1928 and December 1930) Ateliers Les Mureaux became known as ANF Les Mureaux when they amalgamated with Ateliers de Construction du Nord de la France.
Variants
- Les Mureaux 3 C.2
- Hispano-Suiza 12Hbengine, fighter
- Les Mureaux 4 C.2
- Salmson 18 Cmengine, fighter
- ANF Les Mureaux 130 A.2
- Hispano-Suiza 12Hbengine, reconnaissance
- ANF Les Mureaux 131 A.2
- Renault 12 Jc engine, reconnaissance
Specifications (Les Mureaux 3 C.2)
Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1928,[11] NACA aircraft circulars no.42 (1927)[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: two
- Length: 8.45 m (27 ft 9 in)
- Wingspan: 15.00 m (49 ft 3 in)
- Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)
- Wing area: 32.5 m2 (350 sq ft)
- Aspect ratio: 6.9
- Empty weight: 1,160 kg (2,557 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,980 kg (4,365 lb)
- Fuel capacity: 300 kg (660 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × V-12, 440 kW (590 hp)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 268 km/h (167 mph, 145 kn) at sea level, 231 km/h (144 mph) at 5,000 m (16,400 ft)
- Stall speed: 102 km/h (63 mph, 55 kn)
- Service ceiling: 8,600 m (28,200 ft)
- Time to altitude: 25 min 16 s to 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
- Wing loading: 61.2 kg/m2 (12.5 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.1868 kW/kg (0.1136 hp/lb)
Armament
- Guns: 2x fixed forward firing 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Lewis machine-gunsin the rear cockpit
References
- ^ a b c d e f g J.Serreyer (May 1927). "NACA Aircraft Circulars no.42: The Mureaux "Brunet 3C2" Pursuit Airplane". Les Ailes, March 24, 1927. NACA.
- ISBN 0-7680-0997-9.
- ^ "Avions militaires biplace et multiplasces". L'Aéronautique. 10 (106): 80. March 1928.
- ^ "Ateliers des Mureaux". Flight. XVIII (51): 850–1. 23 December 1926.
- ^ "Coup d'Ailes". Les Ailes. 8 (315): 7. 30 June 1927.
- ^ "Mureaux". Flight. XX (50): 1433. 5 July 1928.
- ^ "Mureaux". Flight. XXII (51): 850–1. 12 December 1930.
- ^ "ANF". L'Aéronautique. 151: 22. December 1931.
- ^ "L'avion de reconnaissance Mureaux 130 500 CV". L'Aérophile. 37 (21–2): 338. 1–15 November 1929.
- ^ "L'aviation militaires". L'Aéronautique. 13 (151): 419. December 1931.
- ^ Grey, C.G., ed. (1928). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1928. London: Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd. p. 113c.
Bibliography
- Lemaire, Jean-Bernard (February 2002). "Courrier des Lecteurs" [Readers' Letters]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (107): 3. ISSN 1243-8650.