Arsenal VG.33.C1
| GENERAL DATA | |||
| Other Designation(s) | - |
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| Type | Fighter |
Crew | 1 |
| Manufacturer(s) | Arsenal de l'aéronautique |
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| Production | 19*, whose 1 prototype + 4 completed
derivative prototype |
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| First Flight | October 1, 1938 |
Introduction | June 18, 1940 |
(*) Only 7 will be completed before the armistice.
| Variants | |||
| Arsenal VG.30 | The VG.30-01 prototype was set up at the
start of the summer of 1937 and was initially receiving a flat -12-cylinder
12DC air-cooled engine developing 610 hp at an altitude of 1000 m.
The armament was to be composed of 4 7.5 mm machine guns on the wings
and a 20 mm 20 mm Hispano-Suiza gun in the propeller hub.
If the prototype was finished in barely one year, the Potez engine was long overdue, and when it appeared that the Caudron C.714, the first choice of the Ministry of Air, would not be available in quantity before 1939, it was decided To modify the VG.30 to adapt a 12xcrs' Hispano-Suiza of 690 hp in order to accelerate the flight tests. The prototype therefore took the air in Villacoublay on October 1, 1938 and, after some factory changes, carried out its official trials between March 24 and July 17, 1939. These trials revealed excellent performance, although informed to those expected in reason for an unsuitable propeller. The prototype was timed at 485 km/h at 4950 m and 805 km/h extended in prolonged in early July. |
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| Arsenal VG.31 | The VG.30 suffering from centering problems, it was planned to move the radiator back and reduce the wing on an a/c receiving a 860 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y31 engine and two wing machine guns only. The blower tests showed that such a device would have been excessively unstable and the prototype was not completed. The wing was used for static tests and the recreational recovery to build the VG.33-03, which should never fly. | ||
| Arsenal VG.32 | It is with the idea of multiplying the sources of supply of engines and, probably, of reserving the Hispano-Suiza engines to other planes, that the idea of equipping a VG.30 with an Allison V-1710-C15engine of 1400 hp was born, which led to an extension of the fuselage of 42 cm forward. The VG.33-05 prototype was therefore kept in the factory and received 2 20 mm guns and 2 machine guns. It was still waiting for his engine in a Hangar in Villacoublay when the German troops arrived. Despite the fears about the supply of American engines, 400 aircraft to produce from December 1940 by Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand had been commanded under the VG.32 designation. | ||
| Arsenal VG.33 | It was therefore on April 25, 1939 that the VG 33-01,
the first device derived from the VG 30 made its first flight in Villacoublay.
This device received a Hispano-Suiza 12y-31 engine, the fuselage of
the VG.31 and the wing of the VG.30. The tests at CEMA began on June
11, 1939, the shooting tests took place in October, the program of
the tests Officials was completed in March 1940. The plane was stable,
easy to pilot, with precise flight orders. It reached 558 km/h at
5200 m during official trials in August 1939 and could climb to 9000
m. As of September 12, 1939, the air ministry plans 220 fighters to
be built by the SNCAN factory in Sartrouville (ex CAMS) before May
1940. 200 additional planes were ordered on September 17 to ensure
the complete replacement of Morane- Saulnier MS. 406 from 1941. Five prototypes were built. Prototype of a high altitude interceptor (VG 34), the VG 33-02 took the air in January 1940 with a Hispano-Suiza 12y-49 engine and a Szydlowski-Planiol compressor. Made with the fuselage of the VG.31, the VG.33-03 never flew, sent to the SNCAN to serve as a production model. The VG.33-04 received a 12y-51 Hispano-Suiza of 1000 hp. Prototype of the VG.35, it took the air on February 25, 1940 but was captured by the Luftwaffe in June 1940. Finally the VG.33-05 was to serve as a prototype for the VG.32 model. |
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| Arsenal VG.34 | On January 20, 1940, the flight tests of this new model began, equipped with a 910 hp Hispano-Suiza 12y-45 engine. A few days later, he reached 575 km/h at 6200 m. The fate of this prototype is unknown. | ||
| Arsenal VG.35 | The VG 33-04 was completed with a Hispano-Suiza 12y-51 engine of 1000 hp and took the air on February 25, 1940. The prototype was at the CEV of Orleans-Bricy on arrival of the Germans and we lose it then the trace. | ||
| Arsenal VG.36 | With the same engine as the VG.35, this new a/c which made its first flight on May 14, 1940 included various modifications compared to its predecessors: modified rear fuselage, wider and less deep radiator ... | ||
| Arsenal VG.37 | Project of a long -range version and turbocharged engine of VG.36. | ||
| Arsenal VG.38 | Project with a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-53 ou -77. | ||
| Arsenal VG.39 / VG.39bis | First flight on May 3, 1940, this new prototype was quite substantially distinguished from its predecessors: if the shape of the wing was not modified, its structure was entirely redesigned, in particular to house 6 machine guns, the slightly redesigned fuselage To receive a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-89ter 12-cylinder engine of 1200 hp with an elongated propeller tree ... This a/c, which reached 625 km/h at 5750 m during its short tests, which should have received in series under the designation VG.39bis a Hispano-Suiza 12Z17 of 1600 hp, the radiator of the VG 36 and a 20 mm barrel in the propeller hub in addition to the 6 wing machine guns. | ||
| Arsenal VG.40 | Studied under the Occupation, this single-seater fighter with Rolls-Royce Merlin III or Hispano-Suiza 12z of 1200 hp was distinguished from the VG.33 by an enlarged wing. | ||
| Arsenal VG.50 | Project under the occupation of a VG.40 with an Allison V-1710 engine of 1200 hp. Probably for camouflage reasons, the same designation was attributed to a transatlantic quadrimotor project. | ||
| DIMENSIONS | |||
| Length | 8.55 m |
Empty Weight | 2050 kg |
| Wingspan | 10.80 m |
Loaded Weight | 2656 kg |
| Height | 3.31 m |
Max takeoff weight | 5908 kg |
| Wing area | 14.0 m² |
Wing Loading | 95.7 kg/m² |
| ARMAMENT | |||
| Main Guns | 1 x 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano-Suiza
HS.9* |
Ammunition Carried | 1 x 60 |
| Secondary Guns | 4× 7.5 mm (0.295 in) M39 MAC 1934** |
Ammunition Carried | 4 x 850 |
| Other Armament | - |
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(*) propeller hub center, (**) wings
| POWERPLANT | |||
| Engine | 1 × Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 |
Type & Displacement | liquid-cooled V-12, 36.05 L |
| Horsepower (maximum) | 860
hp at 2400 rpm |
Power/Weight Ratio | 361.44 hp / ton * |
| Fuel Capacity | Fuel
capacity internal: 400 liters, Fuel capacity external:
600 liters(additional non-droppable fuel tanks)
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(*) with loaded weight
| PERFORMANCES | |||
| Maximum Speed | 558 km/h at 5200 m |
Cruising Speed | 385 km/h |
| Stall Speed * | 125 km/h |
Service Ceiling | 9500 m |
| Rate of Climb | ? m/s |
Range | 1060 km, 1560 km (additional
fuel tanks) |
(*) vitesse de décrochage
| Sources | |||
| Wikipédia | AvionsLegendaires.net | ||
Drawings |
