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American Combat Planes of the 20th Century is an incredible reference for anyone who is interested in any American Combat Plane History. There are 758 pages and 1700 b/w photos in this substantial labor of love by Ray Wagner, who has been passionately researching and writing about aircraft for over 50 years. Whether you are already familiar with his past works, or just discovering this accomplished author for the first time... This is the book that you've been waiting for!

If you'd like to see the book's Table of Contents ... Click here. You can also browse the entire Index Section to get an idea of the extensive amount of information that is covered within this book.

Search our site for other combat planes. A- 1 Eaton A- 4 Skyhawk A- 6 & A- 7 Air Weapons AV- 8 to A- 10 A- 20 Havoc A- 22 Martin Maryland A- 23 Martin Baltimore A- 24 Douglas A- 26 Douglas Invader Attack Planes B- 2A, F-111, F-117 Stealth B- 17 Flying Fortress B- 24 Liberator B- 25 North American B- 26 Marauder B- 29 Superfortress B- 32 Dominator B- 35 Flying Wing B- 36 B- 47 Stratojet B- 50 Boeing B- 52 Stratofortress B- 57 Canberra B- 58 Hustler Biplanes Biplanes, Army Pursuits Bombers, B- 70 to Stealth Bombers, First Big Curtiss Falcon CO- 1 DH- 4 De Havilland F3D- Douglas Skyknight F3H- McDonnell Demon F4D- 1 Skyray F4F Grumman Wildcats F- 4U Corsair F6F Grumman F7F Grumman F7U Vought F9F G. Cougar F9F G. Panther F- 16 Fighting Falcon F- 84 F- 86 Sabre F- 89 to F-94 F- 100 to F-108 First Fighters Flying Boats GAX Iraq to Afghanistan Martin Bombers Missile Era Fighters Navy Fighers Navy Flying Boats O- 2 Douglas P- 35 Seversky P- 36 to 42 Curtiss P- 38 Lightning P- 39 Airacobra P- 40 Line P- 47 Thunderbolt P- 51 Mustang Fighter P- 61 Black Widow P- 63 Kingcobra P- 79 to P-81 P- 82 Twin Mustang SB2C Helldiver TBF-TBM Avenger Thomas-Morse Torpedo Planes V- 11 Vultee XB -28 XP -48 / 77

First Fighters

LUSAC-ll, USB-l, XBlA, & M-8

Page 4

Two .303-caliber (7.7-mm) Vickers synchronized guns provided with 800 rounds were mounted over the Spad 13’s 220-hp geared Hispano-Suiza. Beginning in September 1918, four 25-pound bombs could be carried under the fuselage for attacking ground troops. By the time the American squadrons got their Spads, the double-bay wings had been modified with square tips. PACKARD-LEPERE LUSAC-ll

By the war’s end, 15 of the 16 AEF pursuit squadrons at the front used the Spad 13. As well as the 893 Spad 13s acquired by the Air Service, there were also 189 Spad 7s being used for training. After the Armistice, American forces in Europe until April 1919 included two Spad 7 and six Spad 13 squadrons.

About 58 Spad 7 and 435 Spad 13 fighters were shipped to the United States for service in the schools and with the active squadrons of the First Pursuit Group in Texas. Marlin guns were substituted for the Vickers, while the 180-hp direct-drive engine available in the U.S. was preferred for postwar flying because it was less troublesome. The Spad 13 specifications given here are those using the Army’s flight test methods at McCook Field in 1921.

ENGINEERING DIVISION USB-l ENGINEERING DIVISION U.S. XBlA (P90 -1919)

American fighter pilots trained by the British went into action on the British sector of the front with British fighters. Of these, by far the most famous was the Sopwith Camel, which had appeared at the front in July 1917 as the first Allied fighter with two synchronized guns. Most often powered by an air-cooled 130-hp Clerget rotary and armed with two .303 Vickers guns under the hump, and racks for four 25-pound bombs, the Camel was very maneuverable, but considered dangerous and tricky to fly. It has been credited with more victories than any other Allied fighter plane of that war, despite a relatively low top speed.

The two AEF Camel Squadrons were the 17th and 148th. Both squadrons were involved in hard fighting, the 148th scoring the first kill on July 13, 1918, and George Vaughn became the leading American Camel ace by scoring 13 victories. During 1918, the AEF received 143 Camels. While the 17th and 148th turned theirs in for Spads on November 1, 1918, the 41st Aero Squadron used Camels on post-Armistice duties.

Another famous British fighter used by Americans was the Royal Aircraft Factory’s S.E.5A which used the 200-hp geared Hispano-Suiza 8B, nose water radiator, one synchronized Vickers over the engine and one Lewis gun on the upper wing. Although the S.E.5A was used in large numbers by the British, only 38 were acquired by the AEF in October 1918. DAYTON-WRIGHT XB-lA (P151)

They were issued to the 25th Aero Squadron, whose arrival at the front on November 1 was too late for combat, but its leader, Reed Landis, had scored 10 victories flying the S.E.5A with the RAF. Back in the United States, however, the S.E.5A played a small role in American efforts to make their own fighters.

Two-seat Fighters Actually, the American aircraft industry had better luck during the First World War with two-seat fighter designs than with single-seaters. Several prototypes flown in 1918 were good enough to have been sent to France had the war lasted another year. LOENING M-8

Captain Georges LePere had been loaned to the Engineering Division by the French government, and began his first project on January 4, 1918, as a two-seat fighter designed around the Liberty 12 and armed with two Marlin and two Lewis guns. Construction was ordered on March 1, 1918, by the Packard Motor Company in Detroit, which rushed the first LUSAC-ll prototype to delivery on April 30, and flight tests at McCook Field began May 15.

With a plywood fuselage, double-bay box struts, and radiator on the upper wing, the business-like biplane looked promising enough to order 25 LUSAC-lls from Packard on June 15, 1918. Packard delivered two more prototypes by June, and seven production LePeres from July to October 1918. By October 23, 3,500 had been ordered from Fisher, Packard and Brewster, but these contracts ended with the war. Packard did finish 18 LePeres in January 1919, along with three test planes in February for a total of 31 LUSAC-lls. Three LUSAC-21 airframes for the experimental Bugatti engine were also built in 1918, but that project never flew.

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