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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

Army Pursuits the Biplane Period, 1920-1932

Orenco Pw-3, Loening PA-1, Aeromarine PG-1, & Gallaudet PW-4, & Dayton-Wright PS-1

Page 3

ORENCO PW-3 Previously, the Army had tested, in July 1921, an imported air-cooled fighter, the British Aerial Transport F.K. 23 “Bantam,” a very light design by Koolhoven with a monocoque fuselage and 184-hp A.B.C. Wasp A radial. LOENING PA-1

A single-seat ground-attack sesquiplane was designed by I. M. Laddon around the Wright K, a Hispano H with a 37-mm Baldwin cannon firing through the hollow engine crankshaft. Armor weighing 165 pounds protected the engine and cockpit, and a .50-caliber gun was added so the PG-l (Pursuit, Ground) could be used both for ground strafing and attacking hostile armored aircraft. Vee struts connected the narrow lower wing to the upper wing atop the fuselage, with the piot’s head poking through the center section. A radiator in front of his face further ruined his visibility.

After a test cannon-engine was produced in July 1920, bids for the PG-l were requested from private firms. Four submitted bids, and Aeromarine, at Keyport, New Jersey, received the order on March 15, 1921, for three prototypes. The first was delivered as a static test airframe on November 28, 1921, for static tests and the second was flown on July 14, 1922, with a Wright H, which failed on takeoff, destroying the aircraft. A 346-hp Packard 1237 was used on the third prototype, tested in 1923. Its top speed of 116 mph at 3,342 pounds gross weight was below that expected of the original configuration, as shown in the accompanying data.

AEROMARINE PG-1

Gallaudet’s single PW-4 ordered June 21, 1921, was the Army’s first all-metal fighter. With very modern bullet lines, “I” struts, and a 350-hp Packard lA-1237, the PW-4 began taxi tests on February 17, 1922, but after static tests was considered unsafe to fly. Two other examples on the contract were canceled November 17, 1922.

More extreme was the Dayton-Wright PS-l (Pursuit Special), a high-wing parasol monoplane ordered on June 29, 1921, and first delivered for static tests on November 13, 1922. Powered by a 200-hp Lawrance J-l radial within a streamlined cowling, it introduced one of the first retractable wheel arrangements. The wheels folded up into the fuselage, as on the Grummans a decade later. Two more were completed in June/July 1923, but they flew badly, their tactical use was unclear, and they became another unsatisfactory project.

GALLAUDET PW-4

Anthony Fokker had built many successful fighters for the Kaiser’s Air Force during World War I, the most famous being the D VII. After the Armistice, he moved his factory to the Netherlands and began selling planes to his erstwhile adversaries. The Air Service had brought back 142 D VIIs captured from Germany, actually used them in service, and respected Fokker’s sturdy cantilever wing structures.

DAYTON-WRIGHT PS-l

On December 4, 1920, the Army ordered two examples of the Fokker V-40, a high-wing monoplane development of the wartime D VIII. While the welded steel tube fuselage was long enough to make a vertical fin unnecessary for the balanced rudder, the cantilever wing was all wood. They arrived at McCook Field on January 22, 1922, and the first was flown with a 334-hp Wright H.

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