Max Holste MH.20
| MH.20 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Racing aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Avions Max Holste |
| Designer | Max Holste |
| First flight | 25 July 1941 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Max Holste MH.20 was a French single-engined racing aircraft built to compete in the 1939 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe air race but not flying until 1941. A single example was built.
Design and development
[edit]In January 1939, the 26-year-old aircraft designer Max Holste began work at l'École de Réèducation Professionnelle, a Paris technical school for training the unemployed for work in the aviation industry, to design an all-metal single-engined racing aircraft.[1] The design, intended to compete in the 1939 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe air race,[2][3] was a mid-winged monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. An enclosed cockpit was provided for the aircraft's pilot, situated behind the wing.[4] The planned power-plant was a Béarn vertically-opposed air-cooled twelve-cylinder engine.[5]
The airframe was effectively complete by June 1939, with only the engine awaited, with it being hoped that the aircraft would make its maiden flight by August 1939.[1] This did not occur, however, and the aircraft did not fly until 25 July 1941,[6] powered by a Régnier air-cooled inverted 12Hoo V12 engine.[7]
Specifications
[edit]
Data from L'Avion "Max Holste 20" Coupe Deutsch[7]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 6.64 m (21 ft 9 in)
- Wingspan: 6.68 m (21 ft 11 in)
- Height: 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
- Wing area: 6.9 m2 (74 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 585 kg (1,290 lb)
- Gross weight: 834 kg (1,839 lb)
- Fuel capacity: 200 L (44 imp gal; 53 US gal)
- Powerplant: 1 × Régnier 12HOO air-cooled inverted V12 engine, 310 kW (420 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 496 km/h (308 mph, 268 kn)
- Cruise speed: 477 km/h (296 mph, 258 kn)
- Range: 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi) [6]
References
[edit]
- ^ a b Victor Les Ailes 22 June 1939, p. 7.
- ^ "Behind the Lines: Max Holste 20". Flight. Vol. XLII, no. 1750. 9 July 1942. p. 50.
- ^ Gruberg Flight International 30 September 1943, p. 362.
- ^ L'Aérophile August 1941, p. 147.
- ^ Victor Les Ailes 22 June 1939, p. 8.
- ^ a b "Max-Holste MH-20". Aviafrance. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
- ^ a b L'Aérophile August 1941, p. 148.
- "L'Avion "Max Holste 20" Coupe Deutsch (France)". L'Aérophile. Vol. 42, no. 8. August 1941. pp. 147–148.
- Gruberg, V. L. (30 September 1943). "The French Aircraft Industry". Flight. Vol. XLIV, no. 1814. pp. 359–362.
- Victor, Maurice (22 June 1939). "Impasse de la Baleine, des chômeurs construisent un avion de course". Les Ailes (940): 7–8.