| Pzl P.24 |
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The PZL P.24 was a Polish Fighter Aircraft , designed in mid-1930s in the PZL factory in Warsaw . It was effectively a P.11 adapted It was exported to several countries, but not used in Poland. DEVELOPMENT The P.24 was developed as an export variant of the PZL P.11 , a gull-wing all-metal fighter conceived by Zygmunt Pulawski . The P.11 was powered with a licence-built Bristol Mercury engines, that were not allowed to be exported outside Poland, so the French Gnome-Rhone company proposed to fit their engines into P.11. The first prototype, based on the P.11a and powered by a Gnome-Rhone 14K ds 760 hp engine, was flown in May 1933 . The second prototype, named the "Super P-24", established a world speed record for Radial Engine -powered fighters (414 km/h). The third prototype with a stronger 14Kfs engine, named "Super P-24bis", was shown on the Paris aviation salon in 1934 and met with a big interest. In the meantime, a new variant of the P.11, the P.11c, was developed for the Polish Air Force. It had a new refined fuselage, and the radial engine lowered to give a pilot a better view. These changes were applied also to the new P.24 prototype, flown in 1936 . It adapted a whole tail fuselage section from the P.11c and was powered with a Gnome-Rhone 14Kfs engine (930 hp). This first variant entered production under a designation P.24A, armed with two 20mm cannons and 2 Machineguns . Similar variants were '''P.24B''' armed with 4 machineguns and '''P.24C''' armed with 4 machineguns and two 50 kg bombs. The variant P.24D was developed for Hungary , but not completed, since Hungary decided not to buy P.24 and purchased the Fiat CR.32 instead. The next variant, P.24E, was licence-built in Romania by IAR as the '''IAR P.24E'''. The last serial variants were P.24F and '''P.24G''', produced from 1937 and powered with the more powerful 970 hp Gnome-Rhone 14N 07 engine. The P.24F was armed with 4 MG's, while the P.24G was armed with 2 cannons and 2 MG's, both could carry bombs. The P.24H was to be powered with a Gnome-Rhone 14N21 engine (1,100 HP) and carry 4 cannons or 2 cannons and 2 MG's, but it was not completed. The P.24H was considered for production by the Polish Air Force, but World War II started before these plans could be put into place. USE Despite being a better fighter than the P.11, the P.24 was not bought by the Polish Air Force , who instead waited in vain for the new low-wing PZL P.50 . When it became clear the P.50 would not be ready in time to counter a German attack, both the P.11 and P.24 were considered for production. However, neither could be brought online before the war started. As a result, none of P.24s were used in Polish September Campaign in 1939 . The aircraft had greater success abroad, though. The first user was Turkey , which bought 14 P.24A and 26 P.24C, delivered by 1937 . Another 20 P.24A/C's were built in Turkey in Kayserie, followed by an additional 30 P.24G's. All were used for training until the late 1940s. Some were refitted with Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines. The only example of a P.24 in the world survives as a museum piece in Turkey. Greece first bought five P.24A's in 1937, then 25 P.24F's and 6 P.24G's in 1938 . They were the main Greek fighters at a time of the Italian attack in 1940 , and their pilots fought bravely against Italian bombers. Romania already used PZL P.11f built under licence in the IAR factory, and decided to buy the licence for a new plane as well. As a result, Romania bought 6 P.24E's in 1937 from Poland and built further 44 aircraft designated IAR P.24E at the IAR factory between 1937 and 1939. Some components of the P.24E, mainly its tail section, were used in construction of the Romanian low-wing fighter IAR 80 . Bulgaria bought 14 P.24B in 1937-1938. Then, Bulgaria ordered 26 P.24F, 22 of which were delivered from Poland in July 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II (it was considered to stop their delivery, but the Polish side feared financial penalties). The remaining 4, lacking propellers, were bombed in Okecie factory in September 1939 by the Germans. Abissinia ( Ethiopia ) bought the third P.24 prototype (Super P.24bis) and used it in combat against Italians in 1936. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION The aircraft was conventional in layout, with high wings, all-metal, metal-covered. The wings had a Gull -wing shape, with thin profile close to the fuselage, to obtain a good view for a pilot, developed by Zygmunt Pulawski and also called "the Polish wing". The Canopy was closed (apart from prototypes). An internal 360 l fuel tank in a fuselage could be dropped in case of fire emergency. Conventional fixed Landing Gear , with a rear skid. The armament was a combination of 20mm Oerlikon FF cannons and 7.92mm Colt-Browning machineguns in wings.
P.24A and B could carry 4 x 12.5 kg bombs, while P.24C, F and G could carry 2 x 50 kg bombs. SPECIFICATIONS (PZL P.24)
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