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Republic P-43A-1 Lancer
| Crew | 1 |
| Dimensions | 36’ by 28’6” by
14’ 10.97m by 8.69m by 4.27 |
| Wing area | 223 square feet 20.7 square meters |
| Weight | 5996-8480 lbs 2720-3850 kg |
| Maximum speed | 356 mph at 20,000 feet 573 km/h at 6100 meters |
| Cruise speed | 280 mph 451 km/h |
| Landing speed | 78 mph 126 km/h |
| Climb rate | 42 feet per second 12.8 meters per second |
| Service ceiling | 36,000 feet 11,000 meters |
| Power plant | 1 1200 hp (895 kW) Pratt &
Whitney R-1830-57
Twin Wasp 14-cylinder two-row radial engine driving a three-bladed
propeller |
| Armament | 2 0.50 fixed
nose machine guns 2 0.50 fixed wing machine guns |
| External stores | 1 200lb (91kg) bomb, 6 20 lb (9kg) bombs, or a drop tank |
| Range | 650 miles (1046 km) with a 200 lb (91 kg) bomb 1460 miles (2333 km) with drop tank |
| Fuel | 218 gallons 825 liters |
| Production | 54 P-43, 80 P-43A, and 125 P-43A-1 from 5/41 at Republic Aviation Corporation, Farmingdale, NY |
| Variants |
The P-43 used an R-1830-35 engine, was armed with 0.30 machine guns in the wings, and had no provisions for bombs. The P-43A used a R-1830-49 engine. The P-43B through P-43E were photoreconnaissance conversions. |
The P-43 was a development of the P-35 and the
ancestor of the P-47
Thunderbolt. It never saw combat, since
it was judged to have inadequate performance, and production was halted
in
favor of the
P-47, The few production P-43 were relegated to air defense along the
West
Coast. Some 51 were delivered to China,
were they suffered from problems
with the self-sealing fuel tanks and turbochargers.
About 150 were converted to P-43B photoreconnaissance planes in 1942.
Roughly a quarter of P-43 pilots were assigned to the West Coast.
References
National
Museum of the USAF (accessed 2009-10-12)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index
