Hall XFH

The Hall XFH was an American fighter aircraft built by Hall Aluminum Company. It was the first fighter with a semimonocoque metal fuselage.

Development

The XFH was designed in 1927 by Charles Hall. It was a single-bay biplane with N-struts for the fabric covered wings. Its fuselage was made of steel tubing covered in a watertight aluminum skin, enabling it to float if ditched in the ocean. Also for ditching on water or on land, the landing gear could be jettisoned. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine. Testing in June 1929 showed poor handling characteristics and performance. During one test flight the upper wing came off the plane. After repairs the XFH made test flights off an aircraft carrier. Designated XFH by the Bureau of Aeronautics it was purchased not for active service, but to study new metal construction techniques.

pecifications

aerospecs
ref=Angelucci, 1987. pp. 256-257.
met or eng?=eng

crew=1
capacity=
length m=6.85
length ft=22
length in=6
span m=9.75
span ft=32
span in=0
height m=3.35
height ft=11
height in=0
wing area sqm=23.68
wing area sqft=255
empty weight kg=804
empty weight lb=1,773
gross weight kg=1,140
gross weight lb=2,514

eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Pratt & Whitney Wasp
eng1 kw=
eng1 hp=450
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=

max speed kmh=246
max speed mph=153
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
stall speed kmh=
stall speed mph=
range km=443
range miles=275
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=7,711
ceiling ft=25,300
g limits=
roll rate=
climb rate ms=9.07
climb rate ftmin=1786

armament1=2x .30in machine guns (never installed)
armament2=
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6= aircontent
see also=
related=
similar aircraft=
lists=

References

Bibliography

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