Boeing GA-1

Infobox Aircraft
name=GA-1
type=Ground attack
manufacturer=Boeing


caption=Engineering Division/Boeing GA-1
designer= Issac W. Laddon
first flight= May 1921
introduced=1921
retired=
number built= 10
status=
primary user= USAAS
more users=
unit cost=
developed from=
variants with their own articles=

The Boeing GA-1 (company designation Model 10) were armored triplanes. Designed in 1919, it was powered by a pair of modified Liberty engines driving pusher propellers. The first of the Engineering Division's heavily-armored GAX series (ground attack, experimental) aircraft, the ponderous airplane was intended to strafe ground troops while remaining immune to attack from the ground as well as from other enemy aircraft. It was so well armored its five-ton weight proved excessive.

History

Origins

Soon after the end of WW I, the US Army sought to explore highly-armored and -armed specialist ground attack aircraft. This was a pet project of General William Mitchell. The Army Air Service Engineering Division issued requests for proposals to U.S. aircraft producers on October 15, 1919. There were no designs offered, so the Engineering Division ordered one of its engineers, Isaac W. Laddon, to attempt what the aviation industry clearly considered impossible. His design, designated GAX, first flew at McCook Field on May 26, 1920. The GAX was McCook Field Project P129 and wore AAS serial number 63272.Ray Wagner, 1968]

Development

On June 7, 1920, Boeing was awarded a contract for 20 production models designated GA-1. Before the first was delivered in May 1921, the order had been reduced to 10. The production aircraft wore Boeing constructors numbers 200-209 and AAC serial numbers 64146-64155. Number 64146 was evaluated at McCook as project P187.Ray Wagner, 1968]

Entry into service

The GA-1 were sent to Kelly Field, Texas, for service tests with the 3rd Attack Group. These tests showed the aircraft to be unacceptable. They had poor performance and visibility. The aircraft suffered from noise and vibrations caused by the 3/16-inch (4.75mm)-thick armor. Take-off runs were very long by the standards of the day. The GA-1s were extremely unpopular with the pilots conducting the evaluation.Ray Wagner, 1968]

Design characteristics

Aerodynamic cleanliness was sacrificed to fields of fire for its guns. The sturdy structure was able to carry a heavy load of ammunition along with about 2,200 lb (998 kg) of armor plate. The result was an angular machine of wire-braced wooden construction with plywood and fabric covering. A rectangular-section fuselage carried the forward gunner in an open nose position, the pilot in a semi-enclsed cockpit with armored shutters for forward vision, and the rear gunner in an open dorsal position. The engines were carried in mid-wing nacelles. At the front of each nacelle was a gunner's position.Eden & Moeng, 2002, page 314.]

Variants

;GA-1: armored triplane, one pilot and 4 gunners, two Liberty L-12A Vee engines of 435 hp (324 kW), ten built;GA-2: biplane, one pilot and two gunners, 750 hp (559 kW) Engineering Division W-18 engine, one 37mm cannon and 6 0.3 in (7.62mm) machine guns, two built

Milestones

It was rumored the GA-1s survived until surveyed on January 14, 1926 so Kelly Field pilots could be threatened with being forced to fly them for disciplinary infractions. All were scrapped in April 1926.Ray Wagner, 1968]

pecifications (GA-1)

aerospecs
ref="The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft"Eden & Moeng, 2002, page 315.]
met or eng?=eng
crew=5
capacity=
length m=10.25
length ft=33
length in=7
span m=19.97
span ft=65
span in=6
height m=4.34
height ft=14
height in=3
wing area sqm=94.39
wing area sqft=1016
empty weight kg=3,553
empty weight lb=7,834
gross weight kg=4,729
gross weight lb=10,426
eng1 number=2
eng1 type=Liberty L-12A Pusher
eng1 kw=324
eng1 hp=435
max speed kmh=169
max speed mph=105
cruise speed kmh=153
cruise speed mph=95
range km=563
range miles=350
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=3,505
ceiling ft=11,500
climb rate ms=3.05
climb rate ftmin=600
armament1=1 x 37 mm Baldwin cannon
armament2=8 x .30 cal. Browning machine guns
armament3= With some machine guns removed, 10 small fragmentation bombs could be carried.
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

References

*Wagner, Ray. "American Combat Planes". Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1968. ISBN 0385041349
*Eden, Paul, & Moeng, Soph, editors. "The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft". London: Amber Books Ltd., 2002. ISBN 0-7607-3432-1

External links

* http://www.ascho.wpafb.af.mil/REMARKABLE/CHAP2.HTM
* http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/history/marshall/military/airforce/usaf_descriptions/bombers.txt
* http://www.aerofiles.com/_boe2.html
* http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/1908-1920.html

ee also

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