Lawson Pursuit Project of 1918

hesham

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Hi,

the Lawson Aircraft Corporation designed a single seat pursuit fighter biplane project
of 1918,powered by one 180 hp Hispano engine,the wings were to be of equal span,
32ft 10in (10m) and the overall length of the plane 19ft (5.79m),I have no drawing
to it.
 
Per Aerofiles.com...

Pursuit 1918 - 1pOB fighter design with 180hp Hisso; never produced. Lawson's projections for Army consideration was to accompany this plane with a series of floating landing fields across the Atlantic. The idea was rejected as too fanciful.

Source: http://aerofiles.com/_la.html
 
Thank you my dear Cluttonfred,

and of course I know this site,but has anyone a drawing for it ?.
 
A search for "Lawson Pursuit 1918" turns up a little page on the aircraft in the Polish-language Wikipedia with this source listed:

Enzo Angellucci, Peter Bowers: American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft from 1917 to the Present. Haynes Publishing Group, 1979

Perhaps there's an image there?
 
No image.
Text:
This was yet another of the numerous designs which appeared during the course of 1918, as countless aeronautical engineers attempted to provide the United States with its own, American-built fighter. The Lawson Aircraft Corporation of Wisconsin had designed a single-seat two-bay biplane powered by a 180hp Hispano engine. The wings were to be of equal span, 32ft 10in (10m) and the overall length of the plane 19ft (5.79m). The project never progressed to the construction stage, however, and its inclusion here serves only to emphasize how many projects were formulated by American companies all over the country to produce an effective fighter plane, at a time when European fighters had evolved far more rapidly and had already seen a great deal of action.
 
Does anyone know if this Lawson pursuit is the same design as the unbuilt 1918 Lawson Armored Battler?

I am curious to know if the Lawson Armored Battler's "steel fuselage" consisted of a steel 'box' (akin to the Sopwith TF.2 Salamander) or was it to have armour plates attached to conventional framing?

BTW: That "series of floating landing fields across the Atlantic" were to be converted 'flat top' merchant ships ... allowing Alfred Lawson to later claim to have invented the aircraft carrier (along with coining the term 'airliner') :)
 
My dear Apophenia,

I think it was anther design,but I will wait the experts ?.
 
Thanks Hesham. I suspect that you're right ... especially if Aero Files was correct about that "180hp Hisso". The power output suggests a Wright-Hisso E-3 (or French-built Hispano-Suiza 8Ab/HS-34) ... an upright V-8 engine.

Going by the sideview drawing, the Lawson Armored Battler was powered by a V-12 (presumably a Liberty). This aircraft was to be a 2-seat fighter armed with six machine guns. Lawson Armored Battler sideview: http://images.wisconsinhistory.org/700003070013/0307000226-l.jpg

According to The Airliner and Its Inventor, Lawson conceived of two trench fighters of differing concepts in 1917. The first was nick-named the "Ground Hog". I can find no details for that machine but, indulging in wild speculation, it's just possible that this "Ground Hog" was Lawson's Hisso-powered pursuit.

Both concepts were rejected by the War Department based upon their belief no "steel armored plane could be built that could rise from the ground." In 1918, after the Sopwith T.F.1 had been flown, the War Department asked for more details on Lawson's second concept - the Armored Battler. Armour was to protect "the Pilot's or Gunner's Stations, engine beds, gas or water tanks, radiators, control centers, etc."

____________________

The Airliner and Its Inventor: Alfred W. Lawson, Cy Q. Faunce, Rockcastel Publishing Co., Columbus, Ohio, 1921, pp.33-34.
 
Amazing Info my dear Apophenia,many thanks,

and we can put it here.
 

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