What if? Martin FM-1 ‘Mako’; aircraft ‘315/NZ5315’ of 17 Squadron RNZAF, 1944 (Whif)

[dizzyfugu]

Die ist mir glatt durchgegangen... 






Some background:
Martin’s FM-1 was originally conceived as a replacement for the ageing Grumman Wildcat, as a fighter for smaller carriers, esp. for the US Navy and Royal Navy escort carriers in the Atlantic. These escort carriers, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, were a small and slow type of aircraft carrier, with limited capacity and primarily used to protect convoys against U-boats. In this role, escort carriers initially accompanied the merchant ships and fended off attacks from aircraft and submarines. Later in the war, escort carriers became part of hunter-killer groups which sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (270 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than 1/3 of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 long tons (8,100 t), as compared to almost 30,000 long tons (30,000 t) for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar (if there was any!) typically ran only 1/3 of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24-30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.






A respective aircraft had to be both compact and versatile. Typical aircraft in use were the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter and the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. In the fighter role the new design was also to offer a better performance than the F4F, but still be able to deliver bombs, water bombs and ideally a torpedo. Additionally, the aircraft had to be able to take off without a catapult in order to make it suitable for shorter and sometimes just improvised flight decks on modified merchant vessels.






Martin began work in April 1942, following an official US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics request. The resulting FM (actually the only fighter the Glenn L. Martin Company designed) offered all the requested improvements, even though it would not be able to carry a torpedo. The quasi-bubble canopy offered far better all-round and esp. rear view than the F4F cockpit. The wider landing gear (which retracted backwards, rotating through 90° to lie flat in the fixed wing parts) made landing on the short escort carrier decks much safer. The hydraulically actuated undercarriage struts also meant a huge advance in comfort for the pilot, compared to the hand-cranked landing gear of the F4F.






The outer wings could be folded away (either actuated, too, or manually), each panel outboard of the undercarriage bay folding backwards, parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing down, in a similar fashion to the F4F or F6F, so that the aircraft took up only little space.

Special attention was taken to rigidity and corrosion prevention - on some makeshift escort carriers the aircraft had to be parked on deck and in the open all the time, as there was no hangar or lift available.






The FM was powered by a 1.900 hp (1,417 kW) R-2600-20 radial engine, driving a four-bladed propeller. Martin submitted the FM's design on 1st of July1942, with a contract for two prototypes and five service test aircraft awarded on 10th of August. The first flight of a prototype XFM took place on 16th February 1943 at the Columbus, Ohio Martin plant. Flight testing continued through 28th of August, when the last of the five pre-production aircraft took to the air. After thorough tests in late 1943 a production order for 300 FM-1 ‘Mako’ followed in March 1943.






The first serial production FM-1 Makos were delivered to the USN on 22th of May 1944 to the USS Solomons (CVE-67), a Casablanca Class escort carrier. From the total production of 305 aircraft, about 80 of these were delivered to the Royal Navy for their escort carriers in the Atlantic (used under the designation Mako Mk. 1) and 42 were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and used in the Pacific theatre, even though only from land bases.

While the Mako was not a first line fighter and rarely engaged in great aerial battles it served well in its intended multi-tasking role. Especially against German submarines in the Northern Atlantic the Mako was a valuable asset, as well in the interceptor role against German long range reconnaissance aircraft where top speed was not as crucial as in a direct dogfight situation.






A more successful career of the Mako was prevented through the due introduction of more potent fighter types, e .g. the Grumman F6F and Vought F4U. They offered an overall better performance than the FM, so that the further development and production of Martin’s sole fighter type was quickly stopped. It was also clear that the compact FM simply lacked internal space for future development.

After the WWII hostilities ceased, most FM-1s still in service were immediately retired or served as training aircraft or target tugs for only a short period, when they were replaced in these roles by the stronger fighter types.





General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 31 ft  4½ in (9.58 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.70 m)
Height: 9 ft 2.5 in (2.8 m)
Wing area: 334 ft² (31 m²)
Empty weight: 9,238 lb (4,190 kg)
Loaded weight: 12,598 lb (5,714 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 15,415 lb (6,990 kg)

Powerplant:
1× Pratt & Whitney R-2600-20 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine rated at a 1.900 hp (1.417 kW), driving a four-bladed Martin Electric propeller

Performance:
Maximum speed: 380 mph (610 km/h)
Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1,520 km)
Service ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,363 m)
Rate of climb: 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s)
Wing loading: 37.7 lb/ft² (184 kg/m²)

Armament:
6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 360 RPG in the outer wings
Up to 2.000 lb (907kg) external ordnance on a centerline pylon and/or on two hardpoints under the wing roots, plus six attachments for unguided missiles/HVARs under the outer wings.


Ein simples Projekt, realisiert in rund einer Woche. Ausgangspunkt war die Idee, wie ein kompakter Trägerjäger für die Geleitschutzträger z. B. im Atlantik hätte aussehen können, um z. B. die F4F zu ersetzen. Viele spätere Jäger wie die F4U oder F6F waren schon recht groß geraten - eine echte Marktlücke, und Platz für ein Whif  .

Als Basis hat eine Curtiss SC-1 von SMER gedient - eigentlich ein Flugboot, das aber seine Schwimmer verloren hat. Neu ist nun das komplette Einzieh-Fahrwerk mit Innenleben, die Spannweite wurde etwas reduziert, um die Kiste schnittiger zu machen, die Flügel haben eine leicht negative V-Stellung erhalten, und statt des schmalen R-1820 Neunzylinders werkelt nun ein R-2600 Viezehnzylinder im Bug unter einer etwas längeren Nase. Kleine, subtile Dinge.

Statt USN oder FAA ist schließlich ein exotischer Nutzer draus geworden - Neuseeland, die im Pazifik u.a. die F4U (aber nur von Land) einsetzten - was aber die Chance ergab, einen typischen USN-Anstrich anzubringen, was die Kiste authentischer macht. 

Wie gesagt, ein Quickie - aber wieder eine Idee von der Liste gearbeitet.