The not-so-mighty Mites

As the world moved inexorably toward World War II in the late 1930s, fighter aircraft became one of the most important items in a nation’s arsenal, for both offensive and defensive reasons. But at the same time, fighters had become more complex, more expensive, were taking longer to produce, and taking great quantities of scare materials, such as aluminum and magnesium.

An idea began to rise among many air forces. Why not make a simple, light weight fighter with a small engine using readily available, non-strategic materials – wood was a favorite – and put the emphasis on producing large numbers rapidly without upsetting the production of existing types quickly? The lighter weight would also require a smaller engine, one not used on standard fighters, which would make it even lighter and cheaper.

Several countries, notably France and the United States, made serious efforts to design and build such a fighter.

The French Caudron company made one of the most serious efforts with a derivative of one of its racing planes for the French Air Force (Armée de l’Air). After several false starts, the company developed the C.714 Cyclone, powered by a 450 horsepower inline engine. The engine had a small cross section and was easy to streamline, but was very long and resulted in a cockpit that sat relatively far back on the fuselage. The rest of the low wing monoplane was virtually all wood.

The first tests were satisfactory, and the aircraft went into production in mid-1938 and proved easy to produce, taking only half as much time as the standard French fighter. The Armée de l’Air ordered 20 C.714s on  Nov. 5, 1938, with options for a further 180.

But the production examples proved to be seriously flawed. Developing a small fighter engine proved as difficult as a large one, and the 12R never lived up to expectations. When the C.714 was fully equipped with basic equipment, such as a radio, a small amount of fuel and armament (very light – four .30 machine guns in a panner under the wings), its weight soared and top speed and climb rate dropped dramatically. The fragile wooden construction did not allow for a more powerful engine, even if one had been available.

Actual deliveries did not start until January 1940, several months after World War II began, and March 1940, despite France’s desperate need for fighters, the initial production order was reduced drastically.

The 35 Caudrons produced were given to a group of Polish pilots who had escaped the German invasion and formed the Polish “Warsaw Squadron,” stationed in Mions, France. The battle experienced Poles found C.174 seriously underpowered and fragile and thought it would be no match for contemporary German fighters. When the Germans invaded, this proved to be true. Some C.714s were sent to Finland (see picture), but the wooden structure proved inadequate for the Finnish weather and they were only used as trainers.

Ironically, as the C.714 was proving a failure, the American Bell Aircraft Corporation began to study a light weight fighter in October  1941. Bell promised high performance combined with low cost and little use of strategic metals, and the new aircraft, like the C.714, was based on 1930s air racers. Also, like the C.714, it was made of mainly of wood and powered by a new, small engine – the 500 horsepower Ranger XV-770.

The Bell aircraft, the XP-77, was more advanced in some ways. The slim monoplane featured a thin, high-aspect wing that was equipped with tricycle landing gear and had a bubble canopy that was meant for excellent visibility. But, like the C.714, the engine had to be very long to fit into the small fuselage and forward visibility was poor.

The planned armament was one  20 millimeter cannon and two 0.5 inch machine guns. But to keep weight down, the weapons only carried a small amount of ammunition.

While the validity of the concept might be debated, the XP-77 was doomed by its Ranger engine, described by one historian as “the worst engine developed by the U.S. in World War II.” The engine could not carry a turbo supercharger so performance dropped off dramatically above 12,000 feet (air combat in Europe routinely took place at over 20,000 feet).

The 20 millimeter cannon had to be dropped for weight reasons and the first prototype did not fly until April 1944 – an incredibly long development time for a wartime fighter. The prototype proved to have a variety of problems, notably vibration, in addition to excess weight and the unreliable engine. When one of the prototypes crashed in late 1944, the AFF abandoned the program, probably with a sigh of relief.

But the light weight fighter concept lived on, was eventually perfected and can be seen overhead at Ramstein today – the F-16 on display at NATO!

For questions or comments, contact Dr. Michel at marshall.michel@ramstein.af.mil.