Transport: Ambitious Amphibian

Over Dayton, Ohio, last week curvetted three new little airplanes, undergoing rigorous U. S. Army Air Corps tests in its present search for an advanced type training plane. Two of the entries were from factories which have long supplied the Army with good planes (North American, Northrop). They were therefore less interesting to onlookers than the third competitor, a stubby little monoplane entered by Seversky Aircraft Corp., a five-year-old firm which in the past twelvemonth has mushroomed from almost nothing to top-notch military importance.

Seversky Aircraft Corp. is named for its 42-year-old founder, president, chief designer and test pilot, Major Alexander Procofieff (“Sascha”) de Seversky. A short, slim, kinky-haired Russian, “Sascha” de Seversky became a flyer in the Russian Navy during the War, lost his right leg in his first engagement, came back from the hospital to shoot down 13 German planes. Awarded the highest military honors, he was equally renowned for inventing a combination pontoon and ski which allowed Russian Naval planes to continue in service during winter. Just as the Revolution started, he was appointed to an aviation commission visiting the U. S. There he became a U. S. citizen, married a U. S. girl, joined the U. S. Army Air Corps Reserve, where he rose to,be a Major. In 1931 he organized his own company, now located at Farmingdale, L. I.

During its first three years, Seversky Aircraft did little but experiment. It developed such inventions of its founder as the mechanism generally used for mid-air refueling and the automatic bomb sight now adopted by the U. S. and Great Britain. In 1933 Inventor Seversky began toying with ambitious— amphibian ideas, produced a plane which could land on snow, water or land. By last year he had developed this chunky, all-metal, single-motored monoplane so well that in it he set a world speed record for amphibians (230.4 m.p.h.).

Designer Seversky then stripped his amphibian of its pontoons, entered it in an Army trainer competition. Despite jeers from other competitors, it won a contract for 35 planes at a cost of $874,000.Designer Seversky continued to tinker his plane, last June produced a pursuit model which is said to be among the world’s fastest, with a top speed of nearly 300 m.p.h. After a competition at Dayton, the Army bought 85 for $1,636,250.

The Seversky plane which last week was going through its paces at Dayton was a third variation on the Seversky amphibian. A low-wing monoplane with two seats, it is a slower model of the pursuit plane, built husky to withstand the beating Army trainers must take. By stepping up the motor, adding two panels to the multi-box wing, it can readily be converted into the speedy pursuit ship, suitable for war use.