Dorand AR

Dorand AR.1

Designed in 1916 by Colonel Dorand, The AR.1 was a conventional two-seat reconnaissance biplane. It featured backward-staggered wings (with the lower wing's leading edge being the most forward) and fairly high wing loading. The landing gear was rugged to withstand the rough airfields of the day. The plane was equipped with a wireless, a camera, and an internal bomb bay. The plane had a crew of two: pilot and observer, each equipped with a 7.7mm MG (the pilot's fixed on the port side of the fuselage and the observer's on a flexible mount to the rear.

The plane was deployed to the Western and Italian fronts in 1917. It was also employed by the American Expeditionary Force as a trainer, who received 142 planes. The plane has a historical endurance of 3 hours. The AR.1 burns 7.1 gallons of fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and ammo (excluding bombs) costs $34.60.

Dorand AR.1A2

Subassemblies: Light Fighter chassis +3; Heavy Fighter wings with Biplane option +2; 2 fixed wheels +0.

Powertrain: 142-kW HP gasoline engine with 142-kW old prop and 48-gallon fuel tank [Body].

Occ.: 2 XCS Body

Cargo: 8 Body

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C

Wings: 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C

Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Weaponry:

Aircraft LMG/.303 Vickers [Body:F] (1,250 rounds).

Aircraft LMG/.303 Lewis [Body:B] (1,250 rounds).

176 lbs. of bombs [Body:U].

Equipment:

Body: Medium radio transmitter and receiver, navigation instruments, recon camera, 176-lb. bomb bay casemate mount for rear MG.

Statistics:

Size: 30'x44'x11' Payload: 0.49 tons Lwt.: 1.45 tons

Volume: 144 Maint.: 92 hours Cost: $4,761

HT: 9. HPs: 50 Body, 90 each Wing, 8 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 92 aAccel: 3 aDecel: 24 aMR: 6 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 31 mph. Take Off Run: 120 yards. Landing Run: 96 yards.

gSpeed: 162 gAccel: 8 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2

Ground Pressure: Very High. 1/8 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 542 sf.; historical wing weight was 516 lbs. In the MVDS this was best modeled by choosing Heavy Fighter Biplane wings and reducing weight (and cost and HPs) by 75%. Design loaded weight was 2,894 lbs.; it was decreased 5% to the historical. Design aSpeed as 85 mph. Historical values for wing area and loaded weight were used for all performance calculations. MG load out was estimated from the historical armament load of 75 kg. The design purchases a 45-gallon fuel tank and 250-lb. bomb bay; the historical capacities are shown. Design payload was 1,038 lbs. The historical value is shown.

Variants:

The AR.2A2 was generally the same except for a shortened wingspan and 149-kW engine.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS