Arsenal VG 33

Designed as a replacement for the Morane Saulnier MS.406 (p. W:RH42), the all-wooden VG 33 never reached full production before the Armistice. Only 19 planes ever reached flying status, and none ever saw combat. German forces are believed to have captured four VG 33s, with most of the other incomplete airframes being destroyed to prevent their use by the Germans.

The VG 33 burns 32.1 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel (including drop tanks) and ammo costs $1,216.50.

Subassemblies: Light Fighter chassis with Good Streamlining +3; Light Fighter wings +2; 3 retractable wheels +0.

Powertrain: 642-kW supercharged HP gasoline engine with 642-kW prop and 106-gallon self-sealing fuel tank [Body], 4,000-kWs batteries.

Occ.: 1 CS Body

Cargo: 0 Body

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W

Wings: 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W 2/2W

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

Weaponry:

20mm Long Aircraft AC/Hispano-Suiza HS.404 [Body:F] (60 rounds).

4xAircraft LMGs/7.5mm MAC 1934 [Wings:F] (300 rounds each).

Equipment:

Body: Autopilot, navigation instruments, medium radio transmitter and receiver. Wings: Two 300-lb. hardpoints for two 26.4-gallon self-sealing drop tanks.

Statistics:

Size: 28'x35'x11' Payload: 0.72 tons Lwt.: 2.70 tons

Volume: 128 Maint.: 70 hours Cost: $8,213

HT: 7. HPs: 50 Body, 70 each Wing, 5 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 367 aAccel: 7 aDecel: 9 aMR: 2.5 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 85 mph. Take-Off Run: 602 yards. Landing Run: 722 yards.

gSpeed: 247 gAccel: 12 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2

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

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 150 sf. Design loaded weight was reduced 3% to the historical. Design payload was 1,597 lbs; the historical value has been substituted. Design GP was only 1 point into the Extremely High range; this was reduced to Very High since the design payload was greater than historical. Design aSpeed was 394 mph. Performance calculations were based on historical values for wing area and loaded weight.

Variants:

The VG 30 (1938) was a prototype with a 455-kW engine.

The VG 31 used a different engine and had a smaller wing area than the VG 30. The prototype was never completed.

The VG 32 (1940) was to use a 775-kW American-made Allison engine. It was captured by the Germans before it ever flew.

Several variants (VG 34 to VG 39) featured minor modifications to the airframe and different engines. None of these aircraft made it past the prototype stage.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS