Fletcher FD-25

The Fletcher FD-25 Defender was a light ground-attack aircraft developed in the United States in the early 1950s.

FD-25 Defender
Role	Counterinsurgency aircraft
Manufacturer	Fletcher
Designer	John Thorp
First flight	1953
Primary users	Royal Cambodian Air Force Republic of Vietnam Air Force Royal Thai Police
Number built	13

Design and development

Designed by John Thorp, the Defender was a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailwheel undercarriage. Provision was made for two machine guns in the wings, plus disposable stores carried on underwing pylons. Construction throughout was all-metal, and the pilot sat under a wide perspex canopy.

Operational history

Three prototypes were built, two single-seaters and a two-seater, but no orders were placed by the US military. In Japan, however, Toyo acquired the rights to the design, and built around a dozen aircraft, selling seven (five single-seater attack versions and two two-seat trainers) to Cambodia,^[1] and four to Vietnam. One example (FD-25B JA3051)^[2] served with the Royal Thai Police.

Survivors

One example (FD-25B N240D) remains in an airworthy condition today and appeared at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh airshow in 2010. Two (a single-seater^[3] and a two-seater^[4]) are on museum display at the Tokyo Metropolitan College of Industrial Technology in Japan.

Related development

The wing design of the Fletcher FU-24 aerial topdressing plane was loosely based on that of the FD-25 Defender.^[5] Almost 300 were built under licence in New Zealand from the mid-1950s and used for agricultural and skydiving operations.^[6]

Specifications

Fletcher Defender at Fullerton, California, in 1971

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955–56^[7]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 20 ft 11 in (6.38 m)
• Wingspan: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
• Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
• Wing area: 150 sq ft (14 m²)
• Aspect ratio: 6:1
• Airfoil: NACA 65.5-415
• Empty weight: 1,228 lb (557 kg)
• Gross weight: 2,500 lb (1,134 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 60 US gal (50 imp gal; 230 L)
• Powerplant: 1 × Continental E-225-8 6-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally-opposed pistonengine, 225 hp (168 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 187 mph (301 km/h, 162 kn) at sea level
• Cruise speed: 162 mph (261 km/h, 141 kn)
• Range: 630 mi (1,010 km, 550 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (5,000 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,725 ft/min (8.76 m/s)

Armament

• Guns: 2 × wing-mounted .30-in (7.62 mm) machine guns
• Rockets:
  
  • 40 × 2.75 inch rockets or
  • 4 × 5-inch rockets or
  • 20 × 8 cm rockets
• Bombs: 2 × 250 lb (113 kg) bombs

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• SIAI Marchetti SF.260
• American Electric Piranha
• Soko J-20 Kraguj
• LIPNUR Sikumbang