What's a P-12C?

If you aren’t really into aircraft, especially aircraft from all eras of aviation, you probably don’t know that a P-12C is a Boeing biplane fighter which took flight in 1931. It’s not necessarily my favorite airplane of all time, but it is one of my father’s favorite aircraft and he is building a ¾ scale version of one in our hangar. Here’s a picture of the full scale one (okay this is actually a P-12E). Strangely, the P-12 never had a nickname even though it was one of the more successful of the between war fighters. Other than prototypes, I can't think of any other aircraft without an official nickname.

I can’t fully express how proud I am of him and what he has accomplished over the last 20 years of building. Yes that’s right, 20 YEARS. It’s all built from scratch from his own hand drawn plans (derived from a very accurate set of model airplane plans) and nearly everything in the aircraft has been manufactured by him in his home machine shop. He would say he has 5 years to go, but he works 6-7 days a week on it and I hope it’s finished earlier just so that he will have more time to enjoy it.

The original full scale aircraft had a 30 foot wingspan and a 450 hp R1340 Wasp radial with a top speed of about 178 mph. Our version has a 23 foot wingspan and a 285 hp radial from a Chinese Nanchang CJ-6A and is quite a bit lighter in weight. I wouldn’t be surprised if the performance is similar in the end.

So I am the designated pilot, and frankly I’m not qualified right now. After I get some Pitts time followed by dual in the P-12 (we have a second cockpit just for fun) I’m sure I will be fine, but that's a ways off in the future. It will be a little demon on the ground though with that tall gear and short fuselage! My wife has already said she will never fly in it…

Maybe I can get a photo gallery going to show what the project looks like (the wings are done and the fuselage is almost finished).

Comments

• Anonymous
  February 22, 2006
  I'm a fan of vintage aircraft like this too.... absolutely cool. :) Looking forward to seeing some pics too. Any plans for a P-12C in FS? ;D
• Anonymous
  February 22, 2006
  If I had any time and could talk the artists into helping me, I would try... But not on any official level :)
  
  I'm sure the practice in FS would be helpful though.