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three views of blanca 28-90 racing machine

in the 1920s and 1930s, aviation technology was advancing rapidly, so racing became a very eye-catching event at that time. at that time, another idea also emerged with the birth of racing aircraft. since racing aircraft fly at very high speeds, wouldn't it be great to use them to modify fighter jets? of course, this is not the case. for example, the famous he-110d-1 was modified from a racing machine. for old china, which basically had no aviation industry, it was impossible to do things like aviation racing that had nothing to do with warlords' melee. therefore, in theory, it was impossible for china to obtain such things as racing aircraft. but there are always exceptions to everything. to understand this history, you have to turn your attention to ireland.

model 28-70 racing machine tested in the united states

the 28-70 racing machine was also equipped with a 700-horsepower engine.

the type 28-70 racing machine was damaged again during testing and was later repaired and modified.

in 1934, the macrobertson cup flight competition was successfully held. the competition was a non-stop flight from the united kingdom to melbourne, australia, with a total prize money of us$28,000. at that time, irish pilot james fitzmaurice (james fitzmaurice), in order to win glory for his country, specially ordered a blanca 28-70 racing aircraft from the american engineer giuseppe mario blanca to compete, but due to various restrictions from the organizer, i was ultimately unable to participate in the competition. since it failed to participate in the competition, the aircraft was shipped back to the united states for testing. during the test, it was damaged due to an accident. this was also a common situation at the time. in 1936, blanca replaced the aircraft with a 900-horsepower pratt & whitney "double wasp" engine, and the model was also changed to 28-90.

the modified 28-70 model has been completed, and the new model is called the 28-90 model.

type 28-90 aircraft is undergoing test flights

the 28-90 racing machine is a metal structure with a total length of 8.8 meters, a height of 2.64 meters, a wingspan of 14.08 meters, a wing area of ​​25.9 square meters, an empty weight of 3560 kilograms, and a pratt & whitney r-1830 power unit. the engine has an output of 960 horsepower. the aircraft has a maximum level flight speed of 450 kilometers per hour, a maximum range of 1,290 kilometers, and a climb rate of 14.2 meters per second.

"dorothy" 28-90 racing machine

morrison piloted the aircraft to achieve a new record

the aircraft was purchased by british pilot james mollison and named after his girlfriend dorothy ward. morrison set a new transatlantic speed record using a 28-90 racing aircraft on october 29 and 30, 1936. shortly afterwards, there were plans to fly the london-cape town route, which was later canceled for some reason. the spanish republican government knew of morrison's deeds in 1936. through a series of contacts, morrison flew to spain in 1937 and sold the plane to the spanish republican government.

the spanish republican army was extremely short of modern fighter planes, so they were naturally overjoyed to receive one. they then sent the plane to perform a reconnaissance mission, but it was destroyed during the mission not long after. the republican government was very satisfied with the aircraft and immediately contacted blanca to order 20 of the same type of aircraft. in fact, negotiations had begun as early as 1936, but after seeing the performance of the aircraft in person, the spanish republican government was extremely obsessed with obtaining the aircraft. according to the agreement reached, blanca must deliver all 20 28-90 racing aircraft in 1937. at the same time, in order to circumvent the u.s. arms embargo imposed on the spanish civil war, the aircraft was named a "postal aircraft" because it had no fixed weapons. export, and even set up a leather bag company for disguise. however, the us censorship agency did not give it in vain. in the end, the matter was exposed and the export failed.

two attempts by the spanish republican government to purchase them failed, and the aircraft were never able to fly over spain.

the spanish republican government was not discouraged and tried again. this time they ordered 22 28-90 type "training aircraft" from blanca and paid in full in advance. this time the first aircraft was exported to greece for civilian use. reserve flight school, then transferred to spain. after all, it had already happened once, so the u.s. review agency once again refused to issue an export license. as a last resort, the mexican government had to temporarily buy it and find a solution later. by the time all the aircraft were shipped to mexico, the spanish civil war had ended. after being stored for more than a year, the mexican air force bought these aircraft and served them until 1940.

based on this calculation, the first 20 aircraft have not been sold yet? don't worry, china, far in the east, is also in urgent need of fighter jets in the face of japanese imperialist aggression. at that time, the west's export of aircraft to china depended more or less on japan's attitude. therefore, after the outbreak of the anti-japanese war, china was able to replenish a small number of aircraft. therefore, the aviation committee of the national government at that time searched for all aircraft that could fly around the world. as long as the chinese were willing to sell them, the chinese short of money. however, the harvest was not great, and this situation was not reversed until the arrival of the soviet aid flying team to china. among these sellers who are willing to sell, blanca is naturally one of them. these 20 aircraft have not been sold yet. so the two sides hit it off immediately, and the only question was whether the united states would embargo it. the policy of the united states at that time was still very interesting. they agreed to export on the grounds that the sino-japanese conflict could not be regarded as a war, so what they could not get in spain after all their efforts was extremely smooth in china.

painting diagram of the chinese air force type 28-90 aircraft

at that time, the chinese air force ordered 19 aircraft, because one of the 20 aircraft was left at blanca company as a test aircraft, and one of the remaining 19 aircraft fell into the sea and was damaged during the transfer process. therefore, only 18 aircraft finally arrived in hankou, china. these aircraft arrived in two batches. the first batch of 9 aircraft arrived in january 1939. they were immediately assembled and tested. as a result, they were suddenly bombed by the japanese army and 7 aircraft were destroyed. the second batch of 9 aircraft arrived in february. the assembly went relatively smoothly this time. since the aircraft was a racing aircraft, it was impossible for the chinese aviation industry to install a forward-firing machine gun on it. therefore, it was planned to install a pylon and a rear-firing machine gun to be used as a high-speed bomber. this idea was actually very pragmatic.

the 28-90 aircraft that were initially shipped to china did not even have their paint changed. this shows that the chinese air force is eager to obtain aircraft.

chinese pilots are testing the 28-90 aircraft

the ground crew of the chinese air force is modifying and repainting the aircraft

the modified 28-90 aircraft

due to problems with the original design, the rear-firing machine gun could only be installed in this awkward position.

the 28-90 aircraft that has been modified and painted is planned to be used as a high-speed bomber in my country.

chinese technical personnel communicate with american technical personnel

these aircraft are all equipped with a bracket on the left side of the rear seat, equipped with a 7.62mm browning m1919 aviation machine gun, and pylons installed under the wings, which can carry 100 kilograms of bombs. the aircraft were all equipped to the 27th squadron. the curtiss a13 previously equipped by the team has been completely lost. but a pilot who flew a slow attack aircraft suddenly switched to flying a racing aircraft and couldn't adapt. it was like a truck driver trying to drive an f1 racing car. as a result, there were as many as eight accidents caused by various mistakes during training. , eight of the squadron's nine aircraft were damaged, which equaled the loss of combat effectiveness. there were two intact ones ahead, and together with the aircraft that my ground crew had patched together and repaired through unremitting efforts, there were a total of eight intact aircraft. these aircraft were sent to the 12th squadron for use as reconnaissance aircraft. on july 20, the squadron suddenly encountered japanese fighter jets during training. four were shot down due to unskilled operation. three people, including the captain, died for their country. so far, there are only four 28-90 aircraft left.

even if the ones destroyed by the japanese army are not counted, our pilots are not used to this kind of aircraft, and a lot of them were damaged in various accidents.

the ground crew could only try their best to restore the aircraft's condition.

under normal circumstances, the few remaining aircraft will be sent to the second line for use as training aircraft, but even the first line pilots cannot fly such high-speed aircraft, and it is even less possible for the second line training units to master them. therefore, these aircraft can only be abandoned in the hangar and eventually end up unknown.