Lanzius L II

The Lanzius L II was a single-seat fighter designed and built in the United States around 1918. The sole prototype is believed to have been tested at McCook Field.

L II
Role Fighter
National origin United States
Manufacturer Lanzius Aircraft Co, New York NY.
Designer George Lanzius
Number built 6
Developed from Lanzius L I (Variable Speed Aeroplane)

Design and development

George Lanzius, an immigrant from Holland, founded the Lanzius Aircraft Company in New York, to develop his inventions for variable-camber and variable-incidence wings. Lanzius first designed and built a two-seat aircraft under a US Signal Corps contract in 1917, named the Lanzius Variable Speed Aeroplane (aka L I). His second aircraft, the L II, was a single-seater derived from the L I also featuring the cable operated variable-camber and incidence.[1]

The two-bay wings had external trusses over the upper main-spars and under the lower main spars and the variable-camber and incidence were operated by cables and pulleys, with incidence variable from 0° to +15°. Power was supplied by a variety of engines but principally by a 350 hp (260 kW) Packard 1A-1237 V-12 in-line water-cooled engine.[2] During a test flight the engine failed and the L II crashed. Meanwhile, in April 1918, four similar aircraft were ordered, powered by 400 hp (300 kW) Liberty L-12 water-cooled V-12 engines. The first of these was destroyed after a structural failure in flight killed Lanzius test pilot Lester E. Holt. The United States Army Air Service (USAS) rejected the remaining three aircraft and returned them to Lanzius.[1]

Variants
Lanzius Variable Speed Aeroplane (1917)
(L I) A two-seater built to a US Signal Corps contract in 1917, incorporating Lanzius' variable camber and incidence systemand powered by a 140 hp (100 kW) Duesenberg 4-cylinder water-cooled inline engine.[3]
Lanzius L II
A prototype single-seater fighting scout, powered by a 350 hp (260 kW) Packard 1A-1237 V-12 water-cooled engine.[2][3]
Lanzuius Variable Speed Aeroplane (1918)
Four aircraft similar to the L II, but powered by 400 hp (300 kW) Liberty L-12 engines.[1]

Specifications (L II)

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters [4][3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 7.62 m (25 ft 0 in)
  • Wingspan: 11.58 m (38 ft 0 in)
  • Gross weight: 544 kg (1,200 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Packard 1A-1237 V-12 water-cooled in-line piston engine, 260 kW (350 hp)

Performance

References
  1. Casari, Bob. "US WW I failed fighter program". Let Let Let – Warplanes. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  2. Neal, Robert J. "STATISTICS OF ALL THE AERO ENGINES OF PACKARD" (PDF). AEHS. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  3. Eckland, K.O. "American airplanes: La - Li". aerofiles.com. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  4. Green, William; Swanborough, Gordon (1994). The Complete Book of Fighters. London: Salamander. p. 325. ISBN 1-85833-777-1.
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