| 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 |
| Number built | 13 |
The Fletcher FD-25 Defender was a light ground-attack aircraft developed in the United States in the early 1950s.
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.
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.
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.
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]
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955–56 [7]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
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