Max Holste MH.20

Last updated
MH.20
Max Holste MH-20 left rear photo L'Aerophile January 1943.jpg
Role Racing aircraft
National origin France
Manufacturer Avions Max Holste
Designer Max Holste
First flight 25 July 1941
Number built 1

The Max Holste MH.20 was a French single-engined racing aircraft built to compete in the 1939 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe air race but not flying until 1941. A single example was built.

Air racing sport involving aircraft in racing competitions

Air racing is a highly specialised type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previously estimated time.

Contents

Design and development

In January 1939, the 26-year-old aircraft designer Max Holste began work at l'École de Réèducation Professionnelle, a Paris technical school for training the unemployed for work in the aviation industry, to design an all-metal single-engined racing aircraft. [1] The design, intended to compete in the 1939 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe air race, [2] [3] was a mid-winged monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. An enclosed cockpit was provided for the aircraft's pilot, situated behind the wing. [4] The planned power-plant was a Béarn vertically-opposed air-cooled twelve-cylinder engine. [5]

Max Holste was a French aeronautical engineer and founder of an aircraft manufacturer company of the same name in Reims, France. His company developed and produced many civil and military piston engine aircraft, including the famous MH-1521 Broussard. He was also one of the lead engineers of the Embraer Bandeirante project.

Monoplane Fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane, in contrast to a biplane or other multiplane, each of which has multiple planes.

Conventional landing gear aircraft undercarriage arrangement with main gear forward plus tail support

Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail. The term taildragger is also used, although some claim it should apply only to those aircraft with a tailskid rather than a wheel.

The airframe was effectively complete by June 1939, with only the engine awaited, with it being hoped that the aircraft would make its maiden flight by August 1939. [1] This did not occur, however, and the aircraft did not fly until 25 July 1941, [6] powered by a Régnier air-cooled inverted 12Hoo V12 engine. [7]

Specifications

Max Holste MH-20 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile January 1943 Max Holste MH-20 3-view L'Aerophile January 1943.jpg
Max Holste MH-20 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile January 1943

Data from L'Avion "Max Holste 20" Coupe Deutsch [7]

General characteristics

V12 engine piston engine with 12 cylinders in vee configuration

A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders each, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft. Since each cylinder bank is essentially a straight-six which is by itself in both primary and secondary balance, a V12 inherits perfect primary and secondary balance no matter which V angle is used, and therefore it needs no balance shafts. A four-stroke 12 cylinder engine has an even firing order if cylinders fire every 60° of crankshaft rotation, so a V12 with cylinder banks at a multiples of 60° will have even firing intervals without using split crankpins. By using split crankpins or ignoring minor vibrations, any V angle is possible. The 180° configuration is usually referred to as a "flat-twelve engine" or a "boxer" although it is in reality a 180° V since the pistons can and normally do use shared crankpins. It may also be written as "V-12", although this is less common.

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 496 km/h (308 mph; 268 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 477 km/h (296 mph; 258 kn)
  • Range: 500 km (311 mi; 270 nmi) [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 Victor Les Ailes 22 June 1939, p. 7.
  2. ↑ "Behind the Lines: Max Holste 20". Flight . Vol. XLII no. 1750. 9 July 1942. p. 50.
  3. ↑ Gruberg Flight International 30 September 1943, p. 362.
  4. ↑ L'Aérophile August 1941, p. 147.
  5. ↑ Victor Les Ailes 22 June 1939, p. 8.
  6. 1 2 "Max-Holste MH-20". Aviafrance. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  7. 1 2 L'Aérophile August 1941, p. 148.
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