Repülőgépgyár Levente II

Levente I - II; Strucc

Role	trainer and liaison aircraft
Manufacturer	Repülőgépgyár Rt.
Designer	András Fábián
First flight	October 1940
Introduction	1943 (II)
Retired	1950s
Primary user	Hungarian Air Force
Produced	1942-1943 (II)
Number built	100

The Levente series was a Hungarian two-seat trainer and liaison aircraft from World War II.

Design and development

Two prototypes, designed by András Fábián, (Fábián András) were built in Magyar Waggon - és Gépgyár Rt. (Hungarian Wagon and Machine Factory; one of the few big corporates of the time) in Győr. However, a tender was placed by the air forces with the profile change of the MWG, and production rights were eventually given to the Uhry brothers' factory (originally a small private vehicle body manufacturer, which later expanded rapidly and become a very successful competitor of elder corporations). The parasol-wing, two-seat primary trainer Levente I prototype flew in October 1940. A slightly modified military version of the aircraft was named the Levente II. In 1942, the Uhri Testvérek Autókarosszéria - és Járműgyár Kft. (Uhry Brothers Car-body and Vehicle factory Ltd.) launched a new company, Repülőgépgyár Rt. (roughly meaning Aeroplane factory jsc.) at Csepel island off the Danube, south of Budapest; renting the airfield and factory halls form Weiss Manféd Rt. The Levente II was being series produced, but the plant also repaired Bü 131s, and built prototype aircraft.

Operational history

Levente II was supplied to the Hungarian Air Force between 1941 and 1943. 100 Levente IIs were built as trainers, but as it was war, they also served in the communications/liaison roles until the end of the war. After 1945 the type was redesignated to the name Strucc (ostrich), because of the political connotations of the former name (see Levente (disambiguation))

Operators

Hungary

Hungarian Air Force

Specifications (Levente II)

Data from Axis Aircraft of World War II

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Capacity: 1
Length: 6.08 m (19 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 9.45 m (31 ft 00 in)
Height: 2.53 m (8 ft 3½ in)
Wing area: 13.50 m² (145.32 ft²)
Empty weight: 470 kg (1,036 lb)
Loaded weight: kg (lb)
Useful load: kg (kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 750 kg (1,654 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Hirth HM 504A-2 4-cylinder inverted inline piston, 78 kW (105 hp)105 PS

Performance

Never exceed speed: km/h (knots, mph)
Maximum speed: 160 km/h (knots, 99 mph)
Cruise speed: km/h (knots, mph)
Stall speed: km/h (knots, mph)
Range: 650 km (nm, 404 mi)
Service ceiling: 4,500 m (14,765 ft)
Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)
Wing loading: kg/m² (lb/ft²)
Power/mass: W/kg (hp/lb)

References

Mondey, David (1987) [1984]. The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. Aerospace Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85152-966-7.
http://www.csepel-sziget.hu/wordpress/?p=173 (In Hungarian language.)

Service rifles	M88 rifle M95 rifle 35M rifle 48M inf. rifle and carbine AK-63 assault rifle AKM-63 and AMD-65 assault rifles

Pistols	Frommer Stop 37M pistol FEG PA-63 P9RC Tokarev 48M VD-01

Submachine guns	Danuvia 43M submachine gun 48M Kucher Model K1 KGP-9

Machine guns	Schwarzlose 07/31M heavy machinegun Solothurn 31M light machinegun RPK PK

Artillery pieces	40mm 40M anti-tank gun 80mm 5/8M 100mm 14M 149mm 14/31M Bofors 80 mm Bofors 40 mm

Other	20 mm Solothurn 36M anti-tank rifle Gepard anti-materiel rifle

Armour and other
land based vehicles

Tanks and SP guns	Light Tank V3 Light Tank V4 38M Toldi 40M Turán 40M Nimród 43M Zrínyi 44M Tas

APCs	D-442 FÚG armoured scout car

Other	38M Botond truck 39M Csaba armoured car

Aircraft

Other

Stahlhelm
Hungarian hand grenades
Schießbecher as 43M rifle-grenade launcher

Notable foreign-
made weapons
used by Hungary

List of equipment used in the WWII era

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, June 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.