Weiss WM-21 Sólyom

The Weiss WM-21 Sólyom (English: Falcon) was a 1930s Hungarian light bomber and reconnaissance biplane developed by the Manfred Weiss company from the earlier WM-16 which was based on the Fokker C.V.

Design and development

The WM-21 was designed to replace the WM-16, which was considered unsuitable for operational service. The WM-21's structure was strengthened, and the aircraft received a new, more efficient wing set. A tailskid was fitted to allow for shorter landing runs on grass airfields.^[1] A conventional biplane, the Sólyom was powered by a 870 hp (649 kW) Weiss WM-K-14A radial engine.^[1] A total of 128 aircraft were built by three different factories, Manfred Weiss built 25, 43 by MAVAG and 60 by MWG.^[1]

Operational history

The first aircraft entered service in 1939 with short-range reconnaissance units, although active during the 1940 dispute with Romania their first active operational use was during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in August 1941.^[1] From June 1941 they were used to support Hungarian Army units in Ukraine and then against Soviet partisans.^[1] Around 80 aircraft were also transferred to duties as trainers, as they were removed from operational use, until 1945.^[1]

Operators

 Hungary

• Royal Hungarian Air Force

Specifications

Data from ^[1][2]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 9.64 m (31 ft 8 in)
• Upper wingspan: 12.90 m (42 ft 4 in)
• Lower wingspan: 9.40 m (30 ft 10 in)
• Height: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
• Empty weight: 2,300 kg (5,071 lb)
• Gross weight: 3,400 kg (7,496 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Weiss WM-K-14A radial, 650 kW (870 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 320 km/h (199 mph; 173 kn)
• Range: 750 km (466 mi; 405 nmi)

Armament

• Guns: 3 x 7.9mm (0.31in) Gebauer machine-guns
• Bombs: 12 x 10kg (22lb) Anti-personnel bombs or 60 x 1kg (2.2 lb) incendiary bombs

References

Notes

Bibliography