The Seversky P-35 was a single-seat fighter aircraft briefly used by the US Army Air Corps during World War II. It was America's first modern, all-metal fighter to see combat action. Although it had already been outclassed by the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero by the time the United States entered the war, the P-35 represented a great advance in US fighter design when it was introduced into service in 1937. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it suffered badly during its first operational career when pitted against the Mitsubishi and Nakajima fighters in the skies over the Philippines.
The Seversky P-35 prototype, the SEV-1XP, performed its maiden flight on August 15, 1935. It was powered with one Wright R-1820, Cyclone 9-cylinder engine, which delivered 750 horsepower. After almost two years of flight tests, it entered into service in July 1937. It was the first fighter aircraft from the design team of Alexander de Seversky and Alexander Kartveli, a pair of Russian immigrants that would be at the fore-front of American military aviation in the 1940s. Seversky was a Russian WW1 ace with thirteen victories.
Technical Characteristics
The Seversky P-35 was a single-seat, single-engine, low-wing monoplane. It featured an all-metal airframe and an all-metal fuselage. It was fitted with cantilever low wing, with a 3-degree dihedral angle. The tail plane elevator and fin rudder were the only non-metal components of the aircraft, which also featured the first enclosed cockpit, constant speed propeller, and retractable landing gear. The P-35A version was powered by one Pratt & Whitney R-1830-45, 14-cylinder, air-cooled, radial piston engine, which generated 1,050 HP.
Specifications
Type: fighter aircraft
Length: 8.18 m (26 feet, 10 inches)
Wing Span: 10.97 m (36 feet)
Wing Area: 20.44 m2 (220 square feet)
Height: 2.97 m (9 feet, 9 inches)
Power Plant: one 1,050-HP, Pratt & Whitney R-1830-45, 14-cylinder, radial engine.
Maximum Speed: 499 km/h (310 mph)
Maximum Range: 1,529 km (950 miles)
Service Ceiling: 9,571 m (31,400 feet)
Armament: two 12.7-mm (.50-cal) Browning machine guns; two 7.62-mm (.30-cal) machine guns; up to 159 kg of bombs.
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| Above, a P-35 of the 27th Pursuit Squadron in flight over Michigan in 1938. |
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| The prototype SEV-1XP in 1935. |
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| Above, a P-35A on a Philippines airbase in 1940. |