Aeromarine PG-1 - Development and Design

Development and Design

The PG-1 was intended to fulfill both ground strafing and aerial defense roles, the contract for construction was won by Aeromarine in May 1921.

Armed with a single 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine gun as well as a 37 mm Baldwin cannon firing through the propeller hub; the cockpit had ¼-in (6.3 mm) armour. The wings were dissimilar, with a wide-chord upper wing with ailerons, and a closely spaced narrow-chord lower plane with dihedral that placed the tips close to the upper wing. The upper wing was mounted close to the top of the fuselage with a cut-away forward section to accommodate the cockpit, and attached to the lower plane via V-type struts.

Power was to have been provided by the eight-cylinder, water-cooled 330 hp Wright K-2 engine but the first two prototypes were fitted with 346 hp Packard 1A-1116 units due to delays in clearing the K-2 for flight testing. A third prototype was also built and testing was eventually carried out using both the K-2 and Packard's 1A-1237 at McCook Field. Prototype aircraft suffered disappointing performance, high levels of vibration and poor visibility. The aircraft had a tendency to spin when stalled. Development was abandoned in 1922.