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Description
| Manufacturer: | North American |
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| Base model: | BC | ||
| Designation: | BC-1 | ||
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | ||
| Designation Period: | 1936-1940 | ||
| Basic role: | Basic Combat | ||
| Crew: | 2 | ||
Specifications
| Length: | 28' 0" | 8.5 m | |
| Wingspan: | 42' 7" | 12.9 m | |
| Gross Weight: | 5,223 lb | 2,368 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney R-1340-47 | ||
| Horsepower (each): | 600 | ||
Performance
| Max Speed: | 207 mph | 333 km/h | 180 kt |
Known serial numbers
Recent comments by our visitors
| Joe Franklin Whitesburg, TN | I was a Link Trainer Instructor/Operator in 1941 with the 37th Pursuit Group at Albrook Field in Panama. We had a BC-1 attached for instrument instruction. Our commander, Lt Col Slaught, decided that it was superior to the Link for that purpose so I was placed on flying pay and rode in the back seat giving task instructions and grading pilots. We used the radio range at France Field (Ditty Da Dit - Dit da) that is Morse for "F A", the ID for France Field. I had more flight hours in Mar 42 than the pilots I was grading.
This airplane was under-powered and top speed was about 140, while the Link protocol was 160 for cruise. It also could not do 500 ft/min climb which instrument protocol called for. So I had to make up my own conversions in order for the airplane to comply. Those days were a dream come true for a Kentucky Coal Miner's eldest child! The BC-1 had a fabric covered fuselage, a 30-cal symchronized machine gun up front and a flexible 30-cal behind the rear seat. This seat would pivot to face the rear. The rear cockpit had 100-per cent replication of all instruments in the front seat. It would stall at about 84-mph but could recover in under 800-ft. Our P-40s needed over 4000 feet to do this. The later BC-1a was all metal and had fairings on the landing legs. By late 1942 we had RADAR and IFF so that instrument flying by daylight fighter planes was becoming pase' and my job there was discontinued. That is when I was reclassified as a Photo Lab Technician. This later in post-war became a photo interpreter for the now-named, Air Intelligence Agency and National Reconnaissance Office. The NRO calls me a "Cold War Veteran of USAF Special Projects" That includes U-2 and KH-4 Satellite reconnaissance up to 1943 when I retired. For the next seven years I worked as a market man for an opto-mechanical company making specialized equipment for photo reconnaissance. Then I went back to college at LSU in Shreveport, LA to study artificial reasoning with the digital computer. I graduated there in '77. That's enough about me, thank you very much. Joe Franklin 360 Victor Lane Whitesburg, TN 37891 423 235 5268 11/11/2007 @ 05:30 [ref: 18501] |
