- Yes
- No
Background
Spoiler
During the Interwar era, China had limited knowledge, skills, and manufacturing capacity to produce planes. It was an unstable country, ruled by a dozen provincial governments that constantly struggled for control. These provincial governments, often acting more like warlords than actual governing bodies, had their own armies and air forces. One of the most powerful provincial governments was the Guangdong Revolutionary Government, which controlled a crucial province in China. This government had relatively good funding and even had an aircraft repair plant. They were able to import modern materials to be used in internal conflicts, particularly against the communist faction.
Due to the wide variety of planes in China, there was a need to establish factories capable of repairing and maintaining these aircraft in flight-worthy condition. This led to the creation of the Guangdong Aircraft Repair Factory. In 1927, with the return of Menongan, a Chinese engineer who had studied in the USA, the ambitious Yangcheng program was initiated. The goal of this program was to build new planes using whatever spare parts were available. The Yangcheng program became the first large-scale domestic plane family in China, with nearly 60 planes built in different variants from 1928 to 1936. The first plane in this family was the Yangcheng No. 51, and the last was the Yangcheng Kesai No. 108.
In 1934, the Yangcheng Kesai was introduced. Six planes were built simultaneously using the same parts. Although slightly outdated for a 1934 plane, they still performed as well as the average planes in service in China at that time. The Yangcheng Kesai was based on the O2U-1D, utilizing the available parts for assembly. The engine remained the same, but the fuselage, stabilizer fin, and wings were locally manufactured by Chinese workers. Initially designed as a monoplane, the plane was later converted into a different configuration.
Technical Data
Specifications
Crew - 2 (Pilot / Gunner)
Length - 7.46 m
Wingspan - 10.52 m
Height - 3.08 m
Empty Weight - 1062 kg
Max Takeoff Weight - 1649 kg
Engine - 1 x Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp 9-Cylinder Radial Engine (316 kW)
Max Speed - 241 km/h
Range - 978 km
Service Ceiling - 5700 m
Armament
1 x Browning 7.62mm Machine gun
1 x Browning 7.62mm Machine gun for defense
4 x 116 lb Bombs
10 x 30 lb Bombs
Sources
