| Under the technical development programme formulated
in April 1919 by General Duval, the newly-appointed
Directeur de l'Aeronautique, two categories
of turbo-supercharged fighter were called for, one
single-seat and the other two-seat. The two-seater
came within the CAP, or fighter-reconnaissance, category,
and Hanriot's contribution to this programme
was the HD.15, which, designed by Emile Dupont, was
flown for the first time at Orly in April 1922. This competed
with the Gourdou-Leseurre GL-50. The HD.15
was a rather corpulent, tandem two-seat, unstaggered
biplane employing unusual rigid-X type interplane
bracing. It was powered by a 300hp Hispano-Suiza HS
8Fb eight-cylinder water-cooled engine equipped with
a Rateau turbo-supercharger which was intended to
maintain sea level engine power to 5500m
altitude. Armament comprised two fixed forward-firing
7.7mm Darne machine guns and two weapons of the
same calibre on a swivelling mounting in the rear cockpit.
In the event, the CAP category had been discarded
before the flight testing of the HD.15 commenced and
the entire turbo-supercharger fighter programme became
something of a fiasco as a result of unavailability
of the Rateau unit in quantity. However, the Japanese
Army had begun to show interest in the potentiality of
turbo-supercharged engines, and purchased the prototype
HD.15, which was delivered in 1926. An order was
placed for three identical examples of the HD.15, but, in
the event, the vessel delivering the aircraft was struck
by a tidal wave and the HD.15s never reached Japan.
 | A three-view drawing (800 x 553) |
WEIGHTS |
Take-off weight | 1750 kg | 3858 lb |
Empty weight | 1050 kg | 2315 lb |
DIMENSIONS |
Wingspan | 11.40 m | 37 ft 5 in |
Length | 7.60 m | 25 ft 11 in |
Height | 2.57 m | 8 ft 5 in |
Wing area | 32.48 m2 | 349.61 sq ft |
PERFORMANCE |
Max. speed | 180 km/h | 112 mph |
Ceiling | 10250 m | 33650 ft |
Range | 800 km | 497 miles |
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