Friday, 15 January 2016

A.C.A.Z. C.2

Today we go beyond the First World War and we bring you this rare native Belgian airplane.

The A.C.A.Z. C.2 was the prototype for a Belgian two-seater fighter. It was manufactured by the Ateliers de Construction Aeronautique de Zeebruge (A.C.A.Z.).

It was completely built in duraluminium and was considered very advanced for the year it flew for the first time in 1926. It was powered by a 450hp Hispano-Suiza 12Ha 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine. An interesting feature of this airplane was the interchangeability of the four main wings panels. The pilot and the observer/rear gunner were seated in tandem and the airplane was armed by a single forward-firing Vickers machine gun and twin lewis machine-guns were installed in the observer post in a flexible mount.
It also featured some space to be fitted with cameras in order to perform reconnaissance missions.

Only one prototype was built and, due to the fact that no production order was placed by the Belgian Aeronautique Militare, it was considered a failure. That's why the prototype was modified and given a new registration in order to register it as a small passenger airplane that could accommodate at least one pilot and two substitutes in order to fly from Belgium to the Belgian Congo. The pilots chosen for that expedition were the famous World War I ace Edmond Thieffry plus two companions, Joseph Lang and Philippe Quersin, but due to a failure they never made it past the souther Belgian town of Philippeville, close to the French border because they had to perform a forced landing due to a failure.

The sole prototype crashed on 25th January 1933 and was written off.





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