Would the De Schelde S.21 have been a good fighter?

[Default Setting]

The De Schelde S.21 was an unusual design for a 1930s Dutch fighter, with a pusher configuration. Unfortunately it was still at the prototype stage when the Germans invaded, and all further development cancelled. Had it been completed, do you guys think it could have been a good fighter?

[Captain Canada]

In whif world it would have been perfect ! I have never heard of it before tho....

[deathjester]

It looks to me that you could make this;

1/72 Dauntless wings
1/72 Vampire tail + booms
1/72 Defiant nose
1/100 He-111 forward fuselage + canopy.

As to being a good fighter? 
Probably a better ground attack fighter, rear visibility not so good.  But looks cool !!

[jcf]

The thick inner wing would limit performance, as to ground attack, that was part of the design,
the 23mm Madsen cannon was movable, it would be locked into forward-firing position for air-to-air
use, but unlocked and able to be aimed by the pilot for ground attack.
Of course, in reality a fixed gun is actually more effective for ground attack, which they would have
discovered in testing.

[63cpe]

Found this info on the excellent website of Rob Hamann. It includes lots of research material, a cutaway picture and the build process of the RS resin model kit....and some nice pictures of his completed model.

http://www.hollandaircraft.nl/S01%20Schelde%20S.21.pdf

I've got the RS model in the stash but don't have the strength to build it. Especially the cockpit and its gun protruding the transparencies seems very challenging....

By the way the manufacturer De Schelde is known in the Netherlands by building ships....an entirely different world then aircraft!

David

[jcf]

Blohm and Voss was also primarily a shipbuilding firm, and the De Schelde
yard got a jump into aviation when they hired most of the design staff from
the failed Pander & Son aircraft company.

[Dizzyfugu]

I have the RS Models kit in the stash, too. It's a small aircraft, and one of the concept's selling points is the concentration of weight in the CoG through the middle engine. IIRC it was supposed to be powere bei a Daimler Benz engine, one that was also used in the Bf 109. Coupled with the small/light airframe this would certainly have had lots of potential, and AFAIK a single prototype was built and tested by Germany after the occupation of the Netherlands?

[NARSES2]

It's an interesting aircraft but would have needed a couple more m.g.'s to go with the 23mm cannon in my opinion. The pilot may well have felt a bit exposed however, especially in the ground attack role.

Here's the RS kit I built back in 2012. Went together well if memory serves.

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[Dizzyfugu]

IIRC, the aircraft carried a total of three guns. One cannon under the nose, and two more machine guns at the flanks, under the cockpit glazing. AFAIK it was also intended as a real dogfighter, hence the small size, low weight and its distribution.

The Netherlands' three-tone scheme looks very good on it. Would have been an option for mine, too, but I also had the idea of either a green/green NL-KNIL-scheme, or one in "true" German markings with an RLM 74/75/76 livery? Could also look rather interesting?

[Tophe]

IIRC, the Focke-Wulf Fw-198 was a project to continue the S.21 into a mass-produced fighter, because very good (but this was cancelled, and maybe this is what-if story more than History)

[NARSES2]

IIRC, the aircraft carried a total of three guns. One cannon under the nose, and two more machine guns at the flanks, under the cockpit glazing. AFAIK it was also intended as a real dogfighter, hence the small size, low weight and its distribution.

Yup, mine has a single m.g. in each wing, aligned with the booms.

[sandiego89]

I think the pilot would want good ear plugs with the cannon all around him! 

Look like it would have been slow- short, fattish, lots of intersection drag, thick wing....agree more suited for ground attack.   

[Hobbes]

For ground attack, the pilot would be very exposed behind all that glass. And armoring the entire glass area would mean a lot of added weight...