Paul Schmitt P.S.3

The Paul Schmitt P.S.3 was a French World War I biplane bomber that was built in small numbers but primarily used as a trainer.^[1]

Paul Schmitt P.S.3
Role	bomber/trainer
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Paul Schmitt
Designer	Paul Schmitt
Introduction	1915[1]
Status	retired
Primary user	Aéronautique Militaire
Number built	6[1]

Development

The P.S.3 was unusual in that the entire wing cellule was designed to have its angle of incidence adjusted from 0° to 12° while in flight.^[2] When set at the maximum, this gave the aircraft a pronounced back-stagger. This was possible because the wing was attached to the fuselage by a single pivot, and controlled by a jackscrew in the cockpit.^[2] This allowed for an unusually broad speed range, so that a minimum speed of only 35 km/h (22 mph) was achieved.^[2] The fuselage was built up from welded steel tubes, with a square cross section forward tapering to a triangle section aft.^[2]

One example was built as a floatplane, however unlike most of the landplanes, it was powered by a 150 hp (110 kW) Canton Unné P9 liquid cooled radial in place of the Gnome rotaries normally used.

Operational history

Although intended as a bomber, it was only ever built in small numbers, and was quickly relegated to use as a trainer, partly because the Aéronautique Militaire had already chosen the Voisin III as their standard bomber.

Victorin Garaix set a number of speed and height records while carrying passengers in 1914.^[3]

The floatplane was exported to a private buyer the US in 1916,^[1] only to later be taken on strength by the United States Navy in April 1917 with the serial A-52, however it was used primarily as an instructional airframe at Pensacola for training groundcrew.^[4]

Operators

 France

• Aéronautique Militaire

 United States

• United States Navy

Specifications (Paul Schmitt P.S.3)

3-view drawing from Flight Magazine of Paul Schmitt P.S.3

Data from Davilla, 1997, p.451

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 10.00 m (32 ft 10 in)
• Upper wingspan: 17.50 m (57 ft 5 in)
• Lower wingspan: 13.56 m (44 ft 6 in)
  
• Wing Chord: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
• Height: 3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
• Wing area: 49 m² (530 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 650 kg (1,433 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,100 kg (2,425 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome 14 Lambda-Lambda 14 cylinder double-row air-cooled rotary, 120 kW (160 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed Régy 301, 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in) diameter wood fixed pitch propeller^[5]

Performance

• Maximum speed: 116 km/h (72 mph, 63 kn)
• Stall speed: 35 km/h (22 mph, 19 kn)
• Range: 460 km (290 mi, 250 nmi)