Hispano Suiza HS.42

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HISPANO SUIZA HS.42 (E.6 / ES.6)

This page will be dedicated to the Hispano Suiza HS.42, an advanced training aircraft designed and built in Spain during the 1940s.

The first prototype flew on April 5, 1942 in Seville. The Hispano Suiza factory in Seville built 115 aircrafts (100 of the initial order plus another fifteen finally completed as HS.42 due to the cancellation of the HA-43 project). They were destined for the flight schools of Leon, San Javier, Jerez and El Copero.

Although the HS.42 was an aircraft that was born at a time of maximum difficulty and deprivation, it played an important role in the training of military pilots for a decade. The HS.42s flew more than 13,000 flight hours at the General Air Academy (A.G.A.) as advanced training aircraft. The first units arrived in 1946. In 1950 there were 95 aircraft in service at various schools. The last units were decommissioned in 1958. In those years, the T-6 Texan and the T-33 were already flying in Spain and Hispano Aviación was working on its new HA-100 Triana.

The following versions of the HS.42 were built:

• HS.42 A. Initial serie of 15 aircraft, with a 430 hp Piaggio PVII C-16 engine and side-opening canopies. Easily distinguishable by its engine cowling.
• HS.42 B. Standard production, with a 390 hp Cheetah XXV engine and sliding canopies.
• HS.42 C. A single Hs.42 B aircraft was modified to be the first in a series with retractable landing gear. That project, later designated HA-43, was eventually cancelled.
• HS.42 D-1 and D-2. Final standard production, both lots equipped with a 395 hp Cheetah XXVII engine.
• HS.42 D-3. These were 10 or 12 aircraft recovered from the type A, which were upgraded with new wings, reinforced landing gear and with a 395 hp Cheetah XXVII engine.
• HS.42 D-4. Between 10 and 15 aircraft of the abandoned HA-43 project were completed as HS.42 with fixed landing gear.

The HS.42 was not a derivative of the Fokker D-XXI as has been claimed in some publications. Its only similarity was a set of landing gear (although these were also modified). The design of the HS.42 was the work of Emilio Viejo, Fulgencio Amador and Marcelino Viejo. The fuselage was a welded steel structure, covered with duralumin and fabric. The wings, made of Canadian Red Wood Pine, Spanish Balsain Pine and Finnish Birch, offered great load resistance. Due to the shortage of engines, the first series of HS-42s were initially equipped with Piaggio P-VIIC.16 engines removed from the Caproni Ca.310 Libeccio that survived the Civil War, but later they were equipped with the more reliable British Cheetah XXV and XXVII engines.

Several experienced test pilots considered it a good aircraft, but the HS.42 was accused of a dangerous tendency to turn the right wing up when stalling, which was serious in a training aircraft. Solutions were tried, such as boundary layer flaps (like those of the MIG-15), but they were not incorporated into production. Of the 29 fatal accidents involving this aircraft dedicated to teaching, it should be noted that 7 aircraft crashed due to collisions in flight or with objects on the ground, 1 was due to failure to release the brakes, and in 8 others it was concluded that the primary cause was engine failure. In any case, several cases of stalling that ended in a flat spin were also confirmed.

Despite the fact that it served in significant numbers, this aircraft has always been largely unknown, even among Spanish aviation enthusiasts, so it will be fun to be able to fly it in FlightGear!