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271:, completing the 116 miles (187 km) course in an average speed of 148 miles per hour (238 km/h). Completed MB-3s started to roll out of Thomas-Morse's factory in April 1921, but deliveries were delayed by an accident during testing when an MB-3 lost a section of the upper wing during diving tests, this causing the type to be grounded while the accident was investigated.
1023:
232:, whose mass production methods allowed it to profit while still charging a lower price (in the case of the MB-3A, $ 7,240 per copy), saving almost half a million dollars over the 200 aircraft contract, awarded on 21 April 1921. Boeing credits this contract with rescuing the company from financial difficulties following the cancellation of orders after
216:. Powerplant was the expected Wright-Hispano water-cooled V-8 engine driving a two-bladed propeller and cooled by a radiator mounted on the center-section of the upper wing. The pilot sat in an open cockpit under a cut-out in the upper wing, with two 0.30 in Marlin machine-guns mounted ahead of the pilot.
559:
Under the military procurement system of the time, the Army purchased the production rights to an aircraft when it purchased a prototype, with no guarantee that orders would go to the designers of the aircraft. When Thomas-Morse was awarded the order for the first 50 MB-3s, a contract for 50 of the
219:
The first MB-3 made its maiden flight on 21 February 1919. Testing showed that the fighter had good performance and handled well, but the cockpit was cramped and gave a poor view for the pilot. The prototypes were plagued with fuel leaks and suffered serious engine vibration, while maintenance was
293:
The first delivery of the improved MB-3As took place on 29 July 1922, with the last aircraft delivered on 27 December that year. The last 50 MB-3As were fitted with larger tail surfaces. As well as allowing re-equipment of the four squadrons of the 1st
Pursuit Group, the MB-3As were issued to a
290:. In service, the new type was troublesome, being unreliable (over a ten-day test period in May 1922, the number of serviceable MB-3s dropped from 20 out of 36 to just 3) and continuing to suffer the vibration problems encountered by the prototypes, eventually traced to the rigid engine mount.
228:, including a stronger structure and replacing the wing-mounted radiator with ones on each side of the fuselage in-line with the cockpit. Thomas-Morse was confident in winning orders for the MB-3A, investing in the necessary jigs for such a large production order, but was heavily underbid by
223:
The Air
Service had a requirement for more fighters, and issued a request for tenders for a further 200 of a modified version of the MB-3, the MB-3A, which incorporated a number of changes developed by the Air Service as a result of testing at
220:
difficult, often requiring holes to be cut in the fuselage structure to allow access. Despite these problems, the Air
Service was sufficiently impressed with the MB-3 to place an order for 50 aircraft with Thomas-Morse in June 1920.
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The Marine Corps took delivery of its MB-3s in
February–March 1922, but the type was unpopular with the Marines, being withdrawn from use in July that year and sold back to the Army for use as MB-3M trainers.
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The Orenco D had entered service with the 1st
Pursuit in March 1921, but had been withdrawn from service following an accident in September, which had revealed poor build quality throughout the fleet
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Thomas-Morse built aircraft. 65 built. (Four prototypes, 50 production for Army Air
Service and 11 for US Marine Corps.)
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of similar layout to the SPAD XIII that it was intended to replace. It was of wood and fabric construction with a fixed
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fighters. A number of aircraft were refurbished and used as MB-3M advanced trainers at
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in 1922. The MB-3A was the mainstay fighter for the Air
Service between 1922 and 1925.
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number of overseas squadrons, equipping two squadrons on Hawaii, one in the
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began to receive MB-3s in
January 1922, supplementing its elderly SPADs and
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980:
Pelletier, Alain J. "Made in
America: Thomas Morse MB-3 and Boeing MB-3A".
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Essays, US Centennial of Flight Commission. Accessed June 20, 2007.
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in May 1921, with the order later being changed to substitute two
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Thomas-Morse did manage to win a contract for 12 MB-3s for the
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proposed the MB-3, designed by its British-born chief designer
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300 hp (220 kW) Wright-Hispano H, a license-built
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racing aircraft, a MB-3 with the biplane wings replaced by
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2 Ă— fixed forward firing 0.30 inch (7.62 mm) machine guns
953:
The Thomas-Morse MB-3: America's First Indigenous Fighter
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1 Ă— 0.30 inch and 1 Ă— 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) machine guns
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141 mph (228 km/h, 123 kn) at sea level
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986:, No. 131, September/October 2007. pp. 46–51.
1002:General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors
267:, with one finishing in second place behind the
535:2 Ă— fixed forward firing 0.50 inch machine guns
263:Two of the prototypes were entered in the 1920
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361:MB-3As relegated to advanced training duties.
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405:United States Military Aircraft Since 1909
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995:United States Military Aircraft since 1909
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486:125 mph (201 km/h, 109 kn)
1224:fighter (pursuit) designations 1919–1924
601:Green and Swanborough 1994, pp. 568–569.
965:Green, William and Gordon Swanborough.
940:. London:Temple Press/Aerospace, 1990.
938:Fighters of the United States Air Force
697:Angelucci and Bowers 1987, pp. 378–380.
623:Angelucci and Bowers 1987, pp. 420–421.
597:
595:
593:
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552:
781:"The Early Years of Boeing, 1916-1930"
158:fighter primarily manufactured by the
7:
1378:1910s United States fighter aircraft
889:Swanborough and Bowers 1963, p. 451.
880:Swanborough and Bowers 1963, p. 453.
853:Swanborough and Bowers 1963, p. 452.
936:Dorr, Robert F. and David Donald.
811:September–October 2007, pp. 49–50.
657:September–October 2007, pp. 47–48.
465:V-8 piston engine, 300 hp (217 kW)
443:229 sq ft (21.28 m)
431:26 ft 0 in (7.92 m)
425:20 ft 0 in (6.10 m)
14:
770:Angelucci and Bowers 1987, p. 66.
437:8 ft 7 in (2.59 m)
192:Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation
1021:
504:1,235 ft/min (6.3 m/s)
372:
24:
910:. Sparkford, UK: Haynes, 1987.
748:"The Boeing Logbook: 1920–1926"
317:, remaining in use until 1929.
205:The MB-3 was a single seat two-
844:September–October 2007, p. 51.
824:September–October 2007, p. 50.
715:September–October 2007, p. 49.
670:September–October 2007, p. 48.
614:September–October 2007, p. 46.
387:United States Army Air Service
355:with a revised cooling system.
337:, at Selfridge Field, Michigan
333:Thomas-Morse MB-3 assigned to
186:, to replace the French-built
176:United States Army Air Service
87:United States Army Air Service
1:
969:. New York, Smithmark, 1994.
967:The Complete Book of Fighters
632:Dorr and Donald, 1990, p. 20.
498:19,500 ft (5,945 m)
455:2,539 lb (1,151 kg)
1388:Aircraft first flown in 1919
449:1,716 lb (778 kg)
38:, Selfridge Field, Michigan
1404:
923:Boeing Aircraft since 1916
761:. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
392:United States Marine Corps
91:United States Marine Corps
568:rather than its creator,
214:conventional landing gear
23:
1004:, London: Putnam, 1990.
955:. Aeronaut Books, 2021.
925:. London: Putnam, 1989.
997:. London: Putnam, 1963.
688:Bowers 1989, pp. 55–56.
410:General characteristics
1246:Pursuit, ground-attack
989:Swanborough, F.G. and
560:competing design, the
398:Specifications (MB-3A)
338:
279:
1383:Thomas-Morse aircraft
1310:Pursuit, water-cooled
1030:at Wikimedia Commons
871:Wegg 1990, pp. 24–26.
798:Wegg 1990, pp. 25–26.
679:Wegg 1990, pp. 24–25.
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164:U.S. Army Air Service
63:Thomas-Morse Aircraft
32:94th Pursuit Squadron
908:The American Fighter
902:Angelucci, Enzo and
278:US Marine Corps MB-3
265:Pulitzer Trophy race
154:was an open-cockpit
1230:Pursuit, air-cooled
259:Operational history
174:In March 1918, the
44:General information
753:2013-01-04 at the
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1028:Thomas-Morse MB-3
1026:Media related to
961:978-1-953201-23-2
921:Bowers, Peter M.
862:Wegg 1990, p. 14.
738:Wegg 1990, p. 13.
729:Wegg 1990, p. 25.
644:Wegg 1990, p. 24.
300:Panama Canal Zone
284:1st Pursuit Group
200:B. Douglas Thomas
152:Thomas-Morse MB-3
148:
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143:Thomas-Morse MB-7
139:Thomas-Morse MB-6
111:Introduction date
77:B. Douglas Thomas
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315:Kelly Field
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296:Philippines
234:World War I
170:Development
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490:Endurance:
441:Wing area:
114:March 1919
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403:Data from
366:Operators
188:SPAD XIII
1066:aircraft
751:Archived
562:Orenco D
510:Armament
463:Wright H
325:Variants
135:Variants
73:Designer
30:MB-3 of
566:Curtiss
492:2.25 hr
435:Height:
423:Length:
288:S.E.5as
210:biplane
156:biplane
127:Retired
106:History
52:Fighter
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1170:Y1O-41
1008:
973:
959:
944:
929:
914:
759:Boeing
570:Orenco
377:
353:Boeing
230:Boeing
190:. The
160:Boeing
67:Boeing
65:&
1222:USAAS
1160:TM-24
1155:TM-23
1145:MB-10
547:Notes
518:Guns:
417:Crew:
358:MB-3M
348:MB-3A
1357:PW-9
1352:PW-8
1347:PW-7
1342:PW-6
1337:PW-5
1332:PW-4
1327:PW-3
1322:PW-2
1317:PW-1
1301:TP-1
1285:PS-1
1269:PN-1
1253:PG-1
1237:PA-1
1165:O-19
1140:MB-9
1135:MB-7
1130:MB-6
1125:MB-4
1120:MB-3
1115:MB-2
1110:MB-1
1094:SH-4
1006:ISBN
971:ISBN
957:ISBN
942:ISBN
927:ISBN
912:ISBN
461:1 Ă—
342:MB-3
309:and
282:The
253:MB-6
245:MB-7
150:The
130:1925
49:Type
19:MB-3
1089:S-4
1084:T-2
1079:D-5
757:.
419:One
207:bay
194:of
101:265
1374::
1150:R5
993:.
906:.
829:^
791:^
720:^
702:^
637:^
592:^
531:or
525:or
302:.
34:,
1214:e
1207:t
1200:v
1056:e
1049:t
1042:v
1012:.
977:.
948:.
933:.
918:.
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