IPA 36 Pata heavy fighter
By the standards of most nations, the newest Bharatiya commune fighter, the IPA 36 Pata (named after a traditional Indian sword) is simply a regular fighter, instead of a heavy fighter. But then, most nations don't have to deal with having an industrial base which struggles to produce 500 horsepower engines at best, and thus need to desperately figure out some way to manage to get a fighter to go faster than 400 kilometers per hour, carry a pilot, armament, and fuel, and do it all with a glorified lawn mower engine is rather alien to them. What constitutes a fighter is very different indeed between the Bharatiya Commune and the rest of the world. The Commune, despite its limited power, needed to have an aircraft capable of sufficient speed, range, armament, and operating ceiling that it would be capable of intercepting enemy bombers and engage in long range escort of its own aircraft. A heavy fighter was needed - the question was the form which it would take.
Quite logically, if it is impossible to to increase horsepower on one engine, there has to be an increase of horsepower through multiple engines. But just as Indian People's Aviation had discovered building its IPA 34 Monsoon bomber and in the IPA 34 Chakram, simply providing for more engines with the associated drag and the problems which popped up in regards to roll rate and maneuverability were punishing. A twin-engined heavy fighter with two 500hp engines, in separate engine nacelles, would offer clear forward vision and plenty of space to put a powerful armament, but it would have such limited speed and handling characteristics that it would be questionable if it would be capable of catching even lumbering bombers. Something was needed that would be innovative enough to make such a fighter work.
The solution came with work which had been done on the IPA 34 Monsoon - push-pull engines. With x2 500 horsepower engines, both mounted on the centerline, drag would be kept minimal. For designers in other nations trying to provide for such an arrangement, the biggest problem was that their engines were too powerful - they would face serious problems in regards to overheating. The Commune's engines were too smaller and light, too underpowered, to have such a problem. It was the silver lining of technological backwardness, and meant that cooling problems could be largely avoided.
In many ways, save for the lack of the two external engine nacelles, the IPA 36 Pata is very similar to the IPA 35. It maintains a central fuselage which is very similar, and a twin-boom arrangement, as well as the rear pusher propeller. However, instead of the twin engine nacelles, it has its engine placed on the nose of the aircraft, with a sleek and aerodynamic monocoque wooden fuselage in between them. Instead of the hefty and rugged build of the IPA 35, it is much more similar to the IPA 34 Chakram, being quite lightly built. It isn't quite as bad as on the Chakram, as there can be some small amounts of armor and a more strongly built frame, viewed as a necessity to provide for some resilience against bomber return fire, but it definitely errors on the lighter side of construction. This enables it to have a quite good speed and maneuverability, and range is quite good overall. There was in fact, even consideration about building it as the main fighter for the commune, which might come to pass, but the air force preferred the superior maneuverability and the significantly lower cost of the IPA 34 Chakram.
In order to shoot down enemy bombers, a heavy armament is needed, and this was solved with 20mm cannons. 20mm Hispano-Suiza guns have sufficient rate of fire, penetration, weight of fire, and explosive effect to be capable against enemy bombers, as well as shredding enemy fighters. It mounts x2 20mm cannons in the nose, which fire through the propeller with interrupter gear, and each one is equipped with 60 rounds. In addition, there are x2 7.7mm machine guns, each one mounted on the wings, each one equipped with 750 rounds. The introduction of wing-mounted guns means that there has to be gun convergence arranged, which limits range somewhat for these weapons, but there was no remaining space in the nose to the mount these guns there. This armament was judged as sufficiently powerful to shoot down even powerful enemy bombers. Some consideration has been placed upon the idea of equipping the heavy fighter with bomb racks, but so far this has not been done: there has not need, and while the IPA 36, unlike the IPA 34 Chakram, actually has the requisite power needed to carry a meaningful bomb load, it still is a rather lightly built aircraft which would not perform well against ground fire. However, drop tanks can be carried, but shortages of aluminum and the current lack of need for such a range means they are rarely carried.
The main variation currently in consideration is the production of a long range reconnaissance version of this craft, un-armed to gain greater speed and range. Tests are still undergoing but this version is being seriously considered.
While not a variation, frantic efforts are underway to build a supercharger equipped Kumar 12k air-cooled inverted v-12 piston engine which can actually be manufactured in large enough numbers for the Commune to take advantage of it. If there is the risk of strategic bombardment by foreign powers, then there must be a very powerful fighter.
Crew: 1
Length: 10.1 m
Wingspan: 11.2 m
Height: 3.6 meters
Wing area: 17.5 meters
Empty weight: 1,947 kilograms
Max takeoff weight: 2,845 kilograms
Power plant: x2 Kumar 12k air-cooled inverted v-12 piston engine, 500hp
Propellers: 3-bladed variable pitch
Maximum speed: 445 kilometers per hour at 4,000 meters
Range: 1,250 kilometers (without drop tanks, can be extended further with drop tanks)
Service ceiling: 8,000 meters
Armament: x2 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannons with 60 rounds per gun, x2 7.7mm machine guns with 750 rounds per gun.
Quite logically, if it is impossible to to increase horsepower on one engine, there has to be an increase of horsepower through multiple engines. But just as Indian People's Aviation had discovered building its IPA 34 Monsoon bomber and in the IPA 34 Chakram, simply providing for more engines with the associated drag and the problems which popped up in regards to roll rate and maneuverability were punishing. A twin-engined heavy fighter with two 500hp engines, in separate engine nacelles, would offer clear forward vision and plenty of space to put a powerful armament, but it would have such limited speed and handling characteristics that it would be questionable if it would be capable of catching even lumbering bombers. Something was needed that would be innovative enough to make such a fighter work.
The solution came with work which had been done on the IPA 34 Monsoon - push-pull engines. With x2 500 horsepower engines, both mounted on the centerline, drag would be kept minimal. For designers in other nations trying to provide for such an arrangement, the biggest problem was that their engines were too powerful - they would face serious problems in regards to overheating. The Commune's engines were too smaller and light, too underpowered, to have such a problem. It was the silver lining of technological backwardness, and meant that cooling problems could be largely avoided.
In many ways, save for the lack of the two external engine nacelles, the IPA 36 Pata is very similar to the IPA 35. It maintains a central fuselage which is very similar, and a twin-boom arrangement, as well as the rear pusher propeller. However, instead of the twin engine nacelles, it has its engine placed on the nose of the aircraft, with a sleek and aerodynamic monocoque wooden fuselage in between them. Instead of the hefty and rugged build of the IPA 35, it is much more similar to the IPA 34 Chakram, being quite lightly built. It isn't quite as bad as on the Chakram, as there can be some small amounts of armor and a more strongly built frame, viewed as a necessity to provide for some resilience against bomber return fire, but it definitely errors on the lighter side of construction. This enables it to have a quite good speed and maneuverability, and range is quite good overall. There was in fact, even consideration about building it as the main fighter for the commune, which might come to pass, but the air force preferred the superior maneuverability and the significantly lower cost of the IPA 34 Chakram.
In order to shoot down enemy bombers, a heavy armament is needed, and this was solved with 20mm cannons. 20mm Hispano-Suiza guns have sufficient rate of fire, penetration, weight of fire, and explosive effect to be capable against enemy bombers, as well as shredding enemy fighters. It mounts x2 20mm cannons in the nose, which fire through the propeller with interrupter gear, and each one is equipped with 60 rounds. In addition, there are x2 7.7mm machine guns, each one mounted on the wings, each one equipped with 750 rounds. The introduction of wing-mounted guns means that there has to be gun convergence arranged, which limits range somewhat for these weapons, but there was no remaining space in the nose to the mount these guns there. This armament was judged as sufficiently powerful to shoot down even powerful enemy bombers. Some consideration has been placed upon the idea of equipping the heavy fighter with bomb racks, but so far this has not been done: there has not need, and while the IPA 36, unlike the IPA 34 Chakram, actually has the requisite power needed to carry a meaningful bomb load, it still is a rather lightly built aircraft which would not perform well against ground fire. However, drop tanks can be carried, but shortages of aluminum and the current lack of need for such a range means they are rarely carried.
The main variation currently in consideration is the production of a long range reconnaissance version of this craft, un-armed to gain greater speed and range. Tests are still undergoing but this version is being seriously considered.
While not a variation, frantic efforts are underway to build a supercharger equipped Kumar 12k air-cooled inverted v-12 piston engine which can actually be manufactured in large enough numbers for the Commune to take advantage of it. If there is the risk of strategic bombardment by foreign powers, then there must be a very powerful fighter.
Crew: 1
Length: 10.1 m
Wingspan: 11.2 m
Height: 3.6 meters
Wing area: 17.5 meters
Empty weight: 1,947 kilograms
Max takeoff weight: 2,845 kilograms
Power plant: x2 Kumar 12k air-cooled inverted v-12 piston engine, 500hp
Propellers: 3-bladed variable pitch
Maximum speed: 445 kilometers per hour at 4,000 meters
Range: 1,250 kilometers (without drop tanks, can be extended further with drop tanks)
Service ceiling: 8,000 meters
Armament: x2 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannons with 60 rounds per gun, x2 7.7mm machine guns with 750 rounds per gun.
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