Max Holste MH.20

The Max Holste MH.20 was a French single-engined racing aircraft built to compete in the 1939 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe air race but not flying until 1941. A single example was built.

MH.20
Role Racing aircraft
National origin France
Manufacturer Avions Max Holste
Designer Max Holste
First flight 25 July 1941
Number built 1

Design and development

In January 1939, the 26-year-old aircraft designer Max Holste began work at l'École de Réèducation Professionnelle, a Paris technical school for training the unemployed for work in the aviation industry, to design an all-metal single-engined racing aircraft.[1] The design, intended to compete in the 1939 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe air race,[2][3] was a mid-winged monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage. An enclosed cockpit was provided for the aircraft's pilot, situated behind the wing.[4] The planned power-plant was a Béarn vertically-opposed air-cooled twelve-cylinder engine.[5]

The airframe was effectively complete by June 1939, with only the engine awaited, with it being hoped that the aircraft would make its maiden flight by August 1939.[1] This did not occur, however, and the aircraft did not fly until 25 July 1941,[6] powered by a Régnier air-cooled inverted 12Hoo V12 engine.[7]

Specifications
Max Holste MH-20 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile January 1943

Data from L'Avion "Max Holste 20" Coupe Deutsch[7]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 6.64 m (21 ft 9 in)
  • Wingspan: 6.68 m (21 ft 11 in)
  • Height: 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)
  • Wing area: 6.9 m2 (74 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 585 kg (1,290 lb)
  • Gross weight: 834 kg (1,839 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: 200 L (44 imp gal; 53 US gal)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Régnier 12HOO air-cooled inverted V12 engine, 310 kW (420 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 496 km/h (308 mph, 268 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 477 km/h (296 mph, 258 kn)
  • Range: 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi) [6]

References
  1. Victor Les Ailes 22 June 1939, p. 7.
  2. "Behind the Lines: Max Holste 20". Flight. Vol. XLII no. 1750. 9 July 1942. p. 50.
  3. Gruberg Flight International 30 September 1943, p. 362.
  4. L'Aérophile August 1941, p. 147.
  5. Victor Les Ailes 22 June 1939, p. 8.
  6. "Max-Holste MH-20". Aviafrance. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  7. L'Aérophile August 1941, p. 148.
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