To talk about the Argentinean aeronautical industry of the decade of the 50s (or even by the end of the

40s) is synonymous with daring, risk taking and entrepreneur spirit. It is also the same as talking about frustrations, let downs and good intentions. But, above all things, it is the same as talking about intellectual and monetary wealth. The word "Germany" also comes to mind. In fact, the fall of the Third Reich generated a wave of illustrious and not so illustrious immigrants to Argentina, immigrants who arrived with the hopes to spread on a growing and developing industry, all their knowledge through projects that would set this industry at a top level. At the same time, Argentina's status as a powerful agro-exporting country, placed the country at an advantageous economic position with regard to the impoverished European countries.

To the point Already, during the 1930s decade, it was known that the induced drag produced by an aircraft's fuselage, caused the need for a considerable increase in the necessary power in order to be able to take off and move through the air, and in consequence, an increase in fuel consumption. It was also known (let's say, more or less . . .) that a tail-less aircraft, without fuselage, was destined to have a "somewhat irregular" flight, to say the least. The issues regarding stability were an almost insurmountable barrier when the time to flight test the models came about. Proof of it is that the B-2 "Spirit" was able only recently, to achieve efficient flight, with the incorporation of "Fly by Wire" and onboard computers, a concept - it must be said - that was born with (without entering into extensive and too technical considerations, not appropriate for this article) the F-16. We mention this since aircraft designed before the Spirit, were already flying employing that technology. It was, however, the large amount of space available in a pure wing, and the theoretical lower cost that tempted scientists from several of the powerful nations. But despite this, only the United States (And Germany, but more about this later) at the insistence of Jack Northrop, developed (in a large scale) two flying wing projects, the YB-35 and the YB-49. One was a development of the other, the first one was powered by 4 piston engines in a "Pusher" arrangement, with counterrotating propellers. The second meanwhile, was equipped with jet engines. The above mentioned American models, enjoyed limited success; the same fate that their antecessor projects, developed and built with the jealous secrecy surrounding the pre-war German projects (and logically, during the war too). While all this was still in its infancy during the 1930s decade, a young German designer was losing sleep trying to balance models that astonished his fellow designers. We are talking about Reymar Horten, whose genius was capable of making to fly, different types of flying wings. In reality, the Germans had a great success during the war, with flying wing models. One of them is the infamous (for the B-17 crews) Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet, to mention just one. But back to our story, by the end of the Second World War, Dr. Horten was developing a flying wing, under a project named the Horten HO VIII. This project was cut short with the fall of Berlin to the soviet forces.

The Designer Horten was born on 12 March, 1915 in Bonn, Germany. His aeronautical vocation began together with that of his brother, and together, they designed in 1931 a model which they called the HO I, and since it couldn't be otherwise, it happened to be a flying wing. By 1932, the first powered flight took place, the HO II was powered by a Hirt HM 602 engine, of 80 HP, and the saga continued with successive models. In 1939 and because of the war, both brothers designed a flying wing "glider" with a distinctive characteristic and it was that the pilot was located in a prone position, the same as it would be later employed in the IA-37. Soon after the war ended, the brothers decided what to do with their lives; in 1948 Walter, the oldest, decided to move and live in the United States. Reymar joined the FMA (Fabrica Militar de Aviones, in Cordoba, Argentina), where he would design aircraft with amazing technical features. He died on 21 August 1993 in Villa General Belgrano, a city in Cordoba where a posthumous monument was erected in his memory, place we had the chance to visit in several occasions and where the bonhomie of this Giant (in all respects) German genius is still felt. (See Aeroespacio, Nr. 496, Pg. 61. Note by Oscar Luis Rodriguez). Horten's imprint was left in projects too numerous to mention, one of them was the IA-58 Pucara, the airplane-towed wooden mock-up of this Argentinean airplane, was built by him, with the help of a select group of his students.

In Argentina

While living in exile in Argentina, he joins the FMA (Fabrica Militar de Aviones, name which we will use generically in order not to confuse the inexperienced reader, since the factory's designation has changed many times during its history) where he would devote himself to bring forth, interesting projects. One of the most outstanding is the IA-37, mistakenly called the "Pulqui III," a true delta aircraft designed for MACH 2, and given the fact that it was designed during the 1950s, provides plenty of food for thought. After this long "introito," we'll proceed to review the developments which ended in what would be called "Naranjero," whose official designation was IA-38, since it is about it, among other things, that this article is all about.

The first ones... IAe.34 "Clen antu": it was the first flying wing built at the "Instituto Aerotcnico" (FMA), flying for the first time in June of 1949; its flight control system was conventional, that is, it had a directional control which was an enlargement of the back seat, (since it was a two seater) and differential ailerons. The rudder was connected to the same ailerons, acting in a coordinated manner. There was a single seat version, the IA-34M, with identical conceptual design. This aircraft was employed by Horten to test his theories, since it had a high glide ratio and very low drag.

IA-41 "Urub": This aircraft was based on the HO XV project, and its inaugural flight took place in 1953. It was with this glider that Heinz SCHEIDHAUER crossed the Andes, which confirmed the validity of the pure wing configuration and gave Horten the confidence to keep pushing forward. The historic crossing took place on 30 October, 1953, and a conventional glider, the Sky (registered as LV-EEN) also took part. Its pilot was Claudio Dori. Both pilots were members of the working group at the Instituto Aerotecnico. The route was from Bariloche (Argentina) to Ensenada (Chile), and total flight time was 3 hours and 30 minutes. Modification to the aircraft were introduced later on, modifications that would be used in "Naranjero". The main change was the installation of winglets on each wingtip, near the leading edge, with the purpose of acting as rudders. IA-38 "Naranjero": We will begin by saying that this airplane has an earlier official designation than that of the "Urubu," because the design work began before that of the last model, although its first flight and testing took place afterwards. Having made this proviso, we'll say that this aircraft was a cargo plane, with a mixed configuration. In effect, although from the pure technical point of view it was a flying wing, its appearance and final configuration bring us to point this distinction. What happened was that, from the pure wing design (which didn't have conventional, dynamic controls) a cabin was hung up, somewhat bulky and with sharp geometric edges. When it is mentioned that only one example was built, this grabs the attention of those knowledgeable about aircraft design since it is strange that no example was built for static testing, traction, break up testing, etc. It could be thought that the omission could be ascribed at first, to an excess of confidence in the project; we will see however, that this "testing on the go" was the custom, rather than the exception, on the flight programs at that time. As a matter of fact, during the decade of the 30s - 40s, there was no model of which a prototype was built for static testing, including the IAe.27 Pulqui I. It could be said that the FMA 21 could have been considered as the prototype for the DL 22, but just the same "21" was not used por static analyses, at least not exclusively.

The Naranjero's General Layout A pure flying wing of revolutionary design, monococque construction in aluminum (another advanced feature). High wing monoplane, the wing had a negative sweep of 36.5. It did not have a tail structure, and directional control was provided by two winglets located near the leading edge of the wing, the same winglets tested in the Urub.

had a tandem seating was located over the wing, compartment. This capacity of 23 cubic access door shaped like a Aeroespacio, Nr. 399. year ramp. Technical Wingspan -> 32 mts. mts. Wing surface -> 133 mts. 2 8.500 kg Maximum Take Off Weight -> 16.000 kg Wing loading -> 120 kg/m2 Power-weight ratio -> 17,77 kg/Hp Maximum speed -> 252 km/h Cruising speed -> 215 km/h Landing speed -> 140 Km/h Range -> 1250 kms

"crocodile's mouth" (see 1977). The same door was Characteristics

The pilot's cockpit arrangement and near the cargo compartment, had a meters, with the Giro/Ferreti, used as an access

Length -> 13,50 Height -> 4,60 mts. Empty weight -> Payload -> 7.500 kg

The Long History As we stated earlier, the designation of the model IA-38 precedes many aircraft that flew before it, in Argentina; this was due to controversial reasons which fall beyond the scope of this article, and the reader is encouraged to read "Las alas de Peron" (Peron's wings), by Ricardo Burzaco; "Aviones Argentinos", Atilio Sale). As far as we are concerned, we can say that it was due to political reasons, combined with baseless arguments about the quality of the engines, and the radical design, something that always generates controversy as those projects in the forefront of technology usually do. Be that as it may, construction on the airplane began in 1953, and it was not completed until 1959. On top of it all, test flights were delayed due to problems with engine cooling, since the engines were installed in a "pusher" configuration. The much awaited first flight took place on 10 December, 1960, and putting forth an opinion we will say that it took place at least ten years too late. While the aircraft construction began in 1953, the real opportunity would have been, as we understand it, to have done it closer to the beginning of the decade of the 50s, when the technical originality of the model (despite the opposition and resistance we have described previously) would have gained more importance, since by 1950 the idea of moving forward with this project, was already there. Rogelio Balado, a test pilot from FMA would be the one who would take the aircraft to the sky for the first time. Balado was the first test pilot who graduated as such; he traveled to France in 1958, where he trained and graduated. To point out his remarkable career, he was the pilot who flew the IA-50 Guarani II to Le Bourget, France, in 1965. An interesting report signed by Mr. Ricardo Burzaco (See Aeroespacio 510, pg. 52), Vice Comodoro Balado comments: "... the IA37 was an advance project... together with the IA-38, these were two revolutionary projects that were delayed due to external causes ... the IA-38 was a model for study, a cargo plane that due to its low cost, could have changed the economic equation for air cargo transport ... Comparing the characteristics of these two Horten projects with that of the B-2 and other present day models, maybe the renewed interest (in flying wing airplanes) would be easier to explain. Test flights numbered only four, and then the project was abandoned, as it was officially stated "because the performances were disappointing."

The name The long tradition of the Argentinean aeronautical industry indicates that the airplanes produced there, must carry indigenous native names. This has been happening since the 1940s decade, with the exceptions being the following airplanes: the FMA-20, named "El Boyero", el IAe.30, subject of our article, and many years later, the IA-63 "Pampa". The name chosen for this Horten's design, was "El Naranjero", as we have mentioned already. And it is at this point where we must go to the FMA's rich historical patrimony. As the story goes, during an interview between the Air Minister, General Ojeda and Reymar Horten, the Argentinean military officer confided to Horten that his idea was to obtain the means to transport to Buenos Aires, the location for the country's best port facilities, the orange crop from Ojeda's place of residence. During that time, there were no trains to fulfill such requirement, and the state of the roads made ground transportation impossible. Ojeda requests from Horten, the possible design of an aircraft that could be towed by an AVRO Lincoln bomber, then being operated by the FAA (Fuerza Aerea Argentina - Argentinean Air Force), for about a thousand kilometers, all the way up to Buenos Aires. Horten's answer was yes, and he goes beyond the requested aircraft, by designing a flying wing powered by four engines, which would be none other than "El Naranjero" (The Orange carrier).

The Engine Such as it was (or tried to be) the custom then, the models produced by the FMA were provided with engines (in those piston engine powered versions) designed and built in Argentina. El Naranjero was no exception and it was equipped with four IA-16 "El Gaucho" engines, each engine with a power of 450 HP @ 2250 RPM. The engines drove reinforced-wood, fixed pitch, two-bladed propellers. The model however, was projected to receive the more modern IA-19 "El Indio" engines, whose initial version produced 650 HP.

At that time, another model which enjoyed greater official sympathies (and it was a more conventional design, without emitting opinion about a very good airplane) was being developed and would be equipped with such engines, and for this reason it was favored with the use of said engines; we are referring to the IA-35 "Huanquero," originally called the "Justicialista del Aire" (Justicialista was the name of Presidente Peron's political party). The previous paragraph helps to explain the low performances obtained by the IA-38, since all together it was powered by a total of 800 HP less than what the project called for. History relates that specific maneuvering was needed in order to be able to obtain even the older model engines, which propelled the airplane throughout its life.

El Gaucho's story Second World War found our country in the midst of the building of a series of NA-16 aircraft, which evolved into the FMA-21, the basis for the project IAe.22, the FMA's airplane with the most examples built. The NA-16 was equipped with a nine-cylinder radial Wright R-975-E3 "Whirlwind" engine, developing a power of 450 HP. As it was stated, the start of the war made the acquisition of strategic materials, impossible. The purchase of this model of airplane however, benefited the country as a an engine fabrication license was obtained for a period of 10 years. This is how the FMA 21 and the first four prototypes of the "DL" were equipped with this engine. So, the lack of technology and materials, made Ingeniero Juan Ignacio San Martin, then Director of the Instituto Aerotecnico, to develop a program aimed to locally procure the missing components. A more detailed and documented development can be studied by reading "Un Gaucho condenado por error" by Ingeniero Ral Magallanes, published in Revista Nacional de Aeronautica Nr. 499, pgs. 52/56; we highly recommend it. San Martin's endeavor managed to combine local industry with the Wright license, producing the controversial IA-16 "El Gaucho" engine, an engine that as Ingeniero Magallanes states, was an authentic Wright engine. It was however, the usual "induced drag" that every local project has, the factor that brought such a bad reputation to that powerplant, to the point that it was replaced on the "DLs" by the older and inefficient Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah XXV, a kind of post-Great War grafted engine, brought from 240 to 475HP thanks to an increase in the engine's compression. However it was done, the bad reputation gained by the engine, caused it to be put aside even when its superiority versus the Cheetah was clearly demonstrated. The Cheetah engine had major problems with vibration and oil consumption, and for these reasons it did not yield the expected results, and this in turn, caused that the license for its use was not taken up. As it was said previously, although this was not the chosen powerplant for the airplane, it was employed during the limited flight testing program since there was no other choice, and because the cooling system (very complex in this airplane) had been adapted for that engine. The IA-19 "El Indio" served for many years, installed on the IA-35 "Huanqueros," while increasing its power from the 650HP of the original versions, to 840HP in later models. Without any doubt, a more powerful powerplant would have solved a great deal of the performance problems in "El Naranjero." but not its (few after all) stability problems. This is why, the record registers the bitter complaints of the German genius about the impossibility of having a modern and powerful powerplant.

Epilogue El "Naranjero" was an ambitious, high risk, state of the art project. Only the great German genius could have reached the state of development achieved with the airplane. We understand that if greater official support had been obtained, the program of development would have produced interesting results. We should not however, put all the blame on the official sector, since the market (omnipresent ruler) dictated the absence of a need to support a project involving such a high technical risk. To this day, the author ignores if the prototype that was built is still extant or has been preserved. But there are versions going around stating that it was seen by the end of the decade of 1960, and after that, all traces of it have been lost. We are establishing contacts with official entities in order to resolve this question in the best possible manner.