WM-23
Weiss Manfréd · Fighter · Hungary · WWII (1939–1945)
The Weiss Manfréd WM-23 Ezüst Nyíl was a Hungarian fighter aircraft of World War II developed by the Manfréd Weiss Steel and Metal Works. Designed by Samu Béla and his team, the WM-23 was an entirely Hungarian design with retractable landing gear, a three-bladed variable-pitch propeller, a closed canopy, inverted gull wings and an elliptical low-wing design. Development started in summer 1939 with one prototype produced and test flown. Demonstrating good flying characteristics and generally being considered an excellent design, the WM-23 was planned to enter mass production. However, the prototype was destroyed on 21 April 1942, and by this time the MÁVAG Héja fighter was being used which acceptably filled the intended role of the WM-23. Therefore, it was decided to not allocate further resources to completing the project, and to cancel it.
Specifications
- Category
- Fixed Wing
- Sub-Category
- Fighter
- Domain
- Defence
- Era
- WWII (1939–1945)
- Country
- Hungary
- Manufacturer
- Weiss Manfréd
- Operator
- Royal Hungarian Air Force (MKHL)
- Status
- Retired
- Service Entry
- 1941
- Produced
- 1
- Engine
- 1× 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial piston engine
- Thrust / Power
- 1030 hp (768 kW)
- Length (ft)
- 30
- Wingspan (ft)
- 31
- Empty Weight (lb)
- 4850
- MTOW (lb)
- 7253
- Service Ceiling (ft)
- 31496
- Range (mi)
- 373
- Max Speed (mph)
- 329
- Armament
- Guns: 2 × 12.7 mm (.50 in) synchronized Gebauer 1940.M GKM machine guns in the upper cowling, likely with 300 rpg; 2 × 8 mm (.31 in) Gebauer 1939.M machine guns in the wings, likely with 500 or 600 rpg; Bombs: 20 kg (44 lb) bomb(s)