The Aeromarine PG-1 was an American single-seat Pursuit & Ground Attack airplane of the 1920s. It was developed by the Engineering Division of the United States Army and was manufactured by the Aeromarine Plane & Motor Company.
It was intended to be developed for the US Army as an airplane capable of destroying enemy armoured attack aircrafts, like those armoured German airplanes like the Junkers D.I or the Junkers J.I that saw some service at the closing stages of the World War I and at the same could provide some ground support with its strafing capability.
The design team that created this airplane was leaded by Isaac M. Laddon and they created a single-bay biplane with ailerons in the upper wing only, V-type interplane struts and a narrow-chord lower-wing. The gap between the upper wing and the forward fuselage decking was just nominal and the centre section of the wing was cut away in order to fit the cockpit which was provided with a 6,30mm armoured protection.
Another particular innovative feature of this airplane was the installation of a 37mm Baldwin cannon fitted in the forward part of the fuselage in order to fire through the propeller hub plus a single forward-firing 12.7mm machine-gun. It was intended to be powered by a 330hp Wright K-2 eight cylinder water cooled engine and the contract to manufacture the first three prototypes was granted to Aeromarine Plane & Motor Company of Keyport, New Jersey in May 1921.
The first of the prototypes flew on 22nd August 1922 and was powered by a 346hp Packard 1-A1116 engine because the intended Wright K-2 still had to be cleared for flight tests.
When a second prototype was completed, both were evaluated at McCook Airfield in Dayton, Ohio by the Army Air Service but it found to be highly disappointing since it suffered from very poor visibility, high vibration levels and the most dangerous of it all, it had a tendency to spin when stalled. After those unsuccessful tests, the project was abandoned.
Sources:
1. The Complete Book of Fighters
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeromarine_PG-1
