| FD-25 Defender | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Counterinsurgency aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Fletcher |
| Designer | |
| Primary users | Royal Cambodian Air Force |
| Number built | 13 |
| History | |
| First flight | 1953 |
The Fletcher FD-25 Defender was a light ground-attack aircraft developed in the United States in the early 1950s.
Designed by John Thorp, the Defender was a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailwheel undercarriage. Provision was made for two machine guns in the wings, plus disposable stores carried on underwing pylons. Construction throughout was all-metal, and the pilot sat under a wide perspex canopy.
Three prototypes were built, two single-seaters and a two-seater, but no orders were placed by the US military. In Japan, however, Toyo Aircraft Industry acquired the rights to the design, and built around a dozen aircraft, selling seven (five single-seater attack versions and two two-seat trainers) to Cambodia, and four to Vietnam. One example (FD-25B JA3051) served with the Royal Thai Police.
The wing design of the Fletcher FU-24 aerial topdressing plane was loosely based on that of the FD-25 Defender. Almost 300 were built under licence in New Zealand from the mid-1950s and used for agricultural and skydiving operations.
One example (FD-25B N240D) remains in an airworthy condition today and appeared at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh airshow in 2010. Two (a single-seater and a two-seater) are on museum display at the Tokyo Metropolitan College of Industrial Technology in Japan.
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955–56
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Notes
Bibliography
