Subject: Sixteenth in the Series--the Berliner-Joyce P-16

From: [email-masked] (Joseph F Baugher)
Date: 14 Sep 92 14:46:34 GMT

>From Joseph F Baugher <[email-masked]>

The Berliner-Joyce P-16 is not  exactly  one  of  the  best-known
fighters of the between-wars period.  It is remembered today only
by aviation historians and by such amateur buffs as myself.   The
P-16  had  the  distinction  of being the last biplane fighter to
enter service with the USAAC.  In addition, the P-16 was the only
two-seat  biplane  fighter to enter production for the Army since
1918.

The Berliner-Joyce Aircraft Corporation of Dundalk,  Maryland  is
not exactly a household name in the annals of aviation.  Only the
most esoteric of aviation historians still remember the  name  of
this  relatively  obscure company today.  It was founded by Henry
Adler Berliner and Temple Nach Joyce in 1929.  Henry Berliner had
in  1922  opened up an aircraft company in Pennsylvania which had
marketed a two-seat touring plane and which had experimented with
early  rotorcraft patents.  Temple Joyce was a well-known aviator
with World War 1 combat experience.  Unfortunately, the  founding
of  the Berliner-Joyce company coincided with the outbreak of the
Great Depression, and the new company was forced to  abandon  its
ambitious plans for a line of civilian monoplanes.  Instead, they
concentrated on designs they hoped to sell to the  USAAC  and  to
the US Navy.

One of the early Berliner-Joyce projects was  the  result  of  an
USAAC decision in April 1929 to launch a design competition for a
two-seat fighter.  The perceived need for a two-seat  fighter  is
sort of strange, the single seat fighter by that time having been
accepted as the standard.  Perhaps the USAAC wanted to  give  its
fighters  some  protection  against  attack  from  the rear where
single-seat fighters of the time were  very  vulnerable.  Against
competition  from  Boeing  and  Curtiss,  Berliner-Joyce  won the
design competition in June, 1929.  and  a  single  prototype  was
ordered  under  the designation XP-16.  The serial number was 29-
326.  The prototype was known as TP-2 in company documents.

The XP-16 prototype was powered by a liquid-cooled 600 hp Curtiss
V-1570A Conqueror with supercharging.  A two-blade propeller with
conical spinner  was  fitted.   A  tunnel  radiator  was  mounted
underneath  the engine.  Airframe  and wings were of metal tubing
construction with fabric covering.  The upper wing  was  of  gull
configuration,  and  was  attached  at  the  roots  to  the upper
fuselage.  The lower wing was shorter and narrower and positioned
slightly  behind  the top wing (positive stagger) Two crewmen sat
in tandem, pilot in front and gunner in back.

The XP-16 was delivered to Wright Field on September 1, 1930.  It
gave  a  relatively  good account of itself when tested.  Maximum
speed was 176 mph at sea level, 186 mph at 5000 feet.   It  could
climb  to  5000  feet in 2.6 minutes.  Service ceiling was 26,200
feet.  Weights were 2756 lb empty, 3727 lb  gross.   Two  0.30-in
machine  guns  were mounted in the upper fuselage cowling, firing
through the propeller arc.  The second  crewman  fired  a  single
flexible  0.30-cal  machine  gun.   In addition, two 122-lb bombs
could be carried.

During 1931, orders  were  placed  for  fifteen,  followed  by  a
further  ten preseries aircraft.  Serials were 31-502/515; 31-597
and 32-221/230.  First delivery to Wright Field was on  March  1,
1932.   Airframes  of  the  series aircraft were identical to the
prototype, but the engine was  changed  to  a  600  hp  V-1570-25
without supercharger driving a three-bladed propeller.  The speed
and operational ceiling dropped dramatically as  a  result.   The
P-16 had a maximum speed of 175 mph at sea level, 172 mph at 5000
feet.  Service ceiling was 21,600 feet,  and  the  P-16  could  .
climb  to  5000 feet in 2.9 minutes.  Weights were 2803 lb empty,
3996 lb gross.  Apart from the deleterious affect  of  having  an
unsupercharged  engine,  the  pilot  had  poor  visibility during
landing, and the center of gravity was too  far  forward,  making
landing and takeoff rather hazardous.

Most of the P-16s went to the 94th Pursuit Squadron, which passed
its  Curtiss  P-6Es on to the 33rd Squadron.  During service, the
P-16s were redesignated PB-1 (PB for  Pursuit,  Biplace).   Their
poor  performance and hazardous landing/takeoff properties caused
them to be taken out of front-line service on January  21,  1934,
after having been operational for only a few months.

In spite of the problems the Army had encountered with the  P-16,
in  1931  the  Navy  ordered  a  carrier-based  version  which it
designated XF2J-1.  Since the Navy favored radial engines for its
fighters,  the  XF2J-1  was  powered  by  by the 625 hp Pratt and
Whitney R-1510-92 Hornet.  The XF2J-1 differed from the  P-16  in
having a wider fuselage to accommodate the larger engine.  In the
original design the two  cockpits  were  open,  but  an  enclosed
sliding canopy was subsequently fitted. The Bureau of Aeronautics
number  was  8973.   Because  of   the   financial   difficulties
encountered  by  the  Berliner-Joyce  company, the XF2J-1 was two
years in the making.  By the time that  the  XF2J-1  was  finally
ready  in  1934, the Grumman FF-1 was also ready, far outclassing
all competitors.  Testing showed that, like the P-16, the  XF2J-1
had  very poor landing visibility, a particularly fatal defect in
a carrier-based airplane.  In addition, the decision on the  part
of  Wright to discontinue development of the R-1510-92 radial did
not help, and the Navy did not order any further examples of  the
XF2J-1.

The Berliner-Joyce company could not long survive the  dearth  of
military  orders  in  the  early  1930s.  In 1933, North American
Aviation, Inc. acquired a  controlling  share  ownership  of  the
Maryland-based  company.  In  1934,  the  Berliner-Joyce  company
officially  became  a  division  of  North   American.    Shortly
thereafter,  what  was left of the old Berliner-Joyce company was
transferred from Maryland out to Inglewood, California.  The name
Berliner-Joyce vanished from the aviation scene forever.

Sources:

  American Combat Planes (3rd  Edition), Ray  Wagner,  Doubleday,
  1982.

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909,  Gordon Swanborough
  and Peter Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angellucci and Peter  Bowers,  Orion
  Books, 1987.

Joe Baugher       AT&T Bell Laboratories    2000 North Naperville Road 
		  Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033.   (708) 713-4548