The Weiss WM-21 Sólyom (English: Falcon) was a 1930s Hungarian light bomber and reconnaissance biplane which served in World War II and was developed by the Manfred Weiss company.
== Design and development == The WM-21 was designed to replace the WM-16, which was based on the yet older Fokker C.V, and as such was considered unsuitable for operational service. The WM-21's structure was strengthened, and the aircraft received a new, more efficient wing set. A tailskid was fitted to allow for shorter landing runs on grass airfields. A conventional biplane, the Sólyom was powered by a 870 hp (649 kW) Weiss WM-K-14A radial engine, and had an open cockpit. A total of 128 aircraft were built by three different factories: 25 by Manfréd Weiss, 43 by MÁVAG, and 60 by MWG.
Operational history
Throughout the war, the Royal Hungarian Air Force used 48 of them for reconnaissance. They served alongside 38 Heinkel He 46s, and 37 IMAM Ro.37s, supplemented by 13 Heinkel He 111s. They first entered service in 1939 with short-range reconnaissance units. Although they were active during the 1940 dispute with Romania, their first active operational use was during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941.
During the invasion of Yugoslavia, none of the WM-21s were lost in combat, but one was lost in an accident. From June 1941 they were used to support Hungarian Army units in Ukraine, and then against Soviet partisans. They lost another WM-21 on 29 June, when the war against the Soviet Union was intensifying. Around 80 aircraft were also transferred to duties as trainers, as they were removed from operational use, until 1945.
== Operators == Kingdom of Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force
Specifications
Data from General characteristics Crew: 2 Length: 9.64 m (31 ft 8 in) Upper wingspan: 12.90 m (42 ft 4 in) Lower wingspan: 9.40 m (30 ft 10 in) Height: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) Empty weight: 2,300 kg (5,071 lb) Gross weight: 3,400 kg (7,496 lb) Powerplant: 1 × Weiss WM-K-14A radial, 650 kW (870 hp) Performance
Maximum speed: 320 km/h (200 mph, 170 kn) Range: 750 km (470 mi, 400 nmi) Armament
Guns: 2 × 7.92 mm (0.31 in) forward-firing Gebauer 1926/31.M machine guns1 × 7.92 mm (0.31 in) Gebauer 1934/37.M defensive rear machine gun Bombs: 12 × 10kg (22 lb) Anti-personnel bombs or 60 × 1kg (2.2 lb) incendiary bombs
See also
Related development
Weiss Manfréd WM-10 Ölyv Weiss Manfréd WM-16 Budapest Weiss Manfréd WM-23 Ezüst Nyíl Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Aichi D1A Curtiss SBC Hawker Hart Heinkel He 46 Heinkel He 50 Henschel Hs 123 Polikarpov Po-2
Related lists
List of aircraft of World War II List of aircraft of Hungary in World War II List of Hungarian military equipment of World War II
References
Notes
=== Bibliography === The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. "Round-Out". Air Enthusiast (65): 77–78. September–October 1999. ISSN 0143-5450.