P-35 Main Page

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During its lifetime, Republic Aircraft Corporation constructed tens of thousands of combat aircraft yet, today, any form of Republic fighter is a very rare commodity. During the 1930s, a one-legged former Czarist Russian aristocrat had a very profound effect on American military aircraft design. Alexander P. de Seversky had been born in Tiflis, Russia, to a wealthy family. During the Great War, he entered the Imperial Russian Naval Air Service but on his first combat mission Seversky had the misfortune to have his aircraft hit by antiaircraft fire during an attack on German naval units in the Gulf of Rige. Seversky managed to bring his burning aircraft down for a rough crash-landing in the open sea but a bomb had hung up on its rack and detonated upon impact with the water.

The explosion instantly killed Seversky's observer and blew his own right leg off. Rescued by friendly forces, Seversky was rushed to a hospital and his life was saved. During his recuperation, the pilot demanded an artificial limb so he could get back into combat! His superiors thought him mad but eventually gave in and Seversky entered combat with an enthusiasm that bordered on mania. Seversky attacked every German aircraft that he spotted with a wild abandon. His score of enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed mounted, and he soon had 13 to his credit and was ranked as Russia's third highest ace.

During 1917, Seversky was ordered to travel to the United States on a fact-finding mission to check on that country's supply of raw and finished war materials. Seversky crossed the country, visiting war plants and talking to high-placed officials. While Seversky was in the United States, the depressing news of the Russian revolution reached him. Deciding not to return to a country dominated by the hated Communists, a type that he detested even more than the Germans, Seversky made the choice to stay in the United States and work to become a citizen of the country that he had quickly learned to admire.

Seversky built up a large friendship of important military and political officials and during the 1920s patented a number of devices that helped develop aviation. In 1926, he was commissioned as a major in the Army Air Corps Reserve, a rank that he would proudly use for the rest of his life.

In 1931, with the help of investors, he set up his own aircraft company and began developing numerous modern aircraft which eventually resulted in the Seversky P-35 pursuit, the US Army Air Corps' first modern production fighter with all-metal construction, enclosed cockpit, and retractable landing gear. Seversky and chief designer Alexander Kartveli, also a Russian refugee, were always modifying their designs to attract more customers- especially lucrative export orders. The company made a controversial sale to the Japanese government in 1939 of 20 SEV2PA-B3 two-seat fighters which were based on the basic P-35 design.

The contract with the Japanese had a disastrous effect on future business for Seversky. The secret nature of the Seversky negotiations with the Japanese government angered American politicians who, in turn, apparently exerted considerable pressure on the Air Corps not to order any more P-35s and, instead, to concentrate on the rival Curtiss Model 75-the pursuit that would become known as the P-36.

However, events soon turned sour for Sweden when the United States placed an embargo on all military goods to that nation and, on 24 October 1940, claimed all the completed and uncompleted Swedish aircraft in the United States. The remaining EP- I s were given the designation P-35A and shipped to the Philippines to bolster American defenses. Only two of the dive bombers had been delivered and the remaining aircraft were taken over by the Army Air Force (redesignated the previous June) and assigned to training units as AT- 12 Guardsman advanced trainers. The 48 AT- I 2s led a quiet life, serving mainly as base hacks and at the conclusion of the war, the majority of survivors were simply scrapped. However, a couple were sold surplus. One surplus AT- 12 was even entered (as a "Super P-35") into the 1949 Bendix Trophy cross-country speed dash! Flown by Vincent Perron and sponsored by actor Buddy Rogers, the completely outclassed Guardsman was registered NX55811 and carried the race number 61. The AT12 was to start off with the rest of the competition from a race horse start on Rosemond Dry Lake but Perron had a hard time starting the engine and the AT- 12 was the last craft to take off. Perron and the AT- 12 dropped out at Grand Junction, Colorado, with a malfunctioning engine, thus ending the "Super P-35's" brief moment of fame.

Under the designation EP-1 the type was offered for export, the Swedish government ordering the first 15 of a batch of 120 designated EP-106, which differed primarily by having a more powerful R-183045 engine and heavier armament Half of these had been delivered by 18 June 1940, being designated J 9 in Swedish service, but the balance of 60 was requisitioned for the USAAC and delivered under the designation P-35A. They were severely mauled by the Japanese when deployed in the Philippines, only eight of 48 remaining airworthy after the first two days of enemy attacks, and this represented the first and last operational use of the type. The remaining 12 P-35As were later supplied to Ecuador.

Here, at last, is my all-silver P-35 done on the paper stock I sent you. Finished it last night at midnight. The silver paper takes longer to work with but it is definitely worth it for this model. Your Seversky is great, Chip. Everything went together beautifully - wing fit to fuselage, canopy cowling; no complaints at all! It is OK to wish for more, though, right? I'd love dimensional tires and maybe even rolled landing gear struts. And if there is any way to make opening cowl flaps, they would look fantastic. Andy Prieb, Nov,00