AA-2A Hawk-Wasp 
"Looks rather ungainly, but don't judge a book by its cover."
-Toby MacDonald, Utah 4th Militia
 
     After the Cougar failed to make an impact in the air or on the market, Arixo Airworks designers tried to create a speedier fighter, a more useful model than their previous attempt. They came up with the early plans for the AA-2A Hawk-Wasp, a modern biplane with two engines toward the end of each wing. Unfortunately, the proposed engines were prohibitively expensive, so they needed an alternative. The designers realized they actually had a large supply, in the form of low horse-power car engines left over from when the plant was owned by The Ford Motor Company. They had a warehouse full of these, shipped there early so the original car plant could start production right away. The Airworks engineers decided the Hawk-Wasp could fly, if it had four propellors, each powered by two of  these engines. They managed to cobble the engines together, and had to arrange the props in a slightly awkward placement, two beneath and slightly ahead of the top engines. Production began in early '36, but didn't last long, as the supply of engines quickly ran dry. Twenty-eight were built, and, to finance further development, all were sold to outside markets, rather than given over to the AADF.  
     The Hawk-Wasp  has an average speed, of 250 mph, and fair acceleration. It excels at making tight turns, though. The stable bi-wing design, further strengthened by the engine/rudder arrangement, allows the Hawk-Wasp to withstand high-gs. It can turn on a dime by slowing just one of the engines on the trailing wing, yet still enjoys level flight since the engine groups are spaced far apart on the wings. This placement does tend to cause the wings to bend after a while; couple this with what amounts to eight engines, and the Hawk-Wasp ends up requiring a lot of maintenance. For weapons, there are four .30-caliber machine guns, one in each wing, and two .50-cal cannons on either side of the cockpit, all from Arixo Arms. 
     Now that Arixo Airworks has really gotten off the ground, there has been discussion of bringing the Hawk-Wasp back into production with proper airplane engines. This is still only under consideration. 

Arixo Airworks AA-2A Hawk-Wasp 

Class: Fighter (Tractor) 
Manufacturer: Arixo Airworks, Phoenix, Arixo 
Engine: (4) modified Ford  (306 hp each) 
Wing Span:  28 ft., 1 in.     Length:  19 ft., 2 in.     Height:  8 ft., 2 in. 
Loaded Weight:  8,250 lbs     Service Ceiling:  15,500 ft     Range:  850 miles Max. Speed:  250 mph     Max. Accel:  65.6 fps/s     Max. Decel:  65.6 fps/s  
Weapons: (4) Arixo Arms 30-caliber machine guns, (2) Arixo Arms 50-caliber cannons  

 

 
 
 
Arixo Airworks AA-2A Hawk-Wasp
Game Statistics
 
Base Target Number    6    5,000 lbs 

Max Speed:                 3       900 lbs 
Max Gs:                      4    1,800 lbs 
Acceleration Rate:        2       350 lbs 

Armor Points             180     540 lbs 
Nose                                 30 
Port Wing Leading             30 
Port Wing Trailing              30 
Starboard Wing Leading    30 
Starboard Wing Trailing     30 
Tail                                    30 

Weapon            Arc                Mass 
30 Caliber      Forward           150 lbs 
30 Caliber      Forward           150 lbs 
30 Caliber      Forward           150 lbs 
30 Caliber      Forward           150 lbs 
50 Caliber      Forward           400 lbs 
50 Caliber      Forward           400 lbs 

Special Characteristics 
Multiple Engines (4) 
Inferior Engines 
Inferior Weapons (all) 
Poor Throttle 
Rocket Hardpoints: 5 

Cost 
Engine             $1,241 
Airframe          $4,540 
Cockpit           $250 
Armor             $450 
Misc.               $250 
Weapons         $1,140 
Total               $7,871 
 
 
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