Prajadhipok (aircraft)

Prajadhipok
Role Fighter
Manufacturer Royal Siamese Air Force Manufacturing Division
Designer Lt. Colonel Luang Neramit Baijayonta
First flight 1929
Introduction 1929
Status retired
Primary user Air Force Directorate, Royal Siamese Army,
Royal Thai Air Force
Number built 1[1]

The Prajadhipok (Thai: ประชาธิปก), also known as Fighter Type 5, was a Siamese single-seat biplane fighter. It was the second indigenous Siamese aircraft design and the first fighter aircraft.

Lieutenant Colonel Luang Neramit Baijayonta designed and oversaw construction of the aircraft in 1929, which was named Prajadhipok (Democrat) for the then reigning monarch King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). It was the second aircraft designed and built in Siam and the first Siamese designed and built fighter, designated Fighter Type 5. However it remained experimental and production does not seem to have ensued,[2] possibly due to the death of the designer shortly after the first flight. The aircraft was still in service at the start of World War II.[3]

  1. ^ Thornburg, www.worldairforces.com, 2006
  2. ^ Forsgren, aeroflight 2004
  3. ^ Joseph, 2012, page 271