Bird Wing Imperial
| Bird Wing Imperial | |
|---|---|
| Role | Biplane |
| National origin | United States of America |
| Manufacturer | Bird Wing Commercial Aircraft Company |
| Designer | R. T. McCrum |
| First flight | 15 July 1927 |
| Introduction | 1927 |
| Status | Out of business 1931 |
| Number built | 6 |
The Bird Wing or later, Bird Wing Imperial was a light sport biplane of the 1920s and 1930s.[1]
Development[edit]
The first Bird Wing took McCrum and his assistants 63 days to build at a cost of US$12,000. The prototype flew over 5000 passengers over a period of 15 months. McCrum revised the plans for the Bird Wing again in the 1950s to install a 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial engine and a 3 inch fuselage widening to convert the design into an agricultural aircraft which never went into production.[2]
Design[edit]
The biplane features welded steel tube fuselage with aircraft fabric covering and spruce wood spar wings.[2]
Operational history[edit]
Among the many pilots who flew the Bird Wing were Hap Arnold and Charles Lindbergh. McCrum offered comprehensive flight training courses which included flight training in a Bird Wing as well as construction of the aircraft from scratch. The Bird Wing Imperial was tested to meet a 1931 requirement for a United States PT trainer. 50 orders were placed, then canceled at the beginning of the Great Depression.
Variants[edit]
- Bird Wing No. 2 - Upper and lower ailerons
- Bird Wing No. 4 - 180 hp (134 kW) Hisso powered
- Bird Wing Imperial - 1930 165 hp (123 kW) Wright Whirlwind R-540 powered. Max speed 118 mph (190 km/h)
Specifications (Bird Wing Model 1)[edit]
Data from Sport Aviation,[2] Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1928[3]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 2 pax
- Length: 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
- Wingspan: 31 ft 4 in (9.55 m)
- Height: 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m)
- Wing area: 303.5 sq ft (28.20 m2)
- Airfoil: Aeromarine 2
- Empty weight: 1,236 lb (561 kg)
- Gross weight: 2,255 lb (1,023 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 34.5 US gal (28.7 imp gal; 131 L)
- Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss OX-5 V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 90 hp (67 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 90 mph (140 km/h, 78 kn)
- Cruise speed: 75 mph (121 km/h, 65 kn)
- Landing speed: 30 mph (26 kn; 48 km/h)
- Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
- Rate of climb: 460 ft/min (2.3 m/s)
- Wing loading: 6.95 lb/sq ft (33.9 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.04 hp/lb (0.066 kW/kg)
References[edit]
- ^ Manufacturers Aircraft Association, Inc., New York; Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce of America; Aerospace Industries Association of America; Aircraft Industries Association of America. The Aerospace year book.
- ^ a b c Sport Aviation. December 1958.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Grey, C.G., ed. (1928). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1928. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd. p. 197c.