General Skyfarer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Skyfarer | |
|---|---|
| Type | Two-seat cabin monoplane |
| Manufacturer | General Aircraft |
| Designed by | Otto C Coppen |
| Maiden flight | 1940s |
| Number built | 18 |
The General Aircraft G1-80 Skyfarer was a 1940s American two-seat cabin monoplane aircraft built by the General Aircraft Corporation of Lowell, Massachusetts.
[edit] Development
The General Aircraft Corporation was established to build an aircraft designed by Doctor Otto C. Coppen from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The aircraft was the G1-80 Skyfarer, a two-seat cabin high-wing braced monoplane with a light alloy basic structure and a mixed steel and fabric covering. It had an unusual tail unit, a cantilever tailplane with the elevator mounted on the upper surface of the tail with endplate fins and no rudders. It was powered by a 75hp (56 kW) Avco Lycoming GO-145-C2 geared air-cooled four-cylinder engine[1].
The aircraft incorporated aerodynamic control principles covered by patents issued to Fred Weick, an early aeronautical engineer who went on to design and market the Ercoupe. Since it had no rudders (or rudder pedals), it was simpler to fly (it had a single control wheel, which controlled the ailerons and elevator), and was considered spin-proof. The aircraft was certified in 1941 with the comment that the aircraft was characteristically incapable of spinning.
It was anticipated that many aircraft would be ordered and built, but the United States became involved in the Second World War and the Skyfarer programme was abandoned after 17 examples had been built[2]. The company became a manufacturer of the Waco CG-4A troop glider.
[edit] Specifications (G1-80 Skyfarer)
General characteristics
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Capacity: 1 passenger, seated side-by-side with pilot
- Length: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
- Wingspan: 31 ft 5 in (9.58 m)
- Height: 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)
- Wing area: 121.3 ft² (11.27 m²)
- Empty weight: 890 lb (404 kg)
- Gross weight: 1350 lb (612 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Avco Lycoming GO-145-C2 flat-four piston engine, 75 hp (56 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 100 mph (161 km/h)
- Range: 350 miles (563 km)
- Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3050 m)
[edit] References
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing
- ^ [http://www:aerofoilengineering.com/KR/sportaviation/Kr180-4.HTM Engine description
- ^ Ercoupe history website
[edit] See also
|
||||||||||||||
