Aeronca C-2

Aeronca C-2
Aeronca C-2 in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Role	Monoplane
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Aeronca Aircraft
Designer	Jean A. Roche
First flight	1929
Number built	164
Unit cost	$1495 in 1929
Developed from	1925 Roche Monoplane
Variants	C-1 Cadet, Aeronca C-3 Master

The Aeronca C-2 is an American light monoplane designed by Jean A. Roche and built by Aeronca Aircraft.

Development

Roche Monoplane

Jean A. Roche was a U.S. Army engineer at McCook Field airfield in Dayton, Ohio. Roche developed an aircraft with automatic stability and was granted U. S. Patent No. 1,085,461. Roche published his engineering ideas for the aircraft in Aerial Age Weekly and Slipstream Monthly magazines. The prototype was started in Ohio in 1923 with the assistance of fellow engineer Quienten Doshse. The aircraft used a triangular cross-section welded steel tube fuselage, with wood wings, was fabric-covered, and used wire bracing throughout. A Henderson engine was installed, but did not perform well. Next a custom 29 hp two-cylinder Morehouse engine was developed for the aircraft. On September 1, 1925 the aircraft was successfully test flown. Many pilots including Jimmy Doolittle tried out the aircraft. Wright Aeronautical hired Morehouse and rights to his Wright-Morehouse WM-80 engine. Left without an engine, They turned to Robert E. Galloway of the Aeronautical Corporation of America to use the Aeronca E-107 engine. The rights to the aircraft were sold to Aeronca in 1928 as the basis for the C-2 Design.^[1]

Aeronca C-2

The Aeronca C-2, powered by a tiny two-cylinder engine, made its first flight in October^[2] 1929, with its public debut in St. Louis in February 1930.^[2] It was flying at its most basic—the pilot sat on a bare plywood board. The C-2 featured an unusual, almost frivolous design with an open-pod fuselage that inspired its nickname, The Flying Bathtub. (It was also nicknamed "Airknocker" and "Razorback".^[2]) The general design of the C-2 could have been inspired by Jean Roche's initial flight experiences with an American-built copy of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, which had a similar triangular "basic" fuselage cross-section, and wire-spoked main landing gear wheels against the fuselage sides.

Equipped with only four instruments (altimeter, oil temperature, oil pressure, and tachometer),^[2] a stick, and rudder pedals (brakes and a heater at extra cost), the C-2 was priced at a low $1,555 (later US$1,245),^[2] bringing the cost of flying down to a level that a private citizen could perhaps reach.^[3] Aeronca sold 164 of the economical C-2s at the height of the Great Depression in 1930-1931, helping to spark the growth of private aviation in the United States.

The Aeronca C-2 also holds the distinction of being the first aircraft to be refueled from a moving automobile. A can of gasoline was handed up from a speeding Austin automobile to a C-2 pilot, (who hooked it with a wooden cane) during a 1930 air show in California. A seaplane version of the C-2 was also offered, designated the PC-2 and PC-3 (“P” for pontoon) with floats replacing the wheeled landing gear.

A single Aeronca C-2 was converted to a glider by H.J. Parham in England after an inflight engine failure and forced landing. The nose was faired in after the removal of the engine. It first flew as a glider 15 May 1937 and went to the Dorset Glider Club but was destroyed in the club hangar during a storm in November 1938.^[4]

Variants

Aeronca C-2

Single-seat light sporting aircraft, powered by a 26-hp (19-kW) Aeronca E-107A piston engine.

Aeronca C-2 Deluxe

Improved version, with a wider fuselage and a number of design improvements.

Aeronca C-2N Scout De luxe at Langley

Aeronca C-2N Scout

Deluxe sporting aircraft, powered by a 36-hp (27-kW) Aeronca E-112 or E-133A piston engine. Four built.^[5]

Aeronca PC-2

Seaplane version of the C-2.

Aeronca PC-2 Deluxe

Seaplane version of the C-2 Deluxe.

Surviving aircraft

Aeronca C-2N exhibited at the Virginia Aviation Museum

Canada

• A-9 – C-2 on static display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.^[6][7][8]

United States

• 2 – C-2 on static display at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. It is the first prototype of the Aeronca C-2 and bears the registration NX626N. It was donated to the museum in 1948 by Aeronca and was restored in 1976.^[9][10]
• 27 – C-2 airworthy at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.^[11][12]
• A-106 – C-2N airworthy owned by Craig MacVeigh of Seattle, Washington.^[13][14]
• A-151 – C-2N in storage at the Virginia Aviation Museum in Richmond, Virginia.^[15][16]
• A-253 – C-2N on static display at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This particular aircraft set seven records, five of which were for seaplanes.^[5][17]
• 301-23 – C-2 on static display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.^[18]

Specifications (C-2)

Data from Aeronca C-2: The Story of the Flying Bathtub^[19]

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Length: 20 ft (6.10 m)
• Wingspan: 36 ft (10.98 m)
• Height: 7 ft 6 in (2.28 m)
• Wing area: 142.2 ft² (13.2 m²)
• Empty weight: 406 lbs (184 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Aeronca E-107 1.75L piston engine, 26-30 hp ()

Performance

• Maximum speed: 80 mph (128 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 65 mph (104 km/h)
• Stall speed: 31 mph (50 km/h)
• Range: 240 mi (384 km)
• Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (5032 m)
• Wing loading: 4.92 lb/ft² (24 kg/m²)

See also

Related development

• Aeronca C-3

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Mignet Pou-du-Ciel

References

1. "none". Sport Aviation. June 1958.
2. Payne, Stephen, ed. Canadian Wings (Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd., 2006), p.163.
3. Donald M. Pattillo. A History in the Making: 80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry. p. 18.
4. Ellison, Norman (1971). British Gliders and Sailplanes. London: A & C Black Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 0-7136-1189-8.
5. "1933 Aeronca C-2-N Deluxe Scout - NC13089". EAA. EAA. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
6. "COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS – AERONCA C-2". Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
7. "RESEARCH - AERONCA C-2". Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
8. "Aircraft CF-AOR Data". Airport-Data.com. Airport-Data.com. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
9. "Aeronca C-2". Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
10. Federal Aviation Administration (17 November 2016). "N-Number Inquiry Results - N626N". Retrieved 17 November 2016.
11. "Aeronca C-2 Sport". Yanks Air Museum. Yanks Air Museum. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
12. "FAA REGISTRY [N647W]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
13. "Craig MacVeigh's Aeronca C-2 Project". Antique Airfield. Antique Aircraft Association and Airpower Museum. 24 January 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
14. "FAA REGISTRY [N11276]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
15. "CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT". Virginia Aviation Museum. Virginia Aviation Museum. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
16. "Airframe Dossier - Aeronca C-2, c/n A151, c/r N11417". Aerial Visuals. AerialVisuals.ca. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
17. "Aeronca Aircraft On Display EAA Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin (Part 1)" (PDF). National Aeronca Association Magazine. 13 (4): 10. 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
18. "Aeronca C-2". The Museum Of Flight. The Museum Of Flight. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
19. Spenser, Jay P. (1978). Aeronca C-2: The Story of the Flying Bathtub. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 71. ISBN 0-87474-879-8.

External links

• The Smithsonian's preserved Aeronca C-2, the first one produced