(Aeronca) C2 - C3 @·AIRCRAFTUBE

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Aeronca C-2 / C-3

Aeronca's founder John Roche had been building airplanes since before WW1, but his Aeronautical Corporation of America was only created in 1928. The lightweight C-2 was the first aircraft to be designed by the company in Lunken, Ohio.

Nicknamed the "Flying Bathtub" or sometimes the "Flying Flivver", the C-2 is the typical amateur aircraft of the thirties. Equipped with a 36 hp Aeronca engine, this aircraft can be compared in many points to a modern ultra-light, some pilots being able to reach 20,000 feet in this machine. The C-2 made it's first flight in October 1929 and the last one was built in 1937. The two side-by-side seats 1934 C-3 version came with a 40 hp engine, and a maximum weight of 1000 lb. In total, about 515 C-2 and C-3 versions were constructed.

C2 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 29hp 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.

Aeronca C-2

The Aeronca C-2, powered by a tiny two-cylinder engine, debuted in 1929. 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, 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 right up against the fuselage sides.

Equipped with only five instruments, a stick, and rudder pedals (brakes and a heater cost extra), the C-2 was priced at a low $1,495, bringing the cost of flying down to a level that a private citizen could aspire to and perhaps reach. 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 in-flight 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.

Aircraft on display

The EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin has an example of the C-2N on display. The aircraft set the following worlds records:

  • International Altitude Record 19,425.814 ft (5,920.988 m)
  • Altitude Record for Junior pilots 19,997 ft (6,095 m)
  • 500 km speed record for single-seat light seaplanes 70.499 mph (113.457 km/h)
  • Airline distance record for single-seat light seaplanes 230.314 mi (370.654 km)
  • Single-seat light seaplane International Altitude Record 15,081.976 ft (4,596.986 m)
  • Single-seat light seaplanes 100 km record 80.931 mph (130.246 km/h)
  • Distance record, light seaplanes 221.20 mi (355.99 km)

Another C-2N is displayed at the Virginia Aviation Museum at Richmond, Virginia. The Canada Aviation and Space Museum also has one example.

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 sporting aircraft, powered by a 36-hp (27-kW) Aeronca E-112 or E-133A piston engine. Four built. Aeronca PC-2 : Seaplane version of the C-2. Aeronca PC-2 Deluxe : Seaplane version of the C-2 Deluxe.

Aeronca C-3

Its design was derived from the Aeronca C-2. Introduced in 1931, it featured room for a passenger seated next to the pilot. Powered by a new 36-horsepower (27-kilowatt) Aeronca E-113 engine, the seating configuration made flight training much easier and many Aeronca owners often took to the skies with only five hours of instruction—largely because of the C-3's predictable flying characteristics. Both the C-2 and C-3 are often described as “powered gliders” because of their gliding ability and gentle landing speeds—it was almost impossible to make a hard landing with an Aeronca because the pilot could easily see his wheels approach the runway.

The C-3's distinctive razorback design was drastically altered in 1935 with the appearance of the “roundback” C-3 Master. Retaining the tubular fuselage frame construction, the C-3 Master featured a smaller vertical stabilizer and rudder with a “filled out” fuselage shape that created the new “roundback” appearance and improved the airflow over the tail. With an enclosed cabin (brakes and wing light still cost extra), the 1935 C-3 Master was priced at only $1,890—just a few hundred dollars more than the primitive C-2 of 1929. The low price generated significant sales; 128 C-3 Masters were built in 1935 alone and the 500th Aeronca aircraft also rolled off the assembly line that same year.

A version of the C-3 with fabric-covered ailerons (instead of metal), designated the Aeronca 100, was built in England under license by Light Aircraft Ltd. (operating as Aeronautical Corporation of Great Britain Ltd.) but the expected sales never materialized—only 24 Aeronca 100s were manufactured before production was halted.

Production of the C-3 was halted in 1937 when the aircraft no longer met new U.S. government standards for airworthiness. Many of the C-3's peculiarities—external wire braces, extensive fabric construction, single-ignition engine, and lack of an airspeed indicator—were no longer permitted. Fortunately for the legion of Aeronca owners, a “grandfather” clause in the federal regulations allowed their airplanes to continue flying, although they could no longer be manufactured.

Aircraft on display

A C-3 Master is on display at the EAA AirVenture Museum, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum has a 1932 and a 1933 C-3.

Variants

    C-3 : Production variant. C-3 Master : Improved variant. Aeronca 100 : British-built variant powered by an Aeronca JAP J-99 (a licence built Aeronca E-113C), 21 built. Aeronca 300 : Improved British variant of the Aeronca 100, one built. Ely 700 : British variant with wider fuselage and two doors, two built.

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Aeronca C of Wikipedia ( authors )

Specifications (C-2)

  • Wing span : 36 ft.
  • Length : 20 ft.
  • Height : 7 ft 6 in.
  • Empty weight : 405 lbs.
  • Gross weight : 700 lbs.
  • Cruising speed : 65 mph.
  • Maximum speed : 81 mph.
  • Climb speed : 460 ft/min.
  • Service Ceiling : 16,500 ft.
  • Autonomy : 200 miles.
  • Engine : 36 hp Aeronca E-113.

Specifications (C-3)

  • Length : 20 ft 0 in (6.1 m).
  • Wingspan : 36 ft 0 in (10.98 m).
  • Height : 7 ft 10 in (2.39 m).
  • Wing area : 142.2 ft2 (13.2 m²).
  • Empty Weight : 569 lbs.
  • Gross Weight : 1,005 lbs.
  • Maximum Speed : 95 mph.
  • Autonomy : 200 miles.
  • Service ceiling : 12,000 ft.
  • Engine : 40 hp Aeronca E-113.
  • Power : 36 hp (27 kW).

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Aeronca C of Wikipedia ( authors )
Aeronca C2 - Aeronca C3 : Your comments on this subject
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