Aeronca

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Aeronca Aircraft Corporation

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1928
resolution 1996
Reason for dissolution Acquisition into Magellan Aerospace Group
Seat Middletown , United States
Branch Aerospace
Website www.aeroncainc.com

Aeronca C-2 "Flying Bathtub"

Aeronca Aircraft Corporation is a US-American manufacturer of aircraft, aircraft engines and a manufacturer of aerospace components.

history

Aeronca L-3B Grasshopper USAF

Aeronca was founded on November 11, 1928 in Cincinnati , Ohio. The production was located at the Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport .

In the 1930s and 1940s, the company was one of the largest manufacturers of general aviation aircraft and also produced engines based on its own designs in the USA. Production began in 1929 with the Aeronca C-2 monoplane designed by Jean A. Roche . The machine was often referred to as the "Flying Bathtub" in the USA.

In 1937 there was a major flood at Lunken Airport in Ohio, almost the entire airport area was flooded and washed away. The Aeronca factory was almost completely destroyed, including tools, machines, and almost all of the early documents and designs from the 1929-1937 production period.

Aeronca L-16 7BCM 1947

With the financial and political support of the prominent founding Taft family - Senator Robert A. Taft was one of the company's directors - Aeronca was rebuilt in Middletown , Ohio and started production there again. The first Aeronca to be produced in Middletown left the factory on June 5, 1940. During the Second World War, Aeronca manufactured almost exclusively military aircraft.

The production of light aircraft ceased in 1951. By that time, Aeronca had built and sold 17,408 aircraft of 55 different models. The Champion Aircraft Corporation in Osceola, Wisconsin took over part of the light aircraft production; from 1954 the successful Aeronca series were manufactured there. In 1978, Aeronca planned to restart aircraft production of a prototype called the Foxjet ST600 . The project was finally canceled in 1980 due to a lack of availability of jet engines.

today

Aeronca L-16 7BCM 1947 cockpit

Aeronca has been part of Magellan Aerospace since 1996 and builds components for aerospace companies including Boeing , Northrop Grumman , Lockheed Martin and Airbus .

Light aircraft and engines

Excerpt of the aircraft and engines that were developed and built at Aeronca:

  • Aeronca C-4, double-decker cabin design proposed by Aeronca manager Conrad Dietz. Concept was rejected in favor of the C-2.
  • Aeronca C-2 , from 1929, single-engine, single-seat high-wing aircraft with tail skid
  • Aeronca C-3 , from 1931, two-seater version (side-by-side), further development of the Aeronca C-2
  • Aeronca 100 , from 1936, English version of the Aeronca C-3
  • Aeronca L, from 1935, single-engine, two-seat (side-by-side) low-wing aircraft with conventional tail landing gear
  • Aeronca K, from 1937, single-engine two-seater high-decker with conventional tail wheel landing gear
  • Aeronca 50 Chief, from 1938, single-engine two-seat (side-by-side) high-decker with conventional tail landing gear and 50 HP engine
  • Aeronca 65 Super Chief, but from 1938 with 65 HP engine
  • Aeronca Defender, 1938, single-engine two-seat high-wing aircraft
  • Aeronca L-3 , 1941, military version of the Aeronca Champion, light liaison and observation aircraft used by the US armed forces
  • Aeronca TG-5, 1942, Army glider trainer based on the L-3 structure
  • Aeronca LNR, for the US Navy in 1942, was the naval version of the TG-5
  • Aeronca L-16 , until 1944, military liaison aircraft based on the Aeronca Champion 7
  • Aeronca 7 Champion, 1945, single-engine, two-seat high-decker, tail wheel
  • Aeronca 9 Arrow, 1947, single-engine, two-seat low-wing aircraft with retractable landing gear
  • Aeronca 11 Chief , 1945, new design, similar to the pre-war Chief (1938), but with a wider cabin and different wing structure
  • Aeronca Sedan 15, 1947, four-seat aircraft with a fabric-covered fuselage and full metal wings

Engines

  • Aeronca E-107
  • Aeronca E-113

literature

  • Donald M. Pattillo: A History in the Making: "80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry". P. 18.
  • Alan Abel, Drina Welch Able, Paul Matt: Aeronca's Golden Age. P. 135.

Web links

Commons : Aeronca  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aeronca to Build Foxjet on flightglobal.com
  2. ↑ Motor manual E-107, E-113 ( Memento from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (English)