|
Towle TA-3
The Towle TA-3 was an amphibious aircraft based on the Towle TA-2. Development Thomas Towle was an engineer that had been involved with many early aircraft designs. Having just co-designed the Eastman E-2 Sea Rover. The TA-3 was a six-seat follow-on to the Towle TA-2 which crashed on its first flight. The wing from the TA-2 prototype was salvaged and reused on the TA-3. Design The TA-3 featured two diesel radial engines on tall struts above the wings. Diesel engines were relatively new and were touted as being safer because they used a less volatile fuel than gasoline. The engines were provided on loan from the Packard Motor Car Company. The salvaged all-metal wing featured internal bracing based on the Ford Trimotor design that Towle had worked on previously. The tail used two rudders placed in the slipstream of the engines. Operational history The prototype was built at Grosse Ile Municipal Airport and first flew in May 1930 piloted by George Pond. The prototype was leased to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Aircraft
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is a Wikimedia movement affinity group for contributors with shared goals. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within sister projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by '' Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outside organizations relevant to the field at issue. For e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Aircraft/page Content
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is a Wikimedia movement affinity group for contributors with shared goals. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within sister projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by '' Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outside organizations relevant to the field at issue. For e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibious Aircraft
An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats and floatplanes) which are equipped with retractable wheels, at the expense of extra weight and complexity, plus diminished range and fuel economy compared to planes designed specifically for land-only or water-only operation. Some amphibians are fitted with reinforced keels which act as skis, allowing them to land on snow or ice with their wheels up. Design Floatplanes often have floats that are interchangeable with wheeled landing gear (thereby producing a conventional land-based aircraft). However, in cases where this is not practical, amphibious floatplanes, such as the amphibious version of the DHC Otter, incorporate retractable wheels within their floats. Many amphibian aircraft are of the flying boat type. These aircraft, and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Towle Marine Aircraft Engineering
Towle Marine Aircraft Engineering Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of light amphibious aircraft. The short lived Towle Marine Aircraft Engineering Company, and its successor Towle Aircraft Company were founded by former Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout as the Stout Metal Airplane Co. in 1922. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and later produced th ... engineer Thomas Towle initially to build a custom round-the world amphibious aircraft, and follow-on aircraft based on the design. In a 1930 patent, Towle listed the Towle Aircraft Company as part of the Michigan Amphibian Airplane Corporation. At the height of the depression, financing was difficult. Towle's TA-3 used diesel engines on loan from Packard, and was funded by Dr. Adams, a "painless dentist" of the Detroit region. Aircraft Ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Towle (engineer)
Tom Towle (1887–1983) was an American aircraft designer in charge of developing the Ford Trimotor. Early life Towle was raised in Dayton, Ohio and graduated from Yale University in 1920. Towle become an aeronautical engineer for many starting aviation companies. *1921-1922 Dayton-Wright Company *1922-1923 Glenn L. Martin Company, Martin *1923-1924 Aeromarine *1924-1925 Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company, Stout Metal Airplane Co *1925-1927 Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company After disappointing results from the Stout 3-AT, Ford places Towle in charge of the Ford Tri-motor development. *1927 Towle Marine Aircraft - Formed company to build the Towle WC. *1928 Eastman Aircraft Corporation of Detroit - Designed the Eastman E-2 Sea Rover. *1928-1932 Towle Aircraft Company - Reorganized to produce the Towle TA-2 and Towle TA-3 amphibians. *1933 Monocoupe Aircraft, Monocoupe Aircraft Corporation *1933-1935 Monocoupe Aircraft, Lambert Air ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Towle TA-2
The Towle TA-2 was an amphibious aircraft based on the T owle WC built for a 1929 round-the world flight. Development Thomas Towle was an engineer that had been involved with many early aircraft designs. Having just co-designed the Eastman E-2 Sea Rover and the Towle WC, Towle found funding to create a new entity, the Towle Aircraft Company to produce the TA-2. Design The TA-2 featured an corrugated aluminum hull. The wings were all metal with internal stiffeners, rather than ribs, based loosely on the Ford Trimotor, which Towle worked on previously. The twin Wright R-540 engines sat on small pylons on top of the shoulder mounted wing. Two floats were mounted directly below the engine pylons which incorporated the hydraulically actuated landing gear. The prototype was originally designed for 165 hp Wright 540 engines. Operational history The TA-2 was tested in Lake St. Clair on 7 November 1929 by test pilot George Pond and James Bradley. It broke up on takeoff and san ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibious Aircraft
An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats and floatplanes) which are equipped with retractable wheels, at the expense of extra weight and complexity, plus diminished range and fuel economy compared to planes designed specifically for land-only or water-only operation. Some amphibians are fitted with reinforced keels which act as skis, allowing them to land on snow or ice with their wheels up. Design Floatplanes often have floats that are interchangeable with wheeled landing gear (thereby producing a conventional land-based aircraft). However, in cases where this is not practical, amphibious floatplanes, such as the amphibious version of the DHC Otter, incorporate retractable wheels within their floats. Many amphibian aircraft are of the flying boat type. These aircraft, and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastman E-2 Sea Rover
The Eastman E-2 Sea Rover, also called the Beasley-Eastman E-2 Sea Rover, was a light seaplane built in the late 1920s for business and shuttle use. Development The E-2 was designed by former Ford engineer Thomas Towle for industrialist Jim Eastman of Eastman Laboratories. Towle was in the process of starting his own company, the Towle Marine Aircraft Engineering to produce his twin-engine amphibian design, the Towle WC. Eastman founded the Eastman Aircraft Corporation of Detroit to build the E-2 The prototype E-2 was flown with a single Anzani 6 engine. The production model was outfitted with a Warner Scarab. The E-2 received type certificate #338 on 17 July 1930 By the end of 1929 Eastman Aircraft had been merged into the Detroit Aircraft Corporation. Design The E-2 used a wooden hull with aluminium cladding. The aircraft used a parasol wing supported by large V-struts with secondary lower shoulder wings with tip floats at the ends. The single engine was mounted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diesel Engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-called compression-ignition engine (CI engine). This contrasts with engines using spark plug-ignition of the air-fuel mixture, such as a petrol engine (gasoline engine) or a gas engine (using a gaseous fuel like natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas). Diesel engines work by compressing only air, or air plus residual combustion gases from the exhaust (known as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)). Air is inducted into the chamber during the intake stroke, and compressed during the compression stroke. This increases the air temperature inside the cylinder to such a high degree that atomised diesel fuel injected into the combustion chamber ignites. With the fuel being injected into the air just before combustion, the dispersion of the fuel is une ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radial Engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" in some other languages. The radial configuration was commonly used for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant. Engine operation Since the axes of the cylinders are coplanar, the connecting rods cannot all be directly attached to the crankshaft unless mechanically complex forked connecting rods are used, none of which have been successful. Instead, the pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly. One piston, the uppermost one in the animation, has a master rod with a direct attachment to the crankshaft. The remaining pistons pin their connecting rods' attachments to rings around the edge of the master rod. Extra "rows" of radial cylinders can be added i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Trimotor
The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American three-engined transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, after 199 had been made. It was designed for the civil aviation market, but also saw service with military units. Design and development In the early 1920s, Henry Ford, along with a group of 19 other investors including his son Edsel, invested in the Stout Metal Airplane Company. Stout, a bold and imaginative salesman, sent a mimeographed form letter to leading manufacturers, blithely asking for $1,000 and adding: "For your one thousand dollars you will get one definite promise: You will never get your money back." Stout raised $20,000, including $1,000 each from Edsel and Henry Ford. In 1925, Ford bought Stout and its aircraft designs. The single-engined Stout monoplane was turned into a trimotor, the Stout 3-AT with three Curtiss-Wright air-cooled radial engine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grosse Ile Municipal Airport
Grosse Ile Municipal Airport is two miles south of Grosse Ile, in Wayne County, Michigan. It is owned by the Township of Grosse Ile. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a local reliever airport facility. Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, but Grosse Ile Municipal Airport is ONZ to the FAA and has no IATA code. History In 1929 the airport opened as Naval Reserve Air Base Ile, with a training school, seaplane base and dirigible hangar. In 1930 Thomas Towle used the hangars to build his Towle TA-3 diesel powered amphibian. Renamed as Naval Air Station Grosse Ile during World War II, the installation operated until 1969, when it was closed and turned over to the Township in 1971 for use as a general aviation airport. A memorial garden sits directly behind Township Hall, the former Hangar One, to honor the men and women who served in the armed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Amphibious Aircraft")
