The Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster (also known as the J4 Airster, after its engine), was a utility aircraft built in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1926, notable as the first aircraft to receive a

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

in the US, (i.e. A.T.C. No. 1) issued by the

Aeronautics Branch The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

of the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

on March 29, 1927. It was a conventional single-bay

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with equal-span unstaggered wings and accommodation for the pilot and passengers in tandem open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

s. Marketed for a variety of roles including crop-dusting, aerial photography, and freight carriage, only a handful were built, some with

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

s as the CW-3, and others with air-cooled engines as the CA-3 . One CA-3 placed second in the 1926

Ford National Reliability Air Tour The Ford Reliability Tour, properly called "The National Air Tour for the Edsel B. Ford Reliability Trophy", was a series of aerial tours sponsored in part by Ford from 1925 to 1931 and re-created in 2003. Top prize was the Edsel Ford Reliability ...

. 1926 Ford Air Tour, piloted by Louis Meister, and another (designated the CA-3A) placed third in the 1927 Air Derby, piloted by Nick Mamer. One CW-3 and one CA-3 each were evaluated by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

trainers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used f ...

, but neither were purchased.

Versions

CA

*CA-3 Airster (1926) ''aka J4 Airster or B-V Airster'' **200 hp Wright J-4 (a.k.a. J-4 Whirlwind) **Folding wings **awarded the first ATC ever issued, March 1927 (ATC 1, 2-6) **one modified under ATC 2-6 as 2p with 220 hp Wright J-5 as a trainer for Army trials *CA-3A Airster (1926) **225 hp

Wright J-5 The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation, with a total displacement of about and around . These engines were the earliest members of the Wright Whirl ...

**3 built **cost: $9,300 *CA-3B Airster (1926) **one built Buhl-cw3

CW

*CW-3 OX5 Airster (1925) ** 90hp Curtiss OX-5 **useful load: 770 lbs **range: 475 miles **Folding wings **three built *CW-3 Wright Trainer (1926) **220 hp

**useful load: 885 lbs **range: 450 miles **one built for unsuccessful military trainer trials

Specifications (CA-3A)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * http://www.aerofiles.com/_buhl.html
Federal Aviation Administration history page
* {{Verville Air CA-003 1920s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Verville aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1926

Versions

CA

CW

Specifications (CA-3A)

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography