The Culver Dart was a 1930s

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

two-seat light

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

aircraft produced by the

Dart Aircraft Company The Culver Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of light aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. History The Dart Manufacturing Corporation was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by Monocoupe dealer Knight K. Culver and Al Mooney to purchase t ...

(later the

Culver Aircraft Company The Culver Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of light aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. History The Dart Manufacturing Corporation was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by Monocoupe dealer Knight K. Culver and Al Mooney to purchase t ...

Design and development

In the early 1930s

Al Mooney Albert W. Mooney (12 April 1906 – 7 May 1986) was a self-taught American aircraft designer and early aviation entrepreneur. He and brother Arthur Mooney founded the Mooney Aircraft Company in 1929. His first production design (first flight ...

was working for the

Lambert Aircraft Corporation Monocoupe Aircraft was a manufacturer of light airplanes originally produced in the late 1920s and 30s.Richard Harris"Monocoupe: Speed for the Common Man" ''AAHS Journal,'' Vol. 56, No. 4 (Winter 2011), American Aviation Historical Society They in ...

, builders of the Monocoupe series aircraft. He designed a small two-seat monoplane, the Monosport G. When the company ran into financial difficulties Mooney bought the rights to his design and with K.K. Culver formed the Dart Aircraft Company. The aircraft was renamed the Dart Dart or Dart Model G. The aircraft was a low-wing monoplane designed to be light with clean lines to enable it to use low powered aero-engines. It had a fixed undercarriage and a tailwheel. The initial version was named the Dart G powered by a 90 hp (67 kW) Lambert R-266

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 ca ...

. That engine was in short supply, so the aircraft was fitted with a Ken-Royce engine and designated the Dart GK. The final version was the Dart GW powered by a

Warner Scarab Junior The Warner Scarab Junior was an American, five-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aero engine first produced in 1930. It was a scaled-down derivative of the seven-cylinder Warner Scarab, developing 90 hp (70 kW) against the Scarab's 110&nbs ...

radial engine. Two special aircraft were built with larger engines. In 1939 the company was renamed the

and the aircraft was renamed the Culver Dart.

Variants

Frontiers of Flight Museum December 2015 066 (Culver Dart GC)

;Dart G :Initial production version powered by a Lambert R-266 - ca. 50 built. ;Dart GC :

Continental O-200 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

- 10 built ;Dart GK :Variant fitted with a Ken-Royce 5G engine - 25 built. ;Dart GW :Final production version powered by a

- 8 built. ;Dart GW Special : Two aircraft fitted with larger Warner engines, one with a

Warner Scarab The Warner Scarab is an American seven-cylinder radial aircraft engine, that was manufactured by the Warner Aircraft Corporation of Detroit, Michigan in 1928 through to the early 1940s. In military service the engine was designated R-420. Vari ...

engine, and the other with Warner Super Scarab SS-50A engine. ;X-F 220 Super Dart :An experimental variant modified with a

Continental R-670 The Continental R-670 (factory designation W670) was a seven-cylinder four-cycle radial aircraft engine produced by Continental displacing 668 cubic inches (11 litres) and a dry weight of . Horsepower varied from 210 to 240 at 2,200 rpm. The eng ...

, 8 foot wing reduction and a cruise speed. Used by Rodney Jocelyn in national aerobatics.

Surviving aircraft

The

Ohio History Connection Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connec ...

holds a Culver Dart G, NC18449, in its permanent collection since 2000. The airplane currently resides in offsite storage.

Specifications (Dart GW)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Baxter, Gordon. ''The Al Mooney Story. They All Fly Through The Same Air.'' Fredericksburg, Texas: Shearer Publishing, 1985. * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)''. London: Orbis Publishing, 1985. * Sargent, S.B.,
Dashing and Darting Through the Sky: The diminutive Culver Dart Model LCA
" ''Vintage Airplane'', April 2007. retrieved 24 October 2018. * Simpson, R.W. ''Airlife's General Aviation''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 1991. . * Simpson, Rod. ''Airlife's World Aircraft''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd, 2001. .

External links

Eugene McDermott Library, University of Texas, retrieved 24 October 2018. {{Culver aircraft 1930s United States civil utility aircraft

Dart Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * Dar ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft