The Reid Rambler, later known under the Curtiss-Reid brand after Reid was purchased by

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

, was a

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 ...

trainer/sport aircraft built in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the early 1930s and used in small numbers as a

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

by the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

Design and development

In 1928, Wilfrid T. Reid set up his own company in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

after working as an engineer for

Canadian Vickers Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada during the early part of the 20th century until 1944. A subsidiary of Vickers Limited, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence. C ...

. His first design was a light aircraft that was intended to exploit a Canadian government programme to support the development of flying clubs. The Reid Rambler was primarily intended to be a training aircraft. The Rambler was a largely conventional

sesquiplane 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 a ...

design with wings braced with Warren trusses and which could be folded backwards for transport or storage. The fuselage was of fabric-covered steel tube construction and the pilot and a single passenger sat in tandem, open cockpits. The

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

(registration G-CAVO) was first flown at the

Cartierville Airport Cartierville Airport (formerly ) was an airport in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, now a borough of Montreal. The airport (Bois-Franc Field when it opened in 1911 and during World War I) was decommissioned in 1988 and turned into the Bois-Franc neighbour ...

on 23 September 1928 by Martin Berlyn. The test flight was nearly a disaster because the

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

s seized, leaving Berlyn with a dangerous approach and landing. A modification of the aileron control linkage rectified the problem. The Rambler continued to be developed, and in 1931, an improved version, the Rambler III, was flown with the more powerful Gipsy III

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 ...

. John C. Webster flew the MK III prototype in the British

King's Cup Race The King's Cup air race is a British handicapped cross-country event, which has taken place annually since 1922. It is run by the Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association. The King's Cup is one of the most prestigious prizes of the ...

that year.

Operational history

In December 1928, the

Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Company Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decades ...

purchased the Reid Aircraft Company and renamed it ''The Curtiss-Reid Aircraft Company''. The new firm assumed control of the existing Rambler project and established a production line. A number of alterations were made to the production series including replacing the original ailerons with Frise-style ailerons, introducing an unbalanced

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

along with changes to the engine cowling, exhaust system and tailskid, and adding a head rest. Although it was intended principally for civilian use, the

(RCAF) evaluated the aircraft as a basic training aircraft. Although the RCAF employed many other ab-initio aircraft including the ubiquitous

de Havilland Moth The de Havilland Moths were a series of light aircraft, sports planes, and military trainers designed by Geoffrey de Havilland. In the late 1920s and 1930s, they were the most common civilian aircraft flying in Britain, and during that time ever ...

, senior military staff elected to purchase a small number of the Ramblers. Curtiss-Reid Ramblers enjoyed a relatively productive and lengthy career both in civilian and military use lasting well into the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

era.

Variants

''Data from:Canadian aircraft since 1909'' ;Rambler Mk.I: Powered by an

de Havilland Gipsy I The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre (300 ...

;Rambler Mk.II: Powered by a

Cirrus Hermes II The ADC Cirrus is a series of British aero engines manufactured using surplus Renault parts by the Aircraft Disposal Company (ADC) in the 1920s. The engines were air-cooled, four-cylinder inline types. They were widely used for private and li ...

;Rambler Mk.III: Powered by a

de Havilland Gipsy III The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre (300 ...

Specifications (Rambler Mk.I)

References

External links

*{{cite web , title=CurtissReidRambler , url=http://essexbest.com/history_of_flight.php , accessdate=29 December 2018 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815203005/http://essexbest.com/history_of_flight.php#CurtissReidRambler , archivedate=15 August 2011
rcaf.com Curtiss-Reid Rambler

Canadian Aviation Heritage Centre - Curtiss-Reid Rambler

Rambler Rambler or Ramble may refer to: Places * Rambler, Wyoming * Rambler Channel (藍巴勒海峽), separates Tsing Yi Island and the mainland New Territories in Hong Kong * The Ramble and Lake, Central Park, an area within New York City's Centr ...