The Driggs Dart was an

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 ...

-built light sporting aircraft of the late 1920s.

Development

Ivan Driggs designed the Dart I single-seat high-wing

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 ...

in 1926. In 1927 he developed the design into the two-seat Dart II, which was a

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 ...

- a biplane whose lower wing area is less than 50% of the area of the upper wing.

Operational history

Three examples of the Dart I monoplane were constructed and the type won the 1926 Ford Air Tour category for light planes. One was tested by the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

as an observation aircraft, but no orders were received. The Dart II sesquiplane followed in 1927, at least four examples being built by Driggs and some further planes by amateur constructors from plans during the early 1930s. A Dart II is maintained in airworthy condition by the

Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum The Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum, located at Creve Coeur Airport in Maryland Heights, Missouri, United States, is dedicated to restoring and preserving historical aircraft. The airplanes in the collection are all fabric-covered, and most ...

at Dauster Field

Creve Coeur, Missouri Creve Coeur is a city located in mid St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, a part of Greater St. Louis. Its population was 18,834 at the 2020 census. Creve Coeur borders and shares a ZIP code (63141) with the neighboring city of Town and ...

near

St Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Variants

Driggs_Dart_II_left_front_Aero_Digest_June_1927

;Dart I : Single-seat parasol monoplane powered by a

Anzani 3 From 1905 to 1915, Alessandro Anzani built a number of three-cylinder fan engines and radial engines, one of which powered Louis Blériot's 1909 cross-channel flight. An Anzani three-cylinder engine that powers a Blériot XI based in England i ...

air-cooled radial engine. ;Dart II : Two-seat

Salmson AD.9 British Salmson aero-engines refers to a series of small French designed, air-cooled radial aero engine that were produced by British Salmson Aero Engines Ltd, under license from Société des Moteurs Salmson, in Great Britain during the late ...

air-cooled radial piston engine.

Specifications (Dart II Anzani engine)

References

{{reflist

External links

Aerofiles.com
1920s United States sport aircraft Sesquiplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1926 High-wing aircraft