The G.A.C. 102 Aristocrat or General 102 Aristocrat is a single-engined cabin

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 ...

built in the US just before the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. It proved popular, with over forty built; an early example was taken on an aerial survey of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. One survives.

Design and development

The Aristocrat is a

high High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

, braced wing monoplane with a two-part wing of rectangular plan apart from clipped tips, mounted to the fuselage without dihedral. The wing structure is entirely wooden and built around

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

box-

spars The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARS (SPARS was the acronym for "Semper Paratus—Always Ready"), was the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. It was established by the United States ...

and girder

ribs The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...

. Apart from the

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

, which is reinforced with aluminium sheet, the surfaces are fabric covered. Parallel pairs of steel bracing struts run between the lower fuselage and the spars at about mid-span. The majority of Aristocrats were powered by

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 ...

seven-cylinder

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 ...

s, though later variants had more powerful radials. Photographs show them uncowled. Behind the engine, the lower fuselage of the Aristocrat is flat-sided and built from welded chrome-molybdenum steel tubes. Its enclosed cabin is largely under the wing though the pilot's windshield is ahead of the leading edge and close to the engine; behind the pilot, there are seats for two passengers, who enter by two large doors, and rear baggage space. Behind the wing leading edge, the upper fuselage surface is raised with a fairing. The Aristocrat's

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

is steel framed and fabric covered. Its

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

is mounted at the top of the fuselage and the horizontal tail is straight-tapered in plan out to rounded tips. The

is in-flight adjustable and braced from below with a single strut on each side, carrying

balanced In telecommunications and professional audio, a balanced line or balanced signal pair is a circuit consisting of two conductors of the same type, both of which have equal impedances along their lengths and equal impedances to ground and to other ...

elevators An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They are ...

with a cut-out for rudder movement. The

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

is small and almost triangular but the rudder, also balanced, is tall and blunt-topped. The undercarriage is of the fixed, cantilever, tailwheel type and has a track of . Each faired undercarriage leg is a strongbox, formed from aluminium sheet and hinged on the lower fuselage longeron. Their tops are joined to a rubber spring shock absorber mounted centrally on the cabin frame below the pilot's seat. The wheels have brakes. The tailwheel's castoring is also restrained by rubber springs.

Operational history

The first flight of Aristocrat was at the end of July 1928. Two more prototypes were built and the second prototype accompanied

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

's aerial survey expedition to the Antarctic in late 1928-early 1929. These were followed by thirty-one examples of the production type 102-A, all with the same Scarab engine as on the prototypes. Models 102-B to 102-D, with different engines were proposed but not built. Six examples of the 102-E, powered by a

Wright J-6-5 The Wright R-540 Whirlwind was a series of five-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of 540 in³ (8.85 L) and power ratings of around ...

five-cylinder radial engine were completed in 1931-2. The large increase of power raised the Aristocrat's cruise speed up to . One 102-E was fitted experimentally with full-span Zap flaps and retractable Zap ailerons (

spoilerons In aeronautics, spoilerons (also known as spoiler ailerons or roll spoilers) are spoiler (aeronautics), spoilers that can be used asymmetrically as flight control surfaces to provide roll control. Operation Spoilerons flight dynamics (fixed-wing ...

) by

NACA The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...

in 1932-3. A photograph shows that this 102-E, at least, had a much-modified undercarriage with the wheels on simple V-struts and with vertical shock absorber legs to the forward wing spars. The final Aristocrat variant was the 102-F, fitted with a

Continental A-70 Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (al ...

. There were six of these, one converted from a 102-E. General Airplanes was liquidated in 1931. Aristocrat ''N(C)278H'', built in the 102-A batch, was restored in 1986 and given a Continental radial. It remained airworthy until at least 2010.

Variants

;102: Scarab powered. Three prototypes, one taken to Antarctica by Byrd's expedition. Scarab engine. ;102-A: Production mode, thirty-one built, Scarab engine. ;102-B, -C, -D: Unbuilt, differently engined variant proposals. ;102-E: Wright J-6-5 engine. Six built. One modified with Zap ailerons and flaps. ;102-F: Continental engine. Six built, one a re-engined 102-E.

Specifications (102 prototype)

References

{{reflist, 2, refs= {{cite book , title= Aviation Museums and Collections of North America, last=Ogden, first=Bob, year=2011, edition=2, page=182, publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) , location=Tonbridge, Kent , isbn= 978-0-851-30-427-4 {{cite journal , last=Frachet , first=André , date=3 October 1929, title=L'avion G.A.C. "Aristocrat", journal=Les Ailes, issue=433, pages=3, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6554663m/f3 {{cite journal , date=17 January 1929 , title=Antarctic exploration by air, journal=

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

, volume=XXI , issue=3 , pages=50 , url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1929/1929%20-%200120.html {{cite journal , date=27 July 1933 , title=Zap flaps and ailerons, journal=

, volume=XXV , issue=1283 , pages=754a , url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1933/1933%20-%200197.html {{cite web , url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_ga.html, title=General , work=Aerofiles , accessdate=27 September 2017 {{cite web , url=http://svsm.org/gallery/aristocrat?page=1, author= Vladimir Yabukov, title=General Airplanes 102-A , accessdate=1 October 2017 {{cite web , url=http://www.ruudleeuw.com/usa08-hayward.htm, title= Bud Field Aviation, author=Ruud Leeuw, date=11 May 2008 , accessdate=1 October 2017 1920s United States civil aircraft