The Genairco Biplane (also known as the Genairco Moth) was a utility biplane built in small numbers in Australia in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Design and construction

It was a conventional single-bay biplane with fixed tailskid undercarriage, with a fuselage based on the

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 ...

and wings based on the

Avro Avian The Avro Avian was a series of British light aircraft designed and built by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s. While the various versions of the Avian were sound aircraft, they were comprehensively outsold by the de Havilland Moth and its descendants ...

. The fuselage, however, was wider than that of the Moth, allowing two passengers to be carried seated side-by-side in an open cockpit ahead of the pilot's. Some later examples of the type featured an enclosed cabin for the passengers, and these were known as Genairco Cabin Biplanes, with the original design retrospectively named the Genairco Open Biplane.

Survivors

Three Genairco biplanes have survived.

Australia

;Airworthy *VH-UOD, an Open Biplane, was restored and is maintained in airworthy condition. ;Stored *VH-UOG, an Open Biplane, is owned by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, also known as the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...

, in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

United States

;Stored *N240G (previously VH-UOH and then VH-UUI), a Cabin Biplane, was exported from Australia in 1966 and is awaiting restoration by the

Fantasy of Flight Fantasy of Flight is an aviation museum in Polk City, Florida. It opened in November 1995, to house Kermit Weeks' collection of aircraft that, until Hurricane Andrew damaged many in 1992, were housed at the Weeks Air Museum in Tamiami, Florida ...

museum at

Polk City, Florida Polk City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,562 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 2,422. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistica ...

Specifications

References

External links

{{commons category, Genairco Biplane
Powerhouse Museum
1920s Australian civil utility aircraft

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 ...

Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft