The Metal Aircraft Flamingo was a monoplane produced in

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by the Metal Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s.

Design and development

The Metal Aircraft Corporation purchased the design from the Halpin Development Co. and unveiled it at the 1929

National Air Races The National Air Races (also known as Pulitzer Trophy Races) are a series of pylon and cross-country races that have taken place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew ...

with Elinor Smith. Following an accident at Bowman Field in May 1928, the prototype Flamingo was redesigned with a different nose, windscreen, and tail. The interior was insulated with Balsam-Wool Blanket.

Operational history

The Flamingo was first flown from Lunken Airport on 8 April 1928 by Thomas E. Halpin. At one point, the aircraft carried an African-American porter in a red suit named Benny Smith. Following a teaser, marketing for the new airplane began in March 1929 and dealers were being solicited by the following month. One G-2-W, named ''El Rio Caroní'', is best remembered for its role in the discovery of Angel Falls by

Jimmy Angel James "Jimmie" Crawford Angel (August 1, 1899December 8, 1956) was an American aviator after whom Angel Falls in Venezuela, the tallest waterfall in the world, is named. Early life James Crawford Angel was born August 1, 1899, near Cedar Valley, ...

in 1935. Although well known to the local indigenous population, the falls had been glimpsed only by European explorers until Jimmy Angel crash-landed while attempting to land above the falls on Auyán-tepui during gold exploration. The Metal Aircraft Corporation Flamingo that crashed above the falls was recovered by helicopter in the 1960s by the

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n government and is on display at the entrance of the

Ciudad Bolívar Ciudad Bolívar (; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar, Venezuela, Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about ...

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, in Venezuela. A replica was put in its place for visitors of the crash site. Other operators included the Mason & Dixon airline. Another operator of the aircraft was United States Airways which flew a route from Denver to Kansas City in the early 1930s. Stops were made Goodland, Salina, and Topeka, Kansas.

Variants

Halpin_Flamingo_left_side_Aero_Digest_May1928

;Halpin Flamingo:six-passenger 410hp P&W ;G-1:five-passenger 450hp P&W ;G-2:six-passenger ;G-2-H:six-passenger 525hp P&W Metal_Aircraft_Corp_Flamingo_G-2-W_left_front_Aero_Digest_March_1929

Metal_Aircraft_Corp_Flamingo_G-2-W_left_front_Aero_Digest_March_1929

;G-2-W:eight-passenger 410hp P&W ;G-MT-6:five-passenger 410 or 525 P&W

Operators

; * Comet Air Express * Embry-Riddle Division of American Airways * Iowa Airways Corporation * Mason & Dixon Airlines – 4 aircraft *

United States Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon b ...

* Vermilya-Huffman Flying Service

Accidents and incidents

* On 26 May 1928, a Flamingo nosed over on landing at Bowman Field in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, injuring the pilot, mechanic, and a passenger. * On 8 November 1930, a G-2 operated by the Embry-Riddle Company made an emergency landing near Indianapolis following an in-flight fire.

Specifications (Flamingo G-2-W)

References

{{Reflist 1930s United States civil utility aircraft History of aviation High-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft