The Hodkinson HT-1 was a U.S., eight place, three-engined

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 ...

, first flown in 1929. Despite an order for five, only one had been completed before Hodkinson Aircraft went bankrupt near the start of 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 operated in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

for several years.

Design and development

Hodkinson Aircraft was founded in 1929 by

William Wadsworth Hodkinson William Wadsworth Hodkinson (August 16, 1881 – June 2, 1971), known more commonly as W. W. Hodkinson, was born in Independence, Kansas. Known as ''The Man Who Invented Hollywood'', he opened one of the first movie theaters in Ogden, Utah in 190 ...

, one of the pioneers of the film industry who in 1916 had organized

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. He later went into film distribution, founding the W.W.Hodkinson Co. and then moved into the aviation business. The HT-1 was built by Valley Manufacturing Co. a division of Hodkinson Aircraft based in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

. Its designer, Don R. Berlin, later designed the

Curtiss P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

. The wings of the HT-1 were both 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 ...

spars and had rectangular plans out to rounded tips. The upper wing, with three-quarters of the total wing area, provided most of the

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...

and mounted narrow chord, Friese ailerons that reached from wingtips to above the outer engines. The short, lower wings were braced to the upper ones with parallel

interplane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

s between the wing spars. The HT-1 was powered by three

Curtiss Challenger The Curtiss R-600 Challenger was a six-cylinder, double-row, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft use built in the United States in the late 1920s. It developed . Design and development Curtiss started work on a small six-cylinder engine in Ma ...

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, one in the nose and the others on top of the lower wing, braced by vertical struts to the upper spars. Behind the central engine the fuselage was flat sided, with the wing centre-section fixed to it by inverted V

cabane struts In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in c ...

faired into the fuselage's chrome-molybdenum tube structure. These provided a clear rear view from the pilots' cabin under 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, ...

of the wing. Pilot and co-pilot sat side-by-side with dual controls, though the co-pilot's controls could be removed to allow an extra passenger to be carried. Their cabin was normally accessed through doors on either side but there was also a door in the rear which led down to the passengers' windowed, six seat cabin. There was a toilet at the back and also a baggage compartment, though this was only accessible from outside. Cabin access was via doors on either side, opening just ahead of the rear seats. Its tail was conventional, The fixed surfaces, like the fuselage, had chrome-molybdenum tube structures and the

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 ...

was mounted on top of the fuselage. 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 ...

was braced to the tailplane and had a cropped, roughly triangular profile. The

balanced rudder Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevators and ...

had a blunted rectangular profile. The HT-1 had fixed, wide track, conventional (),

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

. Its mainwheels, fitted with brakes, were on axles and drag struts from the lower fuselage

longeron In engineering, a longeron and stringer is the load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural ...

s which placed them below the outer engines. Vertical shock absorber legs joined the lower wing engine mountings. There was a tailwheel at the rear.

Operational history

The HT-1 first flew on 17 July 1929. It was publicized at the Cleveland Aero Show in September 1929 and entered into the Cleveland based 1929 National Air Races. It won a contract for five examples from a

n airline, Companía Nacional de Aviación, which Hodkinson had founded but Hodkinson Aircraft were in financial difficulties in 1930 as the depression deepened. Though the company ceased trading in 1930, the prototype went to Guatemala and remained in use there for several years.

Specifications

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , last=Fox , first=Charles Donald , author2=Milton L. Silver , title=Who's who on the Screen , url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924075696223/page/n411/mode/1up , year=1920, page=402 , publisher=Ross publishing Co , location=New York {{cite magazine , editor=Horsefall, J.E., title=Hodkinson Trimotored Transport , journal=Aero Digest, date= November 1929 , page=138 , url=https://archive.org/details/aerodigest1519unse/page/n793/mode/1up , volume=15, number=5, publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corp, location=New York City {{cite magazine , editor=Horsefall, J.E., title=Exhibitors at the Clevelabd Aero Show , journal=Aero Digest, date= September 1929 , page=119 , url=https://archive.org/details/aerodigest1519unse/page/n120/mode/1up, volume=15, number=3, publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corp, location=New York City {{cite magazine , editor=Horsefall, J.E., title=Almeda , journal=Aero Digest, date= September 1929 , page=194 , url=https://archive.org/details/aerodigest1519unse/page/n195/mode/1up , volume=15, number=3, publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corp, location=New York City {{cite web , url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_h.html, title=Aerofiles: Hodkinson, access-date=8 June 2020 {{cite web , url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0388314/bio, title=W.W.Hodkinson, website=

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

, access-date=10 June 2020 {{cite web , url=https://airlinehistory.co.uk/airline/cna-compania-nacional-de-aviacion, title=CNA (Compania Nacional de Aviacion), access-date=1 August 2020 Sesquiplanes Three-engined aircraft 1920s United States airliners