The Mason Greater Meteor also called the Warren & Montijo Monoplane, the Glenmont Landau Sedan, the Belmont Cabin Monoplane M-1, the Mason Meteor M, the Mason Greater Meteor M-200 and the Pride of Hollywood was the first aircraft built by
California Polytechnic College students.
Design and development
First built by Cal Poly students, the aircraft was registered under many names. On 17 March, the aircraft was christened with grape juice as the "Glenmont". In April 1928 aircraft was first registered as the Warren & Montijo Monoplane. The aircraft was painted silver with a winged logo on either side that featured a ''W''(Warren) and a ''M'' (Montijo) with ''Landau Sedan'' written below it.
In August 1928 the aircraft was sold as a ''Glenmont Landau Sedan'' and renamed shortly afterward as the ''Belmont Cabin Monoplane M-1''
By 1933 the aircraft was registered as the ''Mason Meteor M and ''Mason Greater Meteor M-200''.
The aircraft was constructed with a welded steel tube
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
with
aircraft fabric covering
Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as ar ...
. The wings used
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 ...
spar
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
s with
Haskelite
Haskelite is the brand name of a plywood, once made by the Michigan-based Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation. It was made from waterproof glue developed by Henry L. Haskell. The moldable plywood was originally called Ser-O-Ply. It was used in ...
covering. It featured
conventional landing gear
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...
and was powered by a 9-cylinder
Salmson 9 radial engine. The first modification to the aircraft was lowering the engine for improved forward visibility. In 1933 the fuselage was rebuilt and a new
Pratt & Whitney Wasp
The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.Gunston 1989, p.114.
The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company (P&W) was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentsc ...
engine was installed. The
Mason Aircraft Company
Mason Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of the late 1920s and 1930s.
Mason Aircraft Company was founded by Monty G. Mason of Los Angeles, California. Mason modified a 1928 custom aircraft built by students of the Californi ...
installed six fuel tanks in the cabin with an interconnecting tube and a receptacle for
aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...
mounted above the wing.
Operational history
The aircraft was first flown by Warren, and Montijo, on 3 March 1928 at a field that would eventually become the
San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport
San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport , McChesney Field is a civil airport near San Luis Obispo, California, United States. Three passenger airlines serve the airport with nonstop flights to eight cities: Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Los Angeles ...
. Originally built as a school project, the aircraft served as a passenger plane, then was modified as a non-stop aerial refueling record-setting aircraft, then again as an aerial broadcasting booth for NBC with the call sign KHRCX. On 29 April 1934, the aircraft crashed in a landing accident at
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
Specifications (Greater Meteor)
See also
References
{{reflist
High-wing aircraft
1920s United States civil utility aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1928
Single-engined tractor aircraft