The Metal Aircraft Flamingo was a monoplane produced in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

by the

Metal Aircraft Corporation Metal Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer of transport aircraft. The company was a pioneer in all-metal construction at a time when the technology was in its infancy. History In October 1927, Thomas E. Halpin, the forme ...

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 Elinor Smith (August 17, 1911 – March 19, 2010) was a pioneering American aviator,Phyllis R. MosesThe Amazing Aviatrix Elinor Smith ''Woman Pilot'', March 30, 2008. Accessed online December 15, 2008. once known as "The Flying Flapper of Free ...

. 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 Cincinnati Municipal Airport – Lunken Field (Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport) is a public airport in Cincinnati, Ohio, three miles (5 km) east of Downtown Cincinnati. It is owned by the city of Cincinnati and serves private aircr ...

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 Angel Falls ( es, Salto Ángel; Pemon language: ''Kerepakupai Merú'' meaning "waterfall of the deepest place", or ''Parakupá Vená'', meaning "the fall from the highest point") is a waterfall in Venezuela. It is the List of waterfalls by hei ...

by Jimmy Angel 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 Auyán Tepui (), also spelled Ayan, is a tepui in Bolívar, Venezuela, Bolívar state, Venezuela.Huber, O. (1995). Geographical and physical features. In: P.E. Berry, B.K. Holst & K. Yatskievych (eds.) ''Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, Flora of t ...

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 ...

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

, 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 A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

* Embry-Riddle Division of

American Airways American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passenge ...

Iowa Airways Corporation Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

Mason & Dixon Airlines Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

– 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