The Monocoupe 90 was a two-seat, light cabin airplane built by

Donald A. Luscombe Donald Arthur Luscombe (May 25, 1895 – January 10, 1965) was an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of Luscombe Aircraft, which produced an advanced sheet-metal-fuselage light aircraft during the 1930–1950 t ...

for Monocoupe Aircraft.Eden and Moeng 2002 p. 993 The first Monocoupe (Model 5) was built in an abandoned church in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

, and first flew on April 1, 1927.Virginia Aviation Museum
accessed 30 September 2007 Various models were in production until the late 1940s.

Development

The ''Monocoupes'' were side-by-side two-seat lightplanes of mixed wood and steel-tube basic construction with fabric covering. A braced high-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with fixed tailskid landing gear, and the reverse curve rear fuselage lines that were to become one of the signature identifier features of the Monocoupes. The fuselage framework was built up of welded steel tubing in a rigid, triangular-framed Warren truss form for the side panel structures, heavily faired to shape with

dural Dural is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 36 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of Hornsby Shire and The Hills Shire. Dural is part of the Hills District. ...

metal sheet formers and wooden fairing strips. The wings were built up of solid

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 with wing ribs of

basswood ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...

webs and spruce cap-strips. The leading edges were covered with dural metal sheet and the entire framework was covered in fabric.Airventure Museum
accessed 2 October 2007 The aircraft was powered originally by either a 60 hp (45 kW) Anzani engine or the unsuccessful 65 hp (48 kW) Detroit Air-Cat radial. The Model 22 was the first light aircraft awarded a

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

(number 22) and in 1930 it was fitted with the

Velie M-5 Velie was a brass era American automobile brand produced by the Velie Motors Corporation in Moline, Illinois from 1908 to 1928. The company was founded by and named for Willard Velie, a maternal grandson of John Deere. Velie founded Velie Carr ...

62 hp (46 kW) five-cylinder radial engine to become the Model 70. Monocoupe 90 Rhinebeck NY 10

In 1930 Monocoupe introduced the Model 90 with refined lines and a fuselage that was slightly longer and wider, this being sold in Model 90 and Model 90A versions with a 90 hp (67 kW)

Lambert R-266 Lambert may refer to People *Lambert (name), a given name and surname * Lambert, Bishop of Ostia (c. 1036–1130), became Pope Honorius II *Lambert, Margrave of Tuscany ( fl. 929–931), also count and duke of Lucca *Lambert (pianist), stage-name ...

radial engine. The Monocoupe 90 DeLuxe introduced trailing edge flaps, wheel speed fairings and an improved engine cowling. The Model 90AF was fitted with a 115 hp (86 kW)

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

engine. The Model 90AL had

Avco Lycoming Lycoming Engines is a major American manufacturer of aircraft engines. With a factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lycoming produces a line of horizontally opposed, air-cooled, four, six and eight-cylinder engines including the only FAA-certi ...

engines. The Model 90J was introduced in 1930 with a 90 hp (67 kW)

Warner Scarab Jr The Warner Scarab Junior was an American, five-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aero engine first produced in 1930. It was a scaled-down derivative of the seven-cylinder Warner Scarab, developing 90 hp (70 kW) against the Scarab's 110&nbs ...

engine. The final two high performance Monocoupe models developed from the Model 90 were the Model 110 with a 110 hp (82 kW)

Warner Scarab The Warner Scarab is an American seven-cylinder radial aircraft engine, that was manufactured by the Warner Aircraft Corporation of Detroit, Michigan in 1928 through to the early 1940s. In military service the engine was designated R-420. Vari ...

, and the Model 125 with a 125 hp (93 kW) Kinner B-5 engine. The Monocoupe 110 Special was a clipped wing racing aircraft. The

Monocoupe Monocoupe Aircraft was a manufacturer of light airplanes originally produced in the late 1920s and 30s.Richard Harris"Monocoupe: Speed for the Common Man" ''AAHS Journal,'' Vol. 56, No. 4 (Winter 2011), American Aviation Historical Society They i ...

Model 70V of 1932, had the low-powered 65 hp (48-kW)

engine reintroduced to provide more economical operation at the cost of a fall in performance. In 1941 ''Monocoupe'' combined with three other companies to form Universal Molded Products Corp. 20 Model 90AFs were bought by the USAAF, who designated them the Universal L-7, for transfer to the Free French Forces. One was lost during delivery.Fanatique de l'aviation n°370 Aircraft production halted during World War II, resuming briefly in 1948-1950 under the name Monocoupe Airplane and Engine Corporation. Bell, 2002, p. 207 The last of this remarkable line of two-seat aircraft was the Monocoupe D-145 of 1934, a high-performance version with a slightly enlarged cabin and powered by a 145 hp (108 kW) Warner Super Scarab engine.

Variants

;Monocoupe Model 5: prototype ;

Monocoupe Model 22 The Central States Aircraft Model 22, Velie Monocoupe, or Monocoupe Model 22 was the first in a series of small, high-performance high-wing monoplanes from Monocoupe Aircraft. Development The Monocooupe model 22 was drawn up by Clayton Folkerts ...

: 60 hp (45 kW) Anzani engine or 65 hp (48 kW)

Detroit Air Cat Detroit ( , ; , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the Canada–United States border, United States–Canada border, and the County seat, seat of gov ...

radial. ; Monocoupe Model 70:

62 hp (46 kW) five-cylinder radial engine Monocoupe 113 (N8934)

;Monocoupe Model 113: revised landing gear and a number of improvements ;Monocoupe Monoprep: dedicated trainer similar to the Monocoupe 113 ;Monocoupe Monosport Model 1: air racing model, had a 110 hp (82 kW) Warner Scarab seven-cylinder radial engine ;Monocoupe Monosport Model 2: air racing model, had a 100 hp (75 kW)

Kinner K-5 The Kinner K-5 was a popular engine for light general and sport aircraft developed by Winfield B. 'Bert' Kinner. With the boom in civilian aviation after Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight the K-5 sold well. The K-5 was a rough running but ...

radial engine Monocoupe 90A G-AFEL Biggin Hill 11

;Monocoupe Model 90: longer wider fuselage ;Monocoupe Model 90A: 90 hp (67 kW)

radial engine ;Monocoupe 90 DeLuxe: trailing edge flaps, wheel speed fairings and an improved engine cowling ;Monocoupe Model 90AF: 115 hp (86 kW)

engine ;Monocoupe Model 90AL:

engine

;Monocoupe Model 90AW: with 145 hp Warner engine, Wing Span 32 ft. Length 20 ft. 5.75 in. ;Monocoupe Model 110: 110 hp (82 kW)

engine ; Monocoupe Model 110 Special: racing model, 110 hp (82 kW)

engine, shorter span ;Monocoupe Model 125: 125 hp (93 kW) Kinner B-5 engine ;Universal L-7: military version of the Model 90AF.U.S. Army Aircraft 1908-1946 ;Monocoupe D-145: 145 hp (108 kW) Warner Super Scarab engine.

Operators

The majority of the Monocoupe 90s to be built were sold to and flown by private pilot owners. ; *

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica M ...

- Monocoupe 90 A ; * Free French Forces, later

Armée de l'Air The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

- Monocoupe 90 AF 19 delivered early 1943 by sea to Abu Sweir,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, to be reassembled by RAF MU 109. Main delivery to create a flying school (GE 11) in Rayack,

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, opening September 1, 1943. The Monocoupe 90 was too sensitive to be used for basic training and many accidents occurred until school disbandment January 4, 1944. One aircraft survived the war and remained on the French civil register until written-off in 1962.Fanatique de l'aviation n°371 5 aircraft delivered to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

in early September 1943 and operated by ''Escadrille d'Avions Sanitaires et de Liaison'' (EASL = Liaison and Medical Flight) based at Ivato. EASL became ''Escadrille de Liaison et de Commandement'' (ELC) on January 1, 1944, then SAL-51 and last SLA-50. The last two Monocoupes were sold to local aéro-club in 1948.

Specifications (Model 90A)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Bell, Dana ed. ''The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Directory of Airplanes their Designers and Manufacturers''. Stackpole Books Mechanicsburg, PA, 2002. . * Eden, Paul and Moeng, Soph, eds. ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2002. . * Fahey, James C. ''U.S. Army Aircraft 1908-1946''. Ships and Aircraft, Falls Church, VA. 1946. * Simpson, Rod. ''Airlife's World Aircraft'', Airlife Publishing, 2001.
"Specifications of American Airplanes"
''

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

'', March 1936, Vol. 35, no. 3. pp. 82–85. Registration required * Swanborough, F. G. and Bowers, Peter M.''United States Military Aircraft Since 1909''. Putnam New York, 1964. . * *

External links