The Parks P-1 was an American three-seat sport
biplane
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 ...
that was built in the late 1920s.
Design and development
Based in St.Louis, pilot, salesman and entrepreneur
Oliver Parks
Oliver L. "Lafe" Parks (June 10, 1899 - February 28, 1985) was a pioneer in the fields of pilot training and aviation studies in the early decades of aviation.
Career
Parks' career started as a Chevrolet salesman at the Gravois Motor corporation ...
founded an air school, airline and aircraft manufacturing business shortly after Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight. Parks bought the rights to the
Kreider-Reisner Challenger C-2 and modified it with a chin radiator. The P-1 was built in a new facility in
Cahokia, Illinois
Cahokia was a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It was located east of the Mississippi River in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, 15,241 people lived in the village, a decline from 16,391 in 200 ...
.
The P-1 was a
tandem
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.
The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...
seat, open cockpit biplane with
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 ...
. The
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 ...
was constructed of welded steel tubing 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 ...
.
Operational history
The P-1 was both sold as a commercial aircraft and placed into service as a
trainer at
Parks Air College
Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology is a college within Saint Louis University.
History
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver restored by Parks students in 1991
Founding
Parks Air College was founded by Oliver Parks in the city o ...
. Although the OX-5 engine was out of production since 1917, there were still enough war surplus engines available at low enough cost to justify installing them on the 1929 design. This made the P-1 the last new aircraft produced using the outdated engine. Parks located his engines by sending out his associate, Joeseph Wecker, to buy OX-5 engines from flight schools in the region. Production ended at number 45, before the onset of the Great Depression and the temporary takeover of the company by the
Detroit Aircraft Corporation
The Detroit Aircraft Corporation was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan on July 10, 1922, as the Aircraft Development Corporation. The name was changed in 1929.
The Detroit corporation owned the entire capital stock of the Ryan Aircraft Corp., Air ...
.
While part of the Detroit Aircraft Corporation, one experimental P-1 (X289W) was modified with a faired in, tail mounted, all-plane parachute. It was filmed in a live deployment for Paramount Sound News. The 60 ft diameter Russell parachute was designed to hold 2600 to 3000 lbs. A secondary 24 ft diameter parachute was installed for the pilot.
One P-1 has been restored and displayed at the
EAA airshow at
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh.
History
Oshkosh was ...
winning the award for outstanding open cockpit aircraft in 1992.
Variants
;Parks P-1
:45 units built,
Kreider-Reisner Challenger C-2 copy but with chin radiator.
;Parks P-1H
:Powered by a 100hp
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 ...
, received ATC on 23 November 1932.
7 aircraft modified as the Hammond 100 Sportster.
;Parks P-1T
:Powered by a
115hp Milwaukee Tank engine.
;Parks P-1X
:Three-seater with a 90hp
Curtiss OX-5
The Curtiss OX-5 was an early V-8 American liquid-cooled aircraft engine built by Curtiss. It was the first American-designed aircraft engine to enter mass production, although it was considered obsolete when it did so in 1917.Smith, 1981, pa ...
engine.
Specifications (Parks P-1)
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
(Partial listing, only covers most numerous types)
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Alexander Eaglerock
The Alexander Eaglerock was a biplane produced in the United States in the 1920s by Alexander Aircraft Company of Colorado Springs, Colorado.Payne, Stephen, ed. ''Canadian Wings'' (Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd., 2006), p.162.
It was a fixed-gear th ...
*
American Eagle A-101
The American A-1 and A-101 were American two and three-seat biplanes of the 1920s.
Design and development
The American Eagle A-1 was designed in late 1925 as a training aircraft to replace the World War I biplanes then in use by the Porterfield F ...
*
Brunner-Winkle Bird
The Brunner-Winkle Bird was a three-seat taxi and joy-riding aircraft produced in the US from 1928 to 1931.
Design and operation
The Model A version was powered by the ubiquitous Curtiss OX-5, and featured a welded steel-tube truss fuselage with ...
*
Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster
The Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster (also known as the J4 Airster, after its engine), was a utility aircraft built in the United States in 1926, notable as the first aircraft to receive a type certificate in the US, (i.e. A.T.C. No. 1) issued by the A ...
*
Butler Blackhawk
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Command-Aire 3C3
The Command-Aire 3C3 and similar 4C3 and 5C3 are American three-seat open cockpit utility, training and touring biplanes developed by Command-Aire in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Design and Development
The Command-Aire did not at first app ...
*
Pitcairn Mailwing
The Pitcairn Mailwing family was a series of American mail carrier and three-seat sport utility biplane aircraft produced from 1927 to 1931.
Design and development
The Pitcairn Mailwings were developed to carry air mail for the United States P ...
*
Spartan C3
The Spartan C3 is an American three-seat open-cockpit utility biplane from the late 1920s.
Design
The C3s fuselage and wing struts were built up from welded chromium-molybdenum alloy steel tubes, faired with wood battens. It had two open c ...
*
Stearman C2
The Stearman C2 was the second aircraft type designed by the Stearman Aircraft company. The aircraft first flew in 1927.
Design and development
The airframe of the C2 was virtually identical to the model C1. Differences included an aileron con ...
and
C3
*
Swallow New Swallow
The Swallow Airplane Swallow is an American-built general purpose biplane of the mid- to late 1920s.
Development
The Swallow Airplane Manufacturing Co was formed in 1923 to take over the business of the E.M. Laird Aviation Co. of Wichita, Kansa ...
*
Travel Air 2000 and 4000
*
Waco 10
The Waco 10/GXE/Waco O series was a range of three-seat open-cockpit biplanes built by the Advance Aircraft Company, later the Waco Aircraft Company.
Design and development
The Waco 10 was a larger span development of the Waco 9, both single-engi ...
Related lists
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List of aircraft
The lists of aircraft are sorted in alphabetical order.
Further reading
The following reference sources, among many others, have been used to compile this list:
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List of civil aircraft
List of civil aircraft is a list of articles on civilian aircraft with descriptions, which excludes aircraft operated by military organizations in civil markings, warbirds, warbirds used for racing, replica warbirds and research aircraft.
A ABC ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*{{cite magazine, title=Specifications of American Commercial Airplanes, magazine=
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 ...
, date=March 22, 1930, volume=28, issue=12, pages=606–611, url=http://archive.aviationweek.com/issue/19300322#!&pid=606, url-access=registration
External links
Video of a P-1 aircraft parachute testImage of a P-1
1920s United States sport aircraft