The Robertson Skylark SRX-1 is a five place high performance

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

aircraft designed in the 1950s. It was intended to be operated out of landing strips with cruise speeds.

Design

The aircraft was designed by James L. Robertson, son of

William B. Robertson Major William Bryan Robertson (October 8, 1893 – August 1, 1943) was an American aviator and aviation executive who was the co-founder of Lambert Field, Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field as well as the owner and President of Robertson ...

Robertson Aircraft Corporation Robertson Aircraft Corporation was a post-World War I American aviation service company based at the Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field near St. Louis, Missouri, that flew passengers and U.S. Air Mail, gave flying lessons, and performed exhibition f ...

founder at the age of 27. The aircraft is designed to be stall-proof and spin-proof and is capable of a minimum flight speed. It was also the first light aircraft in America to be designed to accommodate a

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

engine. The Skylark is all metal, with a steel tube internal structure. It incorporates

shrouds Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to '' burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous S ...

, flaps,

spoilerons In aeronautics, spoilerons (also known as spoiler ailerons or roll spoilers) are spoiler (aeronautics), spoilers that can be used asymmetrically as flight control surfaces to provide roll control. Operation Spoilerons flight dynamics (fixed-wing ...

, turbulator control,

stabilator A stabilator is a fully movable aircraft horizontal stabilizer. It serves the usual functions of longitudinal stability, control and stick force requirements otherwise performed by the separate parts of a conventional horizontal stabilizer and el ...

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

s, and spinner duct cooling.

Operational history

Test flights were performed by aerobatic pilot Marion Cole. He featured the aircraft as part of his Cole Brothers airshows. The aircraft is able to take off in 100 feet.

Specifications (Robertson Skylark SRX-1)

References

External links

"Plane Takes Off in 100 Feet.
''Popular Science'', July 1954, p. 60. {{Robertson aircraft 1950s United States civil utility aircraft STOL aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1955 Single-engine aircraft