The Eaglet 31 was a United States two-seat
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 ...
ultra-light high-winged monoplane of the early 1930s. Intended as a low-cost aircraft, its limited production run relegated it to a footnote in aviation history.
Design and development
The
American Eagle Aircraft Corporation
The American Eagle Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft design and manufacturing company which existed briefly in Kansas, but which was a victim of the Great Depression, after building some 500 light airplanes, many of which were ...
found that demand for their
A-129 biplane and their other models was badly affected by the
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
stockmarket crash of late 1929 which ushered in the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. The small ultra-light, tandem two-seat Eaglet was therefore designed by company president, Edward E. Porterfield, to appeal to pilots with more modest pockets. Porterfield set a realistic goal of manufacturing an aircraft for $1,000. The first advertised price was $995.00.
The first model was the 1930 Eaglet 230, initially powered by the 25 h.p. Cleone engine that flew on June 30, 1930. The engine was so underpowered that only solo flights were possible.
[Underwood 1968,, p. 62.]
Most later Eaglet 230s featured a 30 h.p.
"Zeke" Szekely three-cylinder radial engine. Further experimentation led to fitting a Franklin engine and 60 h.p. Velie. A 40 h.p.
Salmson
Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century,
returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...
engine was tried but proved to be too expensive to incorporate into the proposed production line. The Szekely eventually ran reliably as an overhead valve 45 h.p. version.
[Underwood 1968, p. 63.]
The single Model A-31 of 1931 was fitted with the more powerful Continental A-50 of 50 h.p., and was followed by 13 Model B-31 and B-32 powered by the 45 h.p. Szekely SR-3. The bulk of these examples were produced after the American Eagle company declared bankruptcy and was absorbed by Lincoln Aircraft in May 1931 and reformed as the American Eagle Lincoln Page Aircraft Corporation.
[Simpson 2001, p. 41.] The venture was short-lived with the factory closing in 1931.
Production rights to the Eaglet later went to American Eaglecraft who produced three examples from 1940–1947 and rebuilt further aircraft of this design.
Operational history
The various models of the Eaglet were flown prewar by private owner pilots. Approximately 12 original aircraft were in existence in 2001, of which some were still airworthy.
An improved variant of the Eaglet called the
Rearwin Junior
The Rearwin Junior was a 1930s two-seat high-winged ultra-light monoplane sport aircraft produced in the United States by Rearwin Airplanes Inc.Taylor 1989, p. 757.Simpson 2001, p. 41. It was part of a trend of extremely low-cost aircraft as manu ...
, was designed by former Eagle employee Doug Webber and went into a limited production in 1931.
Variants
; Eaglet 230 : 30 h.p. Szekely SR-3;
; Eaglet 231 : 40 h.p. Salmson AD-9 (2 modified from model 230);
; Eaglet A-31 : 50 h.p. Continental A-50;
; Eaglet B-31 & B-32 : 45 h.p. Szekely SR-3; (B-32 had minor control modifications)
[''Popular Aviation'', December 1931]
Specifications (Eaglet 230)
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Simpson, Rod. ''Airlife's World Aircraft''. Ramsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. .
* Underwood, John W. "The reluctant Eagle of skid row." ''Air Progress'', June 1968, pp. 46–47, 62–63.
External links
Details of Eaglet models at aerofiles.com
{{American Eagle
1930s United States civil utility aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1930