The Williams-Cangie WC-1 Sundancer is an American

homebuilt Homebuilt machines are machines built outside of specialised workshops or factories. This can include different things such as kit cars or homebuilt computers, but normally it pertains to homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or ...

biplane racing aircraft that was designed by Art Williams and Carl Cangie and built by Ralph Thenhaus in 1974. Plans were at one time available from Williams' company, the Williams Aircraft Design Company of

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the Los Angeles, California, City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named List_of_mino ...

. Only one was built.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 160. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977.

Design and development

The WC-1 Sundancer features an unusual biplane layout, with the upper wing just below the cockpit canopy and the lower

gull wing The gull wing is an aircraft wing configuration, known also as ''Pulaski wings'', with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles. Numerous aircraft have incorpora ...

mounted at the bottom of 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 aircraf ...

. The wings are joined by a single

interplane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

. It has a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a

bubble canopy A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility. The designs of bubble canopies can drastically vary; s ...

, fixed

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 ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher co ...

. The fuselage was derived from the Bushby Midget Mustang. The aircraft is made from

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

sheet, with the fuselage flush riveted

stressed skin In mechanical engineering, stressed skin is a type of rigid construction, intermediate between monocoque and a rigid frame with a non-loaded covering. A stressed skin structure has its compression-taking elements localized and its tension-taking ...

. Its span wing has no flaps. The engine used was the

Lycoming O-290-D2 Lycoming may refer to the following, most of which are at least partly in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States: Geography * Lycoming, New York, a hamlet * Lycoming County, Pennsylvania * Lycoming Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania * Ly ...

powerplant. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload is . On its first flight the WC-1 set a national class record of .

Operational history

Only one example was built. It was registered in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

in 1974. The WC-1 was raced by pilot Sidney White and won the biplane class at the

Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. ...

. It also won five more class races in 1974.

Aircraft on display

San Diego Air & Space Museum San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...

– sole example

Specifications (WC-1 Sundancer)

References

External links

Photo of the WC-1 in the San Diego Air & Space Museum
{{Art Williams aircraft Williams-Cangie WC-1 Sundancer 1970s United States sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Sesquiplanes Homebuilt aircraft Racing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1974