 | |
| Role | Two seat sport and training aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Aero Engineering Corporation |
| First flight | 1936 |
The Aeroneer 1-B is an all-metal light aircraft built in the United States in 1936. It did not reach production, despite an attempt to interest the USAAC in it as a trainer, but it appeared in three Hollywood films.
The Aeroneer 1-B was initially developed by the Aero Engineering Corp, which named it. Its later development was taken up by the Phillips Aviation Company, [1] so it appears as the Aeroneer 1-B in contemporary publications, [1] [2] though later sources may refer to it as the Phillips Aeroneer 1-B. [3]
The Aeroneer is a low wing cantilever design. Its wing is in five separate parts: a short span, rectangular centre section, trapezoidal panels over most of the span and rounded tips. The outer panels carry some dihedral. It is built around a single spar placed at 30% chord. Torsional loads are resisted by a torsion box formed by the riveted Alclad skin that covers the whole wing and an auxiliary spar at 65% chord. [1] [2] [4] Its ailerons are metal framed but fabric covered, mounted on piano hinges from the upper surface. [4] Split flaps with an area of 24 sq ft (2.2 m2) run under the trailing edge from aileron to aileron. [1] [4]
The engine is a 125 hp (93 kW) Menasco C-4, an air-cooled, inverted four-cylinder inline, though other 85–150 hp (63–112 kW) Menasco engines could also have been fitted. The fuselage is all-metal, Aclad skinned and stiffened, though immediately behind the engine and around the cockpit the structure is reinforced with chrome-molybdenum steel tubes. [1] [4] The enclosed cockpit, under a sliding canopy and seating two side-by-side with dual controls, is over the wing. [2] [4] The empennage is conventional, with the tailplane set at mid-fuselage; its elevators are balanced and fitted with trim tabs. The fin is straight-edged but the short, broad, balanced rudder is curved. [1] [2]
The Aeroneer has a tailwheel undercarriage. Its mainwheels are on parallel, forward-raked oleo strut legs. The wheels have hydraulic brakes and both they and the legs are faired-in. [1] The tailwheel, also fitted with a shock absorber, is free to caster. Floats or skis can replace wheels. [2]
The date of the Aeroneer's first flight is not known but by February 1937 it had completed "extensive tests" and was "ready for production". [4] Nonetheless, it did not receive its Approved Type Certificate until the summer of 1938. [1]
In the absence of civil orders, Phillips slightly increased the span as well its power, in the hope that USAAC would order it as a basic trainer. [3] A 160 hp (120 kW) Menasco B-6 six-cylinder inline installation was planned, [1] though another six-cylinder, inverted inline, a 145 hp (108 kW) Ranger 6-410, was finally installed. [3]
No order was placed and the Aeroneer may have been sold to MGM; it appears in several films including The House Across the Bay (1940), where it took the rôle of the Crane X-PT, Power Dive (1941), and Sky Raiders (1941). [3] [5]
The Aeroneer is reported to have survived in storage in Arizona until at least 2005. In 2007 it was advertised as for sale [3] and its current state is unknown.
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938 [1]
General characteristics
Performance
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