| Brown 1926 parasol monoplane | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Parasol wing, two passenger light transport |
| National origin | United States |
| Designer | Lawrence W. Brown |
| Number built | at least 2 |
| History | |
| First flight | c.1924 |
The Brown 1926 parasol monoplane was a 1920s US, three seat, parasol wing civil aircraft developed from a biplane wartime scout. It was intended for either the private or commercial passenger markets, though one was used as a crop-duster.
Like several of Lawrence Brown's early designs, this parasol wing, Curtiss OX-5-engined version of the wartime Thomas-Morse S-4 biplane received no type name of its own. Both engine and airframe were available cheaply in the early post-war years. [1]
Its wing had a similar area to those of the S-4 and was rectangular in plan. Its structure was largely spruce, with two box-beam spars and an airfoil of Brown's own design. The pilot's cockpit was under the trailing edge, which had a deep, curved cut-out to assist upward vision. The wing was attached to the fuselage by pairs of near-parallel steel struts, encased in wooden fairings overlain with fabric, between the spars and the lower longerons on each side. [1]
Its fuselage was an internally wire braced, ash and spruce structure with a rectangular cross-section. The OX-5 engine, on a mounting intended to accommodate a variety of types, had its cylinders exposed and a ventilated metal cowling. Behind it, the passengers' cockpit was below the wing and between the spars. Behind the pilot's cockpit there was a curved upper decking that tapered to a tail which differed from that of the S-4, with a blunted triangular fin and rounded rectangular rudder. Its ground-adjustable tailplane was also rounded rectangular in plan, as were the elevators. [1]
The monoplane had conventional, fixed landing gear. Its wheels were on a single axle, mounted on steel tube legs with rubber shock absorbers and trailing drag struts, both enclosed in wooden streamlining. Its tailskid was made from ash. [1]
Although a modern source dates the Brown parasol to 1927, [2] a contemporary account from March 1927 notes that two had been in service for three years, [1] putting the first flight earlier than the spring of 1924.
One of these two was used in 1925 for cotton-dusting in El Salvador. [2] The total number of biplane scout to parasol transport conversions is not known.
Data from Aero Digest, 1927 (Maker's data) [1]
General characteristics
Performance