| EAA Biplane | |
|---|---|
 | |
| EAA Biplane on display at the EAA Museum | |
| Role | Homebuilt |
| Manufacturer | Robert D. Blacker |
| Designer | Allison Team & Robert Blacker |
| First flight | 10 June 1960 |
The EAA Biplane is a recreational aircraft that was designed by the Experimental Aircraft Association in the United States and marketed as plans for home-built aircraft. [1]
A preliminary design was produced for the EAA by a team of Allison engineers led by EAA member Jim D. Stewart in 1955. [2] This team took the Gere Sport of the 1930s as their starting point and eventually developed a completely new design, which also incorporated several later design changes made by Robert D. Blacker, the prototype's builder and one of its test pilots. [3]
Blacker's design changes included adding a +2 degree of dihedral to the upper wing, redesign of the horizontal stabilizer, installation of a diagonal brace at Stations 2 and 3, a change to the fuselage truss assembly, strengthening of the control column support, and a ball-bearing arrangement. [4] [5]
The design is a single-seat biplane of conventional configuration, with staggered, single-bay equal-span wings braced with N-struts. The undercarriage is of fixed tailwheel type. The fuselage is fabric-covered welded steel tube, and the wings fabric-covered wood. [6]
This prototype EAA Biplane was built by Blacker and his students at St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, Illinois, as the second airplane completed as part of EAA's Project Schoolflight. [7] [3] [8] [9] [10] [11] The EAA Biplane construction began in September 1957, with a first flight in June, 1960. [12] [8] During the construction of the prototype, Blacker wrote several "EAA Biplane Progress Reports" published in EAA's Sport Aviation magazine. [13] [14] [15] [16] Blacker put the prototype's incomplete fuselage as on display at EAA's 1958 fly-in. The prototype EAA Biplane work, along with the other facets of Project Schoolflight, resulted in the award of the Mechanix Illustrated trophy for "Outstanding Achievement in Home-Built Aircraft". [17] The completed prototype EAA Biplane was first publicly shown at the 1961 Rockford, Illinois Fly-In. [2]
Plans for the biplane remained available until 1972, with 7,000 sets sold.[ citation needed ]
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1965–66. [19]
General characteristics
Performance
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Project Schoolflight was a youth outreach program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) which was jointly co-founded in 1955 by EAA founder Paul Poberezny and Robert D. Blacker, the director of the Aviation Industrial Arts program at St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, Illinois.
The new airplane being constructed.....EAA Biplane.....
Bob Blacker......taken on the project of building the EAA Biplane project in 1957.
" .....Bob Blacker and his students......completed the EAA Biplane......which resides in the EAA Museum".
"Blacker reports that a few too many Design changes are needed in certain areas." Causing schedule delay
no one was surprised when the 1958 trophy went to Bob Blacker for his outstanding work in Project Schoolflight with his students at St. Rita High School.
PHOTO: Paul Poberezny in the original EAA Biplane built by Robert D. Blacker & Project Schoolflight at St. Rita's High School.
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