Monospar series | |
---|---|
GAL Monospar ST-10 G-ACTS Hatfield 14 July 1934, winning the King's Cup Air Race | |
Role | Cabin monoplane |
Manufacturer | General Aircraft Ltd |
First flight | 1932 |
Number built | 45 |
Variants | Monospar ST-25 |
The General Aircraft Monospar was a 1930s British family of touring and utility aircraft built by General Aircraft Ltd (GAL).
In 1929, the Monospar Company Ltd was formed to pursue new techniques of designing cantilever wings, based on the work of Swiss engineer Helmuth J. Stieger, who headed the company. Helmuth John Stieger was born in Zurich in 1902, and educated at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic, and then at the Imperial College of Science in London. While working as a designer for William Beardmore and Company, he formed his own ideas about wing design, and evolved an improved method of building and stressing wings, for which he was later granted a British Patent in December 1927. The principle behind this Patent No. 306,220 was that the wing needed only one spar with torsion loads resisted by an efficient system of strong compression struts, with triangulated bracing in the form of thin wires. The design was revolutionary and very light for its strength. [1]
Based on this design, The Monospar Company designed a twin-engined low-wing aircraft designated the Monospar ST-3, that was built and flown in 1931 by the Gloster Aircraft Company at Brockworth, Gloucestershire. After successful testing of the Monospar ST-3, a new company General Aircraft Ltd was formed to produce aircraft that used the patented Monospar wing designs. [2]
The first production design was the Monospar ST-4, a twin-engined low-wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel landing gear and folding wings for ground storage. [3] Powered by two Pobjoy R radial engines, the first aircraft (G-ABUZ) first flew in May 1932, and was followed by five production aircraft. The Monospar ST-4 Mk.II, an improved variant with minor differences, followed with a production run of 30. In 1933, the Monospar ST-6 appeared, a similar aircraft to the ST-4, with manually retractable landing gear and room for an extra passenger. The Monospar ST-6 was only the second British aircraft to fly with retractable landing gear (the first, the Airspeed Courier, was flown a few weeks earlier). Another Monospar ST-6 was built, and two ST-4 Mk.IIs were converted. GAL then produced a developed version, the Monospar ST-10, externally the same but powered by two Pobjoy Niagara engines, an improved fuel system, and aerodynamic refinements. [2] [4] The Monospar ST-11 was developed from the ST-10, with retractable landing gear, and two were built for export to Australia. [1] [5] [6] A production batch of ten Monospar ST-12 aircraft was based on the ST-11, but with de Havilland Gipsy Major engines and fixed landing gear. [1]
The Croydon factory closed down in 1934, and a larger factory was opened in 1935 at London Air Park, Hanworth. [7]
The Monospar ST-10 prototype (G-ACTS) won the 1934 King's Cup Air Race with an average speed of 134.16 mph. [8] Only one other ST-10 was built. [1] [9]
Data fromThe Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft [12]
General characteristics
Performance
On 6 September 1935, a Monospar ST-12 operated by Australian Transcontinental Airways suffered engine failure, and made an emergency landing on Woodgreen Station in the Northern Territory. Reports vary slightly, [13] but the plane was said to be carrying the pilot J. Maher, with two passengers, Renfrey and Maloney, and a young crocodile that was being transported to Adelaide. [lower-alpha 2] Renfrey walked for two days towards Ryan's Well, a watering hole on the Overland Telegraph Line around 40 mi (64 km), to seek assistance. Three men (one of several search parties sent out to look for the men [14] ) motoring across the desert found him, and took him to Aileron telegraph station. In the meantime, Don Thomas from Alice Springs drove to Woodgreen to pick up Purvis Sr and two "blackfellows", one of whom managed to track down the plane based on the description of the location given by Renfrey. Maher and Maloney had only six oranges between them for food, but they survived until they were rescued by shooting and eating the crocodile. [15]
Related lists
The Farman F 400 was a 1930s French three-seat cabin high-winged monoplane which was designed and built by Farman.
PZL.46 Sum (sheatfish) was a light bomber of the Polish Air Force before World War II, which, was directed to serial production in the spring of 1939. These planes were in production, but the Polish industry did not manage to produce them before the outbreak of the war.
PZL.19 was a Polish sports aircraft built in 1932 in the PZL works. Ordered by the Ministry of Communications, it was specifically designed for the upcoming Challenge 1932 contest held that year in Germany.
The Short S.16 Scion and Scion II were 1930s British two-engine, cantilever monoplanes built by Short Brothers and by Pobjoy Airmotors and Aircraft Ltd. in Rochester, Kent between 1933 and 1937. Altogether 22 Scion/Scion II aircraft were built and they provided useful service to operators working from small airstrips/water courses in many parts of the globe, including Europe, the Near and Middle East, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Many were impressed into the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, providing pilot ferry services, anti-aircraft co-operation and radar calibration duties. Of the civilian Scions, at least two were still operating in Australia in 1966, one having been re-engined with de Havilland Gipsy Minor engines.
The Spartan Clipper was a British light touring aeroplane of the 1930s. It was a single-engine, two-seat, low-wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage.
PZL.12 (PZL-H) was a prototype of a Polish amphibious flying boat designed and built in 1931 by Zygmunt Puławski, a pioneering Polish designer. He was killed in a crash involving this design.
The Comper C.L.A.7 Swift is a British 1930s single-seat sporting aircraft produced by Comper Aircraft Company Ltd of Hooton Park, Cheshire.
The Praga BH-111 was a sportsplane of Czechoslovakia, designed and built specifically to compete in Challenge 1932, the European touring plane championships. It was a two-seater low-wing monoplane.
The Potez 58 was a family of French light utility and touring aircraft, developed in mid-1930s. They were three-seat single-engine high-wing monoplanes.
The B.A Swallow was a British light aircraft of the 1930s. It was a license-built version by the British Klemm Aeroplane Company of the German Klemm L.25. A total of 135 were built.
The General Aircraft Monospar ST-25 was a British 1930s light twin-engined utility aircraft.
The Farman F.430 was a 1930s French light transport designed and built by the Farman Aviation Works. Two variants with different engines were known as the F.431 and F.432.
The Pobjoy R is a British seven-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine designed and built by Pobjoy Airmotors. Introduced in 1926, it was a popular engine for ultralight and small aircraft in the 1930s. A notable feature of the Pobjoy R was the propeller reduction gear which allowed the small engine to operate at more desirable higher speeds.
The General Aircraft ST-18 Croydon was a 1930s British cabin monoplane built by General Aircraft Limited.
The Klemm Kl 36 is a 1930s German four-seat cabin touring and competition monoplane. It was designed by Klemm and Friedrich Fechner and built by Klemm.
The Jurca MJ-5 Sirocco is a two-seat sport aircraft designed in France in the early 1960s and marketed for homebuilding. It is one of many wooden homebuilt designs from Romanian born designer Marcel Jurca. Jurca, a Henschel Hs 129 pilot in World War II marketed the plans in Canada and America through Falconar Aviation. It is a low-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional configuration and wooden construction throughout. The tandem seats are enclosed by a bubble canopy, and the tailwheel undercarriage can be built as either fixed or with retractable main units. Marcel Jurca died on 19 October 2001, at which time plans were still available from the designer's web site.
The British Aircraft B.A.IV Double Eagle was a British twin-engined six-seater monoplane designed and built by the British Aircraft Manufacturing Company of London Air Park, Hanworth, England.
The Hafner A.R.III Gyroplane was a British 1930s experimental autogyro designed by Austrian Raoul Hafner, and built by the A.R.III Construction Company at Denham, Buckinghamshire.
The Yakovlev AIR-3 was a 1920s Soviet two-seat general aviation monoplane designed and built by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Yakovlev.
The Cairns A was a low wing, two tandem seat monoplane with a metal structure and stressed metal skin. It first flew late in 1931 with a 90 hp (67 kW) engine but was later fitted with more powerful engines including a 185 hp (138 kW) radial.