TA-2 | |
---|---|
Role | Amphibious aircraft |
National origin | United States of America |
Manufacturer | Towle Aircraft Company |
Designer | Thomas Towle |
First flight | 7 November 1929 |
Introduction | 1929 |
Developed from | Towle WC |
The Towle TA-2 was an amphibious aircraft based on the T owle WC built for a 1929 round-the world flight.
Thomas Towle was an engineer that had been involved with many early aircraft designs. Having just co-designed the Eastman E-2 Sea Rover and the Towle WC, Towle found funding to create a new entity, the Towle Aircraft Company to produce the TA-2. [1]
The TA-2 featured a corrugated aluminum hull. The wings were all metal with internal stiffeners, rather than ribs, based loosely on the Ford Trimotor, which Towle worked on previously. The twin Wright R-540 engines sat on small pylons on top of the shoulder mounted wing. [2] [3] Two floats were mounted directly below the engine pylons which incorporated the hydraulically actuated landing gear. [4] The prototype was originally designed for 165 hp Wright 540 engines. [5]
The TA-2 was tested in Lake St. Clair on 7 November 1929 by test pilot George Pond and James Bradley. It broke up on takeoff and sank to the bottom of the lake. [6] The aircraft appears to have been rebuilt as a Towle TA-2 and was reported to have visited Lympne Airport, Kent, United Kingdom in February 1930. [3] The wing from the prototype was salvaged and used on the next iteration, the Towle TA-3.
Data fromFlight, 14 February 1930, pp215-16.
General characteristics
Performance
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
The Douglas Y1B-7 was a 1930s American bomber aircraft. It was the first US monoplane given the B- 'bomber' designation. The monoplane was more practical and less expensive than the biplane, and the United States Army Air Corps chose to experiment with monoplanes for this reason. At the time the XB-7 was ordered, it was being tested by Douglas Aircraft as an observational plane.
The Beriev Be-8, was built by the Soviet Beriev OKB in 1947. It was a passenger/liaison amphibian aircraft with a layout similar to the Be-4 but substantially larger and heavier. It was a single engined parasol winged aircraft, with the wing installed on a thin pylon and a pair of short struts. Compared to the Be-4, the Be-8 was equipped with retractable landing gear, with cockpit and passenger cabins heated by an engine exhaust heat exchanger. The Be-8 was intended as a civil aircraft and carried no armament. First flight was on 3 December 1947, demonstrating good performance and of the two prototypes, one was demonstrated during the 1951 Soviet Aviation Day at Tushino.
The Saro A17 Cutty Sark was a British amphibious aircraft from the period between World War I and World War II, built by the British firm Saunders-Roe. The aircraft was named after the ship Cutty Sark, rather than the garment or the fictional witch.
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 Goodyear GA-2 Duck was a 1940s American three-seat light amphibious aircraft built by the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation. The design team included David Thurston, who later developed several other light seaplanes including the Colonial Skimmer, Lake Buccaneer, Thurston Teal and Seafire. Only 19 aircraft were built, and these were used only for testing and as demonstrators.
The Thurston Teal is a family of two- and four-seat all-aluminium amphibious aircraft designed by David Thurston in the United States and first flown in 1968.
The Lake Buccaneer is an American four-seat, light amphibious aircraft derived from the Colonial C-2 Skimmer, itself a development of the three-seat Colonial C-1 Skimmer.
The PWS-21 was a Polish passenger aircraft for 4 passengers, built in PWS factory in 1930, that remained a prototype.
The Orenco D was an American biplane fighter aircraft, designed by Orenco and built by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. It was the first fighter type of completely indigenous design to enter US military service.
The Spencer Amphibian Air Car is an American light amphibious aircraft. The name was first used in 1940 for a prototype air vehicle that developed into the Republic Seabee. The name was later used by its designer Percival Spencer for a series of homebuilt amphibious aircraft roughly based on the Seabee design.
The TA was an amphibious transport designed and built in the USSR in 1945.
The Bird Wing or later, Bird Wing Imperial was a light sport biplane of the 1920s and 1930s.
The Towle WC, aka Towle TA-1, was a custom built aircraft for a 1929 round-the world flight.
The Towle TA-3 was an amphibious aircraft based on the Towle TA-2.
The Eastman E-2 Sea Rover, also called the Beasley-Eastman E-2 Sea Rover, was a light seaplane built in the late 1920s for business and shuttle use.
The Paramount Cabinaire was a 1920s designed cabin biplane, designed by Walter J. Carr and produced by the Paramount Aircraft Corporation. Only eight were completed before production ceased.
The Trident TR-1 Trigull is a Canadian amphibious aircraft that was developed by Trident Aircraft of Burnaby, British Columbia and later Sidney, British Columbia. The aircraft was intended to be supplied as a complete ready-to-fly certified aircraft. The company encountered financial difficulties and only three prototypes were ever built.
The Lioré et Olivier LeO H-23 was a French military flying boat, primarily intended for coastal reconnaissance, though able to carry a small bomb load. Only one was built.
The Island X-199 Spectra was a prototype technology demonstrator designed to test several concepts in amphibian aircraft design in anticipation of a future production variant. Originally known as the "Spectra", it later was renamed for marketing purposes, the "X-199".
The Privateer Industries Privateer is an American amphibious amateur-built aircraft that was designed by John Meekins and Bill Husa and is under development by Privateer Industries of Florida. It was first flown on 6 August 2018. The aircraft is intended to be supplied as a kit for amateur construction and later type certified and sold as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.
{{cite journal}}
: Missing or empty |title=
(help)