| P-1 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Sport biplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Parks Aircraft Division, Parks Air Lines, Parks Air College |
| Introduction | 1929 |
| Number built | 45 |
| Developed from | Kreider-Reisner Challenger |
The Parks P-1 was an American three-seat sport biplane that was built in the late 1920s. [1]
Based in St.Louis, pilot, salesman and entrepreneur Oliver Parks founded an air school, airline and aircraft manufacturing business shortly after Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight. Parks bought the rights to the Kreider-Reisner Challenger C-2 and modified it with a chin radtator. The P-1 was built in a new facility in Cahokia, Illinois. [2]
The P-1 was a tandem seat, open cockpit biplane with conventional landing gear. The fuselage was constructed of welded steel tubing with aircraft fabric covering.
The P-1 was both sold as a commercial aircraft and placed into service as a trainer at Parks Air College. Although the OX-5 engine was out of production since 1917, there were still enough war surplus engines available at low enough cost to justify installing them on the 1929 design. This made the P-1 the last new aircraft produced using the outdated engine. [3] Parks located his engines by sending out his associate, Joeseph Wecker, to buy OX-5 engines from flight schools in the region. Production ended at number 45, before the onset of the Great Depression and the temporary takeover of the company by the Detroit Aircraft Corporation. [4]
While part of the Detroit Aircraft Corporation, one experimental P-1 (X289W) was modified with a faired in, tail mounted, all-plane parachute. It was filmed in a live deployment for Paramount Sound News. The 60 ft diameter Russell parachute was designed to hold 2600 to 3000 lbs. A secondary 24 ft diameter parachute was installed for the pilot.
One P-1 has been restored and displayed at the EAA airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin winning the award for outstanding open cockpit aircraft in 1992. [5]
Data from Specifications of American Commercial Airplanes [7]
General characteristics
Performance
(Partial listing, only covers most numerous types)
The Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" was one of a series of "JN" biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for the US Army, the "Jenny" continued after World War I as a civil aircraft, as it became the "backbone of American postwar [civil] aviation."
The Curtiss NC was a flying boat built by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company and used by the United States Navy from 1918 through the early 1920s. Ten of these aircraft were built, the most famous of which is the NC-4, the first airplane to make a transatlantic flight. The NC-4 is preserved in the National Museum of Naval Aviation, at NAS Pensacola, Florida.
The Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster, was a utility aircraft built in the United States in 1926, notable as the first aircraft to receive a type certificate in the US, issued by the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce on March 29, 1927. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with equal-span unstaggered wings and accommodation for the pilot and passengers in tandem open cockpits. Marketed for a variety of roles including crop-dusting, aerial photography, and freight carriage, only a handful were built, some with water-cooled engines as the CW-3, and others with air-cooled engines as the CA-3. One CA-3 placed second in the 1926 Ford National Reliability Air Tour.
The Travel Air 2000/3000/4000 (originally, the Model A, Model B and Model BH were open-cockpit biplane aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. During the period from 1924–1929, Travel Air produced more aircraft than any other American manufacturer, including over 1,000 biplanes. While an exact number is almost impossible to ascertain due to the number of conversions and rebuilds, some estimates for Travel Air as a whole range from 1,200 to nearly 2,000 aircraft.
The Kreider-Reisner Challenger was an American utility biplane aircraft designed and produced by the Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company, which was later taken over by the Fairchild Aircraft Company.
The International F-17 Sportsman was a 1920s American three-seat open-cockpit biplane designed and manufactured by the International Aircraft Corporation in Long Beach, California and Cincinnati, Ohio. 107 aircraft were built, 77 of them at Cincinnati.
The Lincoln-Page PT was an American open-cockpit two-seat single-bay biplane trainer aircraft produced from 1929 to 1931.
The Stearman C3 was an American-built civil biplane aircraft of the 1920s, designed by Stearman Aircraft of Wichita, Kansas. It was also the first Stearman aircraft to receive a type certificate.
The American A-1 and A-101 were American two and three-seat biplanes of the 1920s.
The American Eagle A-129 was a 1920s biplane built in the U.S.A.
The Waco 10/GXE/Waco O series was a range of three-seat open-cockpit biplanes built by the Advance Aircraft Company, later the Waco Aircraft Company.
The Waco 9 is an American-built three-seat biplane design that first flew in 1925.
The Kreider-Reisner KR-21-A was a 1928 American two-seat monoplane. They were designed and built by the Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company of Hagerstown, Maryland. Fairchild Aircraft took over Kreider-Reisner in 1929 and continued to build them, as the Fairchild KR-21, later the Fairchild 21.
The Swallow Airplane Swallow is an American-built general purpose biplane of the mid to late 1920s.
The Curtiss C-1 Canada was a twin-engined bomber aircraft of the First World War which was designed by Curtiss of America to be built by their Canadian subsidiary for the British Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying Corps. Although large orders were placed, only twelve were built, the type being rejected in favour of more capable aircraft such as the Handley Page O/100.
The Pitcairn PA-3 Orowing is an early Pitcairn biplane designed for light commercial use in the early 1920s when aircraft production rates did not meet demand for airmail, training, and passenger aircraft.
The Curtiss Oriole was an American three-seat general-purpose biplane.
The Curtiss Model 22 Cox Racers were two specialised racing aircraft built by the American Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. The type was flown as a monoplane, biplane and triplane.
The Thunderbird W-14 was a small, three seat American passenger transport, first flown in 1926, entering production, significantly improved, in 1927 with several different engine options. About 40-50 were built before the financial collapse of the company in 1929.
The Command-Aire 3C3 and similar 4C3 and 5C3 are American three-seat open cockpit utility, training and touring biplanes developed by Command-Aire in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
