Rearwin Airplanes

Last updated
Rearwin Aircraft and Engines Inc.
Formerly
  • Rearwin Airplanes Inc.
  • Rearwin Aircraft Inc.
Industry Aerospace
Founded1928 (1928)
Defunct1942 (1942)
FateSold
Successor Commonwealth Aircraft
Headquarters
  • Salina, Kansas
  • Kansas City, Kansas
,
United States
Key people
  • R.A. Rearwin
  • Royce Rearwin
  • Ken Rearwin
Subsidiaries Ken-Royce Engines

Rearwin Airplanes was a series of US airplane-manufacturing businesses founded by Andrew ("Rae") Rearwin in 1928. [1] Rae Rearwin was an American businessman who had developed several successful business ventures in the Salina, Kansas area in the early 20th century. Although he had no experience with aircraft manufacturing (and no pilot training), he felt that he could succeed with his solid business acumen. With his two sons, Ken and Royce, he hired some engineers and built the Ken-Royce in a garage in Salina. The business moved to the Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Kansas, and went through several variations before it was sold to Commonwealth Aircraft in 1942, which went bankrupt in 1946. [2]

Contents

History

Rae Rearwin had toured Wichita aircraft manufacturers in the summer of 1927 with his teenage sons Royce and Ken and became convinced he could improve on what he saw. He investigated buying an existing firm, but none were interested in selling, so he tried to hire Herb Rawdon away from the Travel Air Corporation. Rawdon wasn't interested but suggested an engineer who might be. [2] :41

The company started construction in an old garage in Salina, Kansas, the Rearwin's hometown. The company's first prototype, the Rearwin Ken-Royce was finished in January 1929. Rearwin moved the operation to the Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Kansas in early 1929. While the Ken-Royce prototype engaged in publicity tours and races, Rae Rearwin sought an investor to fund operations. A Kansas City oilman provided funds and Rae formed a joint venture with him, naming the company Rearwin Airplanes. [2] :63

Rearwin Airplanes would produce both the Ken-Royce and the Rearwin Junior, although the Great Depression ultimately caused orders for both to dry up. In 1933, Rae started a new sole proprietorship using the idle Rearwin Airplanes factory and equipment, which was named Rearwin Aircraft. Rearwin Aircraft focused on producing the high performance Rearwin Speedster and the lower-cost Rearwin Sportster. The company became Rearwin Aircraft & Engines upon acquiring LeBlond Aircraft Engine Corporation, a maker of small radial engines which Rearwin used in several of their products. The division was renamed Ken-Royce Engines Company. [2]

Rearwin Aircraft & Engines introduced their Cloudster in 1939, which was further developed into a specialized instrument trainer for airlines. To stay current, Rearwin's last product, the Skyranger adopted the new horizontally-opposed engine instead of the small radial engines the company produced and was experienced with. [2]

The company was sold to investor Frank Cohen's Empire Ordnance company in 1942 and became Commonwealth Aircraft, which would acquire Columbia Aircraft Corporation and move to their former plant in Valley Stream, New York. While Ken and Royce had always been involved in the Rearwin company, they were not interested in taking over the business. Rearwin Aircraft & Engines' investments and specialty in small radial engines left them poorly positioned for the coming age of horizontally-opposed engines that would dominate after World War II. [2]

Before selling the company, the Rearwins had negotiated contracts to make Waco CG-3A and CG-4A. This required physical expansions, and 2000 employees would eventually be hired. Other war contracts included dies and punches for Remington Arms and glider tow releases. By the end of World War II, 1,470 of the CG-4A gliders had been built, making Rearwin/Commonwealth the third-largest manufacturer of the type. [2]

Commonwealth Aircraft resumed production of the Skyranger in 1945 at the Fairfax plant, before moving production to New York. The company went bankrupt in 1946 and was dissolved by March 1947. [2]

Products

Rearwin Aircraft

Rearwin 8135 Cloudster Rearwin 8135 Cloudster.jpg
Rearwin 8135 Cloudster
Model nameFirst flightNumber builtType
Rearwin Ken-Royce 19297Single engine sport biplane
Rearwin Junior 1931~30Single engine sport monoplane
Rearwin Speedster 193411Single engine sport monoplane
Rearwin Sportster 1935~273Single engine sport monoplane
Rearwin Cloudster 1939125Single engine utility monoplane
Rearwin Skyranger 194082Single engine utility monoplane

Ken-Royce Engine Company

Rearwin's aircraft mainly used small radial engines, so in 1937 when the R. K. LeBlond Machine Tool Company offered to sell their engine division, which specialized in small radial engines, Rearwin bought the assets. The sale was made at a steeply discounted price, to give the LeBlond company a tax write-off, and gave Rearwin an in-house source of small radial engines for their aircraft. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeronca L</span> Type of aircraft

The Aeronca L was a 1930s American cabin monoplane designed and built, in small numbers, by Aeronca Aircraft. It differed significantly from other Aeronca planes by the use of radial engines, streamlining, and a cantilever low wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LeBlond radial engines</span>

The LeBlond radial engines, later produced under the name Ken-Royce, were a family of 3-cylinder, 5-cylinder and 7-cylinder, air-cooled radial engines for aircraft, built in the 1930s by the LeBlond Aircraft Engine Corporation until the operation was sold to Rearwin Airplanes in 1937 and renamed Ken-Royce Engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waco Aircraft Company</span> 1919-1947 American aircraft manufacturer

The Waco Aircraft Company (WACO) was an aircraft manufacturer located in Troy, Ohio, United States. Between 1920 and 1947, the company produced a wide range of civilian biplanes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cessna CG-2</span> American glider of the 1930s

The Cessna Model CG-2 was an American primary glider built by the Cessna Aircraft Company in the early 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waco CG-4</span> American WWII glider

The Waco CG-4 was the most widely used American troop/cargo military glider of World War II. It was designated the CG-4A by the United States Army Air Forces, and given the service name Hadrian by the British.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commonwealth Skyranger</span> Type of aircraft

The Commonwealth Skyranger, first produced as the Rearwin Skyranger, was the last design of Rearwin Aircraft before the company was purchased by a new owner and renamed Commonwealth Aircraft. It was a side-by-side, two-seat, high-wing taildragger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commonwealth Aircraft</span> Defunct American aircraft manufacturer

Commonwealth Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturer from Valley Stream, New York. Originally Rearwin Aircraft & Engines of Kansas City, the company was renamed in 1942 after it was purchased by a new owner. During World War II, Commonwealth primarily made combat gliders under contract to the Waco Aircraft Company. After World War II, Commonwealth resumed production of the Rearwin-designed Commonwealth Skyranger and consolidated operations in Valley Stream, New York. Commonwealth Aircraft went bankrupt in March 1947 and ceased operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rearwin Sportster</span> Type of aircraft

The Rearwin Sportster is a 1930s American two-seat, high-winged, cabin monoplane designed and built by Rearwin Aircraft & Engines for sport/touring use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rearwin Cloudster</span> Type of aircraft

The Rearwin Cloudster was a two or three-seat civil utility aircraft produced by the Rearwin Aircraft & Engines Company of Kansas City, Missouri beginning in 1939. It was a strut-braced, high-wing monoplane of conventional design with an enclosed cabin and fixed, taildragger undercarriage. One specialized version was produced as a trainer for Pan American Airways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rearwin Junior</span> Type of aircraft

The Rearwin Junior was a 1930s two-seat high-winged ultra-light monoplane sport aircraft produced in the United States by Rearwin Airplanes Inc. It was part of a trend of extremely low-cost aircraft as manufacturers attempted to survive the Great Depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rearwin Speedster</span> Type of aircraft

The Rearwin Speedster was a two-seat, high-wing, sport aircraft produced by Rearwin Airplanes Inc. in the United States in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfax Municipal Airport</span> Airport in the U.S. state of Kansas

Fairfax Municipal Airport was a Kansas City, Kansas airfield from 1921 that was used during 1935–1949 by the military. Federal land adjacent to the airfield included a WWII B-25 Mitchell plant and modification center and a Military Air Transport terminal. After being used as a Cold War-era Air Force Base, it was used for airliner servicing by TWA and for automobile and jet fighter aircraft production by General Motors, which built a 1985 Fairfax Plant over runways when the municipal airport closed.

Herbert Rawdon was an American aviation pioneer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LeBlond Aircraft Engine Corporation</span>

LeBlond Aircraft Engine Corporation was a small engine manufacturer incorporated on April 11, 1928. It was located on the northwest corner of Madison and Edwards Roads in Norwood, Ohio It was a subsidiary of the R. K. LeBlond Machine Tool Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, a manufacturer of metal machining lathes.

The Antique Airplane Association, Inc. (AAA) is the oldest antique airplane association in the world. The AAA formed in August 1953 by Robert L. Taylor, via a classified ad in Flying magazine and a few people with a deep-seated interest in old airplanes, for the purpose to fly, to preserve, to share and to promote the early flying machines.

Melvin Eugene Salvay was an American aircraft engineer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timm Aircraft</span>

The O.W. Timm Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by Otto William Timm, based in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Townsend Ludington</span> American businessman

Charles Townsend Ludington, , was a businessman of Philadelphia. He was an aviation pioneer who helped establish an every-hour-on-the-hour air service between New York and Washington. His airline ultimately became Eastern Airlines. He designed airports, airplanes, and gliders. One of his designs became a Navy training airplane. Another of his designs was a crash protection device installed on Navy airplanes that saved pilot lives. Ludington also make a line of boats that were designed by a professional outboard boat racer.

Dwane Leon Wallace was an American aviation businessman and aircraft designer. He served as the president and/or chairman of the board of the Cessna Aircraft Company from 1935 until the 1970s, having then continued on the board as a director and consultant into the 1980s. Wallace later became known as the "Quiet Giant of Aviation", and was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2012. He was included in the Flying Magazine list of the "51 Heroes of Aviation", placing at number 11.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rearwin Ken-Royce</span> Type of aircraft

The Rearwin Ken-Royce was an American three-seat sport/touring biplane built by Rearwin Airplanes first in Salina, Kansas then Kansas City. It was the first airplane built by the company.

References

  1. Donald M. Pattillo. A History in the Making: 80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry. p. 20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Wright, Bill (1997). Rearwin: A Story of Men, Planes, and Aircraft Manufacturing During the Great Depression . Manhattan, Kansas: Sunflower University Press. ISBN   0-89745-207-0.