Aeronca C-2

Infobox Aircraft
name=Aeronca C-2


caption=
type=Ultralight monoplane
manufacturer=Aeronca Aircraft
designer=Jean A. Roche
first flight=1929
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=
more users=
produced=
number built=164
variants with their own articles=

The Aeronca C-2 is an American ultralight monoplane designed by Jean A. Roche and built by Aeronca Aircraft.

Development

The Aeronca C-2, powered by a tiny two-cylinder engine, debuted in 1929. It was flying at its most basic—the pilot sat on a bare plywood board. Originally known as the Roche Original after designer Jean A. Roche (who sold the design rights to Aeronca Aircraft), the C-2 featured an unusual, almost frivolous design with an open-pod fuselage that inspired its nickname, “The Flying Bathtub", The general design of the C-2 could have been inspired by Jean Roche's initial flight experiences with an American-built copy of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, which had a similar triangular "basic" fuselage cross-section, and wire spoked main landing gear wheels right up against the fuselage sides.

Equipped with only five instruments, a stick, and rudder pedals (brakes and a heater cost extra), the C-2 was priced at a low $1,495, bringing the cost of flying down to a level that a private citizen could aspire to and perhaps reach. Aeronca sold 164 of the economical C-2s at the height of the Great Depression in 1930-1931, helping to spark the growth of private aviation in the United States.

The Aeronca C-2 also holds the distinction of being the first aircraft to be refueled from a moving automobile. A can of gasoline was handed up from a speeding Austin automobile to a C-2 pilot, (who hooked it with a wooden cane) during a 1930 air show in California. A seaplane version of the C-2 was also offered, designated the PC-2 and PC-3 (“P” for pontoon) with floats replacing the wheeled landing gear.

pecifications (C-2)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=Aeronca C-2: The Story of the Flying Bathtubcite book |last= Spenser |first= Jay P. |title= Aeronca C-2: The Story of the Flying Bathtub |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |accessdate= |accessyear=|edition= |year= 1978 |month= |publisher= Smithsonian Institution Press |location= Washington, D.C. |isbn= 0874748798 |pages=p. 71 |quote= ]

crew=1
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main=20 ft
length alt=6.10 m
span main=36 ft
span alt=10.98 m
height main=7 ft 6 in
height alt=2.28 m
area main=142.2 ft²
area alt=13.2 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main=406 lbs
empty weight alt=184 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)=Aeronca E-107A (4.125x4=106.9 (1.75L))
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main=26-30 hp
power alt=
power original=

max speed main=80 mph
max speed alt=128 km/h
cruise speed main=65 mph
cruise speed alt=104 km/h
stall speed main=31 mph
stall speed alt=50 km/h
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=240 mi
range alt=384 km
ceiling main=16,500 ft
ceiling alt=5032 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=4.92 lb/ft²
loading alt=24 kg/m²
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=

armament=

avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Aeronca C-3

References