Vulcan American Moth Monoplane
| American Moth | |
|---|---|
| Role | Parasol |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Vulcan Aircraft |
| Designer | Harvey and Wilson Keyser Doyle |
| First flight | 1928 |
The Vulcan American Moth Monoplane was a early monoplane developed by the Doyle Brothers.
Development
Wilson Doyle graduated Harvard in 1925, and his brother Harvey from Yale the same year. They struck out to Detroit looking for employment in avaition and backing for a new aircraft design. Their first job was working as a draftsman on the ZMC-2 airship, then construction on the Hess H-1 Bluebird line. Ford Trimotor engineer Jan Pavlecka introduced the brothers to William Burke of the Vulcan Last Company, which produced golf clubs among other items. They founded the Vulcan Aircraft Corporation. The name of thier first aircraft was chosen to ride on the popularity of the De Haviland Tiger Moth. [1]
Design
The American Moth is a strut-braced high wing monoplane with conventional landing gear and a tandem open cockpit requirng the front passenger to enter through the removable backrest between cockpits, and get locked in place. The fuselage is made of welded steel tubing with fabric covering. The wings use Spruce spars with wooden wing ribs. The ailerons used push-pull tubes for control. The default paint job was scarlet red and ivory.[2]
Operational history
Pathe News filmed ground runs of the American Moth. The first test flight was flown by Pat Love.[3] Vulcan would promote its aircraft by touring from city to city golf courses having promoter Benny Martinez parachute with a set of Vulcan golf clubs.[4] Martinez eventually broke his leg and Vulcan's chief pilot Pat Love died a year later in a crash.[5] In 1928, Burke died of a heart attack, and the assets of the company were sold to Davis Aircraft in Richmond Indiana. Dwight Huntington modified the drawings to produce the Davis V-3, Davis D-1, and a custom racer with about 60 units built before the company stopped production in 1929 after a doping-process fueled fire.
Variants
Specifications (American Moth)
Data from Sport Aviation
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 1
Performance
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Notes
References
- ^ Harvey Doyle (December 1986). "American Moth". Sport Aviation.
- ^ Harvey Doyle (December 1986). "American Moth". Sport Aviation.
- ^ Harvey Doyle (December 1986). "American Moth". Sport Aviation.
- ^ "Ohio Good Will Tour Planes to Put On Exhibition". The Palm Beach Post. 6 March 1928.
- ^ "Vulcan Aircraft Company". Retrieved 30 May 2012.