The American Eagle A-129 was an American biplane first flown in 1929.

Design and development

The preceding

American Eagle A-101 The American A-1 and A-101 were American two and three-seat biplanes of the 1920s. Design and development The American Eagle A-1 was designed in late 1925 as a training aircraft to replace the World War I biplanes then in use by the Porterfield ...

of 1926 had achieved some success, but its fierce spin characteristics had resulted in several crashes during training flights.

Giuseppe Bellanca Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (March 19, 1886 – December 26, 1960) was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into t ...

redesigned the biplane with a longer fuselage and narrower cowling to accommodate the five-cylinder

Kinner K-5 The Kinner K-5 was a popular engine for light general and sport aircraft developed by Winfield B. 'Bert' Kinner. With the boom in civilian aviation after Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight the K-5 sold well. The K-5 was a rough running but ...

100 h.p. radial engine, which had its cylinder heads exposed. To mark the year of its first appearance, the designation A-129 was applied.

Operational history

Initially designed to replace the Porterfield Flying Schools A-101s, the new biplane proved to have good flying characteristics and more than 400 were built. The aircraft were also flown by "barnstormers" and sports pilots. Several A-129s remain airworthy and examples are preserved at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum at Old Rhinebeck in New York state and in the Kansas Aviation Museum

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

.Ogden, 2007, p. 572

Variants

A range of engines was fitted to the A-129 without changing the type designation. They included the

Curtiss OX-5 The Curtiss OX-5 was an early V-8 American liquid-cooled aircraft engine built by Curtiss. It was the first American-designed aircraft engine to enter mass production, although it was considered obsolete when it did so in 1917.Smith, 1981, page ...

straight engine The straight or inline engine is an internal combustion engine with all cylinders aligned in one row and having no offset. Usually found in four, six and eight cylinder configurations, they have been used in automobiles, locomotives and aircraf ...

and others up to the 200 h.p.

Wright J-4 The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation, with a total displacement of about and around . These engines were the earliest members of the Wright Whirlwin ...

. The American Eagle A-229 was a two seat trainer version with a Curtiss OX-5 engine.

Specifications (100 h.p. Kinner K-5)

American_Eagle_A-129_3-view_Aero_Digest_June_1929

{{Aircraft specs , ref=Aero Digest June 1929{{cite journal, url = https://archive.org/details/aerodigest1415unse/page/n395/mode/1up, title = American Eagle , journal=Aero Digest, date=June 1929 , page=116 , volume=14, number=6, publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corp, location=New York City , prime units?=imp , genhide= , crew= one , capacity= two passengers , length m= , length ft=25 , length in=1 , length note= , span m= , span ft=30 , span in=0 , span note= , upper span m= , upper span ft= , upper span in= , upper span note= , lower span m= , lower span ft= , lower span in= , lower span note= , height m= , height ft=8 , height in=4 , height note= , wing area sqm= , wing area sqft=160 , wing area note= upper, lower {{cvt, 140, sqft, m2 lower , aspect ratio= , airfoil= , empty weight kg= , empty weight lb=1220 , empty weight note= , gross weight kg= , gross weight lb=2041 , gross weight note= , fuel capacity={{{cvt, 42, USgal, Impgal l , more general= , eng1 number=1 , eng1 name=

, eng1 type=five cylinder

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective form of * Radial distance, a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system * Radial set * A bearing f ...

, eng1 kw= , eng1 hp=100 , prop blade number=2 , prop name=wooden, fixed pitch , prop dia m= , prop dia ft= , prop dia in= , prop dia note= , perfhide= , max speed kmh= , max speed mph=105 , max speed kts= , max speed note= , cruise speed kmh= , cruise speed mph=95 , cruise speed kts= , cruise speed note=/bk> *Take-off run: {{cvt, 100-150, ft, m *Landing speed: {{cvt, 30, mph, km/h kn , stall speed kmh= , stall speed mph=35 , stall speed kts= , stall speed note= , never exceed speed kmh= , never exceed speed mph= , never exceed speed kts= , never exceed speed note= , range km= , range miles=500 , range nmi= , range note= , endurance= , ceiling m= , ceiling ft=14000 , ceiling note= , g limits= , roll rate= , climb rate ms= , climb rate ftmin=900 , climb rate note=initial , time to altitude= , lift to drag= , wing loading kg/m2= , wing loading lb/sqft= , wing loading note= , fuel consumption kg/km= , fuel consumption lb/mi= , power/mass= , thrust/weight= , more performance=

References

;Notes {{reflist ;Bibliography {{refbegin *{{cite book, last=Ogden, first=Bob, title=Aviation Museums and Collections of North America, year=2007, publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, isbn=978-0-85130-385-7 *{{cite book, last=Simpson, first=Rod, title=Airlife's World Aircraft, year=2001, publisher=Airlife Publishing Ltd, isbn=1-84037-115-3 {{refend

External links

{{commons category, American Eagle A-129
Aerofiles American Eagle page
{{American Eagle 1920s United States civil utility aircraft Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1929