The Alon A-4 is a prototype American

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...

of the 1960s. Alon INC. of

McPherson, Kansas McPherson ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 14,082. The city is named after Union (American Civil War), Union General ...

was formed by two former executives of

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and Military aircraft, military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacture ...

in 1963 and had initially built an improved version of the ERCO Ercoupe as the Alon A-2. In 1964, Alon started design of an all-new four-seat light aircraft, the Alon Four (or Alon A-4). It was a conventional, singled-engined low-winged

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

of all-metal construction with a fixed (non retractable)

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

undercarriage. Alon produced one

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

, this first flying on February 25, 1966.Taylor 1966, pp. 183–184. The aircraft was never put into full production before the company was sold to Mooney aircraft.

Specifications

References

* Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1966–67''. London:Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1966. * ref. see image of flier
Alon X-A4 data
1960s United States civil utility aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1966 Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft {{Aero-1960s-stub