__NOTOC__ The Arpin A-1 was a two-seat low-wing monoplane which was powered by a single radial engine in

pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...

, mounted behind the cabin between

twin boom A twin-boom aircraft has two longitudinal auxiliary spars, or “auxiliary booms” , that may contain ancillary components such as fuel tanks and/or provide a supporting structure for other items. Typically, twin tailbooms support the tail ...

s that carried the tail. An unconventional fixed

tricycle undercarriage 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 ...

was fitted. Only one was built.

Development

The Arpin A-1 was a low-wing monoplane of wooden construction and plywood covered. The empennage was carried on a pair of diamond cross section booms mounted on the rear wing spar at the edge of the centre section. The fins were tall, with a slight extension below the boom and carrying unbalanced rudders. The booms were at wing height but the side by side two seat enclosed cabin sat on the wing with the uncowled 68 hp (51 kW) British Salmson AD.9R radial immediately behind, with its centre line well above the booms and tailplane. The pusher arrangement and a short nose provided good visibility from the cabin. The Arpin had a fixed tricycle undercarriage at a time when most aircraft used the tailwheel configuration. It was the first British aircraft to be designed for tricycle landing gear. In 1938 a very unusual McClaren type was fitted, which allowed all three wheels to be turned parallel to each other but not to the aircraft, so that cross wind landings could be made with the aircraft pointing into wind. The front wheel could be left to caster or could be steered by the pilot. In 1939 the A-1 was re-engined with an inverted inline 90 hp (67 kW)

Blackburn Cirrus Minor The Blackburn Cirrus Minor is a British four-cylinder, inverted, in-line air-cooled aero-engine that was designed and built by the Cirrus Engine Section of Blackburn Aircraft Limited in the late 1930s. Design and development The Cirrus Minor s ...

I, which raised the maximum speed to 115 mph (185 km/h). With this engine it was known as the Arpin A-1 Mk.2

Operational history

Only one A-1 was built at the company works at

Longford, London Longford is a suburban village in the London borough of Hillingdon, England. It is immediately northwest of London Heathrow Airport, which is in the same borough. It is the westernmost settlement in Greater London, very close to the borders of b ...

, with the civil registration G-AFGB, it first flew from Hanworth Aerodrome on 7 May 1938. In December 1939 the A-1 was delivered to the School of Army Co-operation at

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...

to see if it would be suitable as an observation aircraft, it was not ordered into production and by 1946 the A-1 was scrapped.

Specifications (Salmson engine)

According to ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938''

References

Notes

Bibliography