The Carlson Skycycle is an
American, single-seat,
low-wing
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 config ...
, single-engine,
homebuilt aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...
that was originally designed by A. Hanford Eckman in 1945 and re-designed as a replica by Ernst W. Carlson and produced by
Carlson Aircraft of
East Palestine, Ohio
East Palestine ( ) is a village in Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,761 at the 2020 census. Located on the state's border with Pennsylvania, East Palestine is about south of Youngstown and northwest of Pittsburgh ...
in kit form. The prototype was completed in 1995.
[Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', pp. 162-164. BAI Communications. ][Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, p. 42. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851][Downey, Julia: ''2001 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 17, Number 12, December 2000, p. 39. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851][Downey, Julia: ''2002 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 18, Number 12, December 2001, p. 30. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851]
The Carlson Skycycle is a full-size replica of the
Piper PA-8 Skycycle and the prototype was donated to the
Piper Aviation Museum[ when no orders for the aircraft kit were forthcoming.
]
Design and development
Carlson Skycycle was conceived by designer Ernst W. Carlson as a tribute to the original design of A. Hanford Eckman at Piper Airplane Corporation. The original PA-8 was intended to have been one of Piper Aircraft]'s post-World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
aircraft models, but only the prototype was built and it did not enter production. Nevertheless, the PA-8 offered good performance, cruising at on just .[
Carlson set out to build a replica as close as possible to the original, working from the only surviving documents, some sketches, a few photographs and one three-view drawing. The original materials were not duplicated and the Carlson model is built with a ]fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
over a welded steel frame, with a 2024-T3 aluminium tail cone, supported by internal bulkheads. The aircraft has a Plexiglas
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bra ...
canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
. The original PA-8's engine was specified, a Lycoming O-145 of .[
Carlson's plan in recreating the Skycycle was to offer kits for sale, but the design requires factory assistance and special tooling to complete and no kits beyond the prototype were completed. Construction time from the kit was intended to be 800 hours.][
]
Specifications (Skycycle)
See also
References
{{Carlson Aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft
Replica aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Single-engined piston aircraft