The Davis D-1 is an American light two-seat parasol-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 the late 1920s.

Development and design

The Davis D-1 was developed from the

Davis V-3 Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Station, an Australian base and research outpost in the Vestfold Hills * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Sask ...

, which in turn was developed from the Vulcan American Moth. The Davis Aircraft Corporation had its factory at

Richmond, Indiana Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

. The D-1 is a parasol-winged aircraft of mixed construction with a two-spar wing and a rectangular welded steel-tube

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 ...

, the whole being covered by fabric. There are tandem open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

s and it is fitted with a fixed

tailwheel undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

which is attached by struts to the fuselage top and bottom. The wing is braced by struts from the lower fuselage. Various engines of between have been fitted.

Operational history

The D-1 was used from 1929 by sporting pilots and by private pilot owners for leisure flying. In September 1930, Art Chester bought a Davis D-1-85 parasol, and flew it to victory in the 1930

National Air Races The National Air Races (also known as Pulitzer Trophy Races) are a series of pylon and cross-country races that have taken place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew ...

. A late model D-1W "The Whistler II" was built in 1933 for Davis with a canopy. It was raced in the 1934 Miami air race by Art Davis winning the category at 133.478 mph. It was later owned by movie star

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Early days Arlen served in Canada as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. He later taught as ...

, and restored to become a Grand Champion antique. Most Davis aircraft were sold in the United States but at least one went to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Fourteen examples remained in 2001 in various states of airworthinessSimpson p.176-177 and several are still airworthy in 2011.

Variants

(Data from Aerofiles) ;D-1 : LeBlond 5D (23 built) ;D-1-166 : LeBlond 5DF (4 built) ;D-1-K :

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 ...

(10-15 built) ;D-1-L : prototype of the D-1-166 with

Lambert R-266 Lambert may refer to People *Lambert (name), a given name and surname * Lambert, Bishop of Ostia (–1130), became Pope Honorius II * Lambert, Margrave of Tuscany (fl. 929–931), also count and duke of Lucca *Lambert (pianist), stage-name of Ger ...

(1 built - also known as D-1-85) DavisD-1W

;D-1-W :

Warner Scarab The Warner Scarab is an American seven-cylinder radial engine, radial aircraft engine, that was manufactured by the Warner Aircraft Corporation of Detroit, Michigan in 1928 through to the early 1940s. In military service the engine was designate ...

(8 converted from D-1-K)

Specifications (D-1-W)

Notes

References

*Green, William, The Aircraft of the World, 1965, MacDonald & Co (Publishers) Ltd, no isbn *Simpson, R.W., Airlife's World Aircraft, Airlife Publishing Ltd, 2001,

External links

{{commons category, Davis D-1
Information and photographs of the D-1 series
(Sourced from Aerofiles) 1920s United States civil utility aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft