Stout 1-AS Air Sedan

Stout 1-AS Air Sedan
Role Commercial Monoplane
National origin United States of America
Manufacturer Stout Engineering Company
Designer William Bushnell Stout, George H. Prudden
First flight Feb 9, 1923




The Stout 1-AS Air Sedan was an all-metal monoplane that was an early example in the Ford Trimotor lineage.

Development

The Air Sedan was Stout's updated version of the Stout Batwing Limousine.[1] William Bushnell Stout, having just completed his famous letter writing financing effort for the company embarked on a new aircraft using the "thick airfoil" batwing design, combined with all-metal construction employed overseas in Junkers aircraft.[2]

Design

The aircraft was a high wing single engine all-metal aircraft. The pilot and co-pilot sat side-by side, in an open cockpit mounted in the leading edge of the wing. The airfoil's chord stretched half the length of the fuselage, like the earlier batwing. The fuselage was fat and low slung compared to conventional aircraft of the time. Semicircular windows present in other Stout designs were installed.[3]

Operational history

The Air Sedan was tested at Selfridge Field in Mt. Clemens, Michigan on February 9, 1923 by Walter Edwin Lees.[4] The plane was considered underpowered. On one test flight, Lees and the lead engineer, George H. Prudden took off with Stout as a passenger, they barley kept aloft, and landed in a neighboring field.[5] Later the powerplant was replaced by a 150 hp (112 kW) Hispano Suiza engine.[6]

Specifications Stout 1-AS Air Sedan

General characteristics

Performance


References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stout aircraft.
  1. "The engineering index By American Society of Mechanical Engineers". 1921.
  2. Joe Christy, LeRoy Cook. American Aviation.
  3. William Bushnell Stout, James Gilbert. So Away I Went!.
  4. "Aerial age weekly, Volumes 15-16". July 1923.
  5. "Stout Air Sedan 1923". Retrieved 25 Feb 2011.
  6. Robert F. Pauley. Michigan Aircraft Manufacturers.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/23/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.