Aeronca C-2#Surviving aircraft

Jean A. Roche was a U.S. Army engineer at McCook Field airfield in Dayton, Ohio. Roche developed an aircraft with automatic stability and was granted U. S. Patent No. 1,085,461. Roche published his engineering ideas for the aircraft in Aerial Age Weekly and Slipstream Monthly magazines. The prototype was started in Ohio in 1923 with the assistance of fellow engineer Quinten Dohse. The aircraft used a triangular cross-section welded steel tube fuselage, with wood wings, was fabric-covered, and used wire bracing throughout. A Henderson engine was installed, but did not perform well. Next a custom 29 hp two-cylinder Morehouse engine was developed for the aircraft. On September 1, 1925, the aircraft was successfully test flown. Many pilots including Jimmy Doolittle tried out the aircraft. Wright Aeronautical hired Morehouse and rights to his Wright-Morehouse WM-80 engine. Left without an engine, They turned to Robert E. Galloway of the Aeronautical Corporation of America to use the Aeronca E-107 engine. The rights to the aircraft were sold to Aeronca in 1928 as the basis for the C-2 Design.{{cite journal |first1=Jack |last1=McRae |title=This Month's Old Timer: The Roche' Monoplane |journal=Sport Aviation |date=June 1958 |pages=14–15 |publisher=EAA }}

The Aeronca C-2, powered by a tiny two-cylinder engine, made its first flight in OctoberPayne, Stephen, ed. Canadian Wings (Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd., 2006), p.163. 1929, with its public debut in St. Louis in February 1930. It was flying at its most basic—the pilot sat on a bare plywood board. The C-2 featured an unusual, almost frivolous design with an open-pod fuselage that inspired its nickname, The Flying Bathtub. (It was also nicknamed "Airknocker" and "Razorback".) The general design of the C-2 could have been inspired by Jean Roche's initial flight experiences with an American-built copy of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, which had a similar triangular "basic" fuselage cross-section, and wire-spoked main landing gear wheels against the fuselage sides.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} The C designation derived from the fact that Aeronca had earlier been formed as the Cincinnati Aeronautical Corporation,{{cite journal |last1=Ord-Hume |first1=Arthur W. J. G. |title=The Aeronca Experience |journal=Aeroplane Monthly |date=January 1998 |volume=26 |issue=297 |pages=56–61}}

Equipped with only four instruments (altimeter, oil temperature, oil pressure, and tachometer), a stick, and rudder pedals (brakes and a heater at extra cost), the C-2 was priced at a low $1,555 (later US$1,245), bringing the cost of flying down to a level that a private citizen could perhaps reach.{{cite book|title=A History in the Making: 80 Turbulent Years in the American General Aviation Industry|author=Donald M. Pattillo|page=18}} Aeronca sold 164 of the economical C-2s at the height of the Great Depression in 1930-1931, helping to spark the growth of private aviation in the United States.{{cite web |last1=Parks |first1=Dennis |title=Aeronca C-2: Small plane, big records |url=https://generalaviationnews.com/2015/12/10/aeronca-c-2-small-plane-big-records/ |website=General Aviation News |publisher=Flyer Media Inc |access-date=5 December 2023 |date=10 December 2015}}

The Aeronca C-2 also holds the distinction of being the first aircraft to be refueled from a moving automobile. A can of gasoline was handed up from a speeding Austin automobile to a C-2 pilot, (who hooked it with a wooden cane) during a 1930 air show in California.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

A single Aeronca C-2, G-ABHE, was converted to a glider by H.J. Parham in England after an in-flight engine failure and forced landing. The nose was faired in after the removal of the engine. It first flew as a glider 15 May 1937 and went to the Dorset Glider Club but was destroyed in the club hangar during a storm in November 1938.

;Aeronca C-2: Single-seat light sporting aircraft, powered by a {{convert|26|hp}} Aeronca E-113 piston engine.

;Aeronca C-2 Collegian: Improved two-seat version, with a wider fuselage, a {{convert|40|hp|}} E-113A engine, and a number of design improvements but retaining the open cockpit and strut-braced undercarriage. Confusingly, Aeronca renamed this version the C-3 Collegian.

File:EL-2003-00273.jpg

;Aeronca C-2N Scout: Deluxe sporting aircraft, powered by a 36-hp (27-kW) Aeronca E-112 or E-133A piston engine. Four built.

Note that a P prefix, as in PC-2N, would indicate that the aircraft was fitted with floats, P standing for Pontoon.

File:Aeronca C-2 ‘NC647W’ (25745734552).jpg

File:Aeronca C-2N N11417 VA Msm Richmond 21.04.04R edited-3.jpg

;Canada

• A-9 – C-2 CF-AOR on static display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.{{cite web |title=Aeronca C-2 |url=https://ingeniumcanada.org/aviation/artifact/aeronca-c-2 |website=Canada Aviation and Space Museum |publisher=Ingenium |access-date=4 December 2023}}

;United Kingdom

• A-100 – C-2 (modified) G-ABHE under long-term restoration in Cornwall, England as a composite, modified to comply with microlight aircraft rules.{{cite web |title=Aircraft |url=https://www.trecanair.com/aircraft |website=Flying For Fun - Trecanair |access-date=4 December 2023}}

;United States

• 2 – C-2 NX626N on static display at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. It is the first production prototype of the Aeronca C-2. It was donated to the museum in 1948 by Aeronca and was restored in 1976.{{cite web |title=Aeronca C-2 |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/aeronca-c-2/nasm_A19490051000 |website=National Air and Space Museum |publisher=Smithsonian |access-date=4 December 2023}}{{cite web|title=FAA Registry [N626N]|url=https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=626N |website=Federal Aviation Administration|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation|access-date=4 December 2023}}
• 27 – C-2 Sport NC647W airworthy at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.{{cite web |title=Aeronca C-2 Sport |url=https://yanksair.org/exhibition/aeronca-c-2-sport/ |website=Yanks Air Museum |access-date=4 December 2023}}{{cite web|title=FAA Registry [N647W]|url=https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=647W |website=Federal Aviation Administration|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation|access-date=4 December 2023}}
• 66 – C-2 NC10304 on static display at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio.{{cite web |title=Aeronca C-2 - Untitled |url=https://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled/Aeronca-C-2/2550767?qsp=eJwtjDEKAkEMRa8iqW1EsNhOK7u18AIh83EHV2dIAjose/eNg93j/c9bSMrb8fV7q6CBDKwy0Z4qK7%2BMhoWeaJ%2BiKZjGKZfdNZsXbfGxon5p4RM7ziKojvT3oybob4JJzz0ifwiA3jrT8RQ%2BZasz9wac80zrugGbDTE8 |website=Airliners.net |access-date=4 December 2023}}{{cite web|title=FAA Registry [N10304]|url=https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=10304 |website=Federal Aviation Administration|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation|access-date=4 December 2023}}
• A-106 – C-2N NC11276 airworthy, owned by Craig MacVeigh{{cite web|title=Craig MacVeigh's Aeronca C-2 Project|url=http://www.antiqueairfield.com/articles/show/185-craig-macveigh-s-aeronca-c-2-project|website=Antique Airfield|publisher=Antique Aircraft Association and Airpower Museum|access-date=4 December 2023|date=24 January 2009|archive-date=16 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216195006/http://www.antiqueairfield.com/articles/show/185-craig-macveigh-s-aeronca-c-2-project|url-status=dead}} of New Carlisle, Ohio.{{cite web|title=FAA Registry [N11276]|url=https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=11276 |website=Federal Aviation Administration|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation|access-date=4 December 2023}}
• A-151 – C-2N Scout N11417 was built as an Aeronca C-1 Cadet but was soon converted to a C-2N. It is on display at the Shannon Air Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia.{{cite web|title=CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT |url=http://www.vam.smv.org/civilianaircraft.html |website=Virginia Aviation Museum |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417235349/http://www.vam.smv.org/civilianaircraft.html |archive-date=17 April 2016 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=FAA Registry [N11417]|url=https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=11417 |website=Federal Aviation Administration|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation|access-date=4 December 2023}}
• A-253 – C-2N Scout N13089 on static display at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This aircraft set seven records, five of which were for seaplanes.{{cite web|title=1933 Aeronca C-2-N Deluxe Scout - NC13089|url=http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa-museum/museum-collection/aircraft-collection-folder/1933-aeronca-c-2-n-deluxe-scout---nc13089|website=EAA Museum |publisher=EAA|access-date=4 December 2023}}{{cite journal|title=Aeronca Aircraft On Display EAA Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin (Part 1)|journal=National Aeronca Association Magazine |date=2014 |volume=13 |issue=4 |page=10 |url=http://www.aeroncapilots.com/newsletters/NAANewsletterVol13-4.pdf |access-date=4 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314032435/http://www.aeroncapilots.com/newsletters/NAANewsletterVol13-4.pdf |archive-date=14 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}
• 301-23 – C-2 N30RC on static display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.{{cite web|title=Aeronca C-2|url=http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/aeronca-c-2|website=The Museum Of Flight|access-date=4 December 2023}}{{cite web|title=FAA Registry [N30RC]|url=https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult?NNumberTxt=30RC |website=Federal Aviation Administration|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation|access-date=4 December 2023}}

{{Aircraft specs

|prime units?=imp

|ref=Aeronca C-2: The Story of the Flying Bathtub{{cite book |last= Spenser |first= Jay P. |title= Aeronca C-2: The Story of the Flying Bathtub |year= 1978 |publisher= Smithsonian Institution Press |location= Washington, D.C. |isbn= 0-87474-879-8 |page=71 }}

|crew=one

|capacity=

|length ft=20

|length m=6.10

|span ft=36

|span m=10.98

|height ft=7

|height in=6

|height m=2.28

|wing area sqft=142.2

|wing area sqm=13.2

|empty weight lb=406

|empty weight kg=184

|eng1 name=Aeronca E-107

|eng1 type= 1.75L flathead piston engine

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 hp=26-30

|max speed mph=80

|max speed kmh=128

|cruise speed mph=65

|cruise speed kmh=104

|stall speed mph=31

|stall speed kmh=50

|range miles=240

|range km=384

|ceiling ft=16,500

|ceiling m=5032

|wing loading lb/sqft=4.92

|wing loading kg/m2=24

}}

{{aircontent

|see also=

|related=

• Aeronca C-1 Cadet
• Aeronca C-3

|similar aircraft=

• American Eagle Eaglet
• Curtiss-Wright Junior
• Mignet Pou-du-Ciel
• Rearwin Junior
• Spartan C2

|lists=

}}

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite book |title= British Gliders and Sailplanes|last=Ellison|first=Norman| year=1971|publisher=A & C Black Ltd|location=London |isbn=0-7136-1189-8|page=80}}

}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Aeronca}}

{{Aeronca model numbers}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1920s United States civil utility aircraft

Category:Aeronca aircraft

Category:High-wing aircraft

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1929

Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear

Category:Single-engined piston aircraft