Alliance A-1 Argo
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
| name=A-1 Argo | image=Alliance Argo NC2M Herrick Anoka MN 13.06.06R.jpg | caption=The sole surviving airworthy A-1 Argo biplane, 1929-built, at the Golden Wings Air Museum at Anoka near Minneapolis, Minnesota. }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=private owner biplane | national origin=United States | manufacturer=Alliance Aircraft Corporation | designer= | first flight=1929 | introduced= | retired= | status=two survivors, one airworthy | primary user= | number built=20 | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Alliance A-1 Argo was an American-built two-seat biplane of the late 1920s.
Development
The Alliance Aircraft Corporation of Alliance, Ohio, was formed in 1928 by a reorganisation of the Hess Aircraft Co. The firm designed the A-1 Argo as a sturdy two-seat open-cockpit biplane for operation by private pilot owners. The 'Warrior seven-cylinder engine was designed and produced in the same factory at Alliance.{{cite web | title=Alliance A-1 Argo (Technical details and photograph of the Alliance Argo) | url=http://aerofiles.com/_al.html | publisher=aerofiles.com | date=7 March 2009 | accessdate=2009-08-01}}
Operational history
Because of the difficult economic climate then existing, only 20 A-1 Argos were completed. Alliance Aircraft then went into bankruptcy in 1930, being reformed briefly as the Warrior Aeronautical Corporation before that organization also foundered later the same year.
Several Argo biplanes continued in operation by private owners until curtailment of civil flying in the USA in 1941. Two aircraft survived in mid-2009 of which, NC2M (N2M) was rebuilt to airworthy condition by Greg Herrick's Golden Wings Air Museum.
The Ohio History Connection displays a static A-1 Argo on the plaza level of the Ohio History Center. This particular aircraft was constructed in August 1929.{{cite web |title=Where is it now. Collections from the Former Ohio History of Flight Museum |url=https://www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/history/history-blog/2015/august-2015/history-of-flight-museum |website=Ohio History Connection Blog |publisher=Ohio History Connection |accessdate=21 June 2017 |archive-date=24 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424163311/https://www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/history/history-blog/2015/august-2015/history-of-flight-museum |url-status=dead }}
The Alliance Argo, N2M is the same plane as NC2M just the "C" was removed from the aircraft registration by the FAA for all aircraft after 1944. It is listed on the FAA Registry as serial number 108 built in 1929. This aircraft is now owned by Gregory Sean Messner in 100 Mile House, British Columbia, with the registration C-GSMA.{{cn|date=July 2023}}
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Manufacturer's Specifications on American Commercial Airplanes as compiled by AviationAviation, January 18, 1930
|prime units? = imp
|crew=1
|capacity=1 passenger
|length m=
|length ft=20
|length in=2
|span m=
|span ft=28
|span in=8
|height ft=8
|height in=0
|wing area sqft=203
|empty weight lb=1077
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=1615
|fuel capacity={{convert|35|USgal|impgal L|abbr=on}}
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Hess Warrior seven-cylinder radial{{cite web |title=Aircraft Al to Az: Alliance |work=Aircraft of North America 1903–2003 |publisher=Aerofiles |date= |url=http://aerofiles.com/_al.html |access-date=April 29, 2021}}
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=115
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=125
|cruise speed kmh=164
|cruise speed mph=100
|stall speed kmh=71
|stall speed mph=40
|stall speed note=(landing speed)
|range km=
|range miles=425
|ceiling ft=16000
|climb rate ftmin=1050
}}
See also
References
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite magazine|title=Manufacturer's Specifications on American Commercial Airplanes as Compiled by Aviation|magazine=Aviation |date=January 18, 1930|volume=28|issue=3 |at=Inside front cover |url=https://archive.org/details/Aviation_Week_1930-01-18/page/n1/mode/2up |access-date=April 29, 2021}}
- {{cite book|last=Ogden|first=Bob|title=Aviation Museums and Collections of North America|year=2007|publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd|isbn=978-0-85130-385-7}}
{{refend}}
External links
{{commons category|Alliance Argo}}
- [http://aerofiles.com/_al.html Technical details and photograph of the Alliance Argo]
Category:1920s United States civil utility aircraft