Butler Blackhawk

{{Infobox aircraft begin

|name = Blackhawk

|image = Butler Blackhawk NC7857 msn 100 prototype after conversion from Skyway (cropped).jpg

|alt =

}}{{Infobox aircraft type

|type = Utility biplane

|national origin = United States

|manufacturer = Butler Aircraft CorporationJuptner, 1964, p.104Subsidiary of Butler Manufacturing Corp.

|designer = Waverly M. Stearman

|first flight = 4 October 1928Eckland, 2009

|introduced = 1929

|status = Retired

|produced = 1928-1929

|number built = 13Number includes the second prototype Skyway, which was destroyed without having been registered, and the sole cabin variant.

|unit cost = US$7995 in 1929

}}

The Butler Blackhawk and the Skyway from which it was developed were American three-seat open-cockpit single engine biplanes of the late 1920s that were built in small numbers immediately prior to having their intended production run interrupted by the onset of the Great Depression.

Design and development

The fuselage was built from chromium-molybdenum alloy steel tubing faired to shape with light wooden battens and covered in doped aircraft linen.Juptner, 1964, p.105Horsfall, January 1929, p.72 Separate cockpits were provided for the pilot, in the rear, with the two passengers up front, with a baggage compartment behind the pilot. Unusually, the pilot was provided with dual engine controls, one on each side of the cockpit. Like the fuselage, the empennage was built up from welded chromium-molybdenum alloy steel and covered in fabric with the elevators being adjustable in flight from the cockpit.

The biplane wings were built up around two solid spruce spars with built-up plywood ribs forming the airfoil section.Juptner, 1964, p.106 No center section was used, as the wing panels were joined along the centerline. While the main fuel tank was in the fuselage, it was supplemented with smaller gravity tanks in each upper wing root. Frise-type ailerons actuated by push-pull tubes were fitted to the lower wings only.

It was fitted with a split-axle undercarriage.

Variants

All variants were powered by a single {{cvt|220|hp}} Wright J-5 Whirlwind air-cooled radial engine, although the prototype was initially reported as having a {{cvt|200|hp}} J-5.

;Skyway (ATC 2-49):Prototype, two built, one (msn 101) destroyed before being licensed and one (msn 100, NX7857) converted to Blackhawk standard.

;Coach:Cabin variant, one built (msn 102, NX146E).

;Blackhawk (ATC 135):Main variant, 11 built, including one converted from Skyway.

;Leuthart D:Single Blackhawk (msn 112, NC14422) renamed by purchaser.

Operational history

File:Butler Blackhawk NC7857 Amarillo 9 March 1930.jpg]]

Butler Manufacturing were producers of pre-fabricated steel buildings, including aircraft hangars who decided to expand into aircraft construction, however shortly after they begin production, the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the onset of the Great Depression began to severe impacted their profitability, both with their main line of business, and with regards to aviation and they almost immediately shut down their production line to preserve their core business. As a result, only 13 serial numbers were allocated.

Art Goebel, known as the winner of the disastrous Dole Air Race in which many of the entrants failed to survive, and for the aerobatic routines he carried out in a Waco ATO, made a test flight from Kansas City, Missouri to San Antonio, Texas in a Blackhawk, and liked it enough to buy one for his personal use.

Hoot Gibson, a famous 1920s and 1930s cowboy actor, bought BlackhawkJuptner, 1964, p.105 NC730K serial 105,{{cite web|last=Hyatt|first=Gary|title=Blackhawk NC730K|url=https://dmairfield.org/airplanes/NC730K/index.html|website=Davis Monthan Airfield|date=12 January 2010|accessdate=24 April 2020}} however, it was while flying a similar Swallow biplane borrowed from a friend that he crashed at the National Air Races in Los Angeles on 3 July 1933, and not the Blackhawk.{{cite web|last=Hyatt|first=Gary|title=SWALLOW F28W NC8730|url=https://dmairfield.org/airplanes/NC8730/index.htm|date=11 December 2013|accessdate=24 April 2020}}

Some examples began being used as crop dusters at the end of the 1930s.

Operators

;{{US}}

National Airlines operated NC599H (msn 106) briefly, and mainly as a trainer.{{cite web|author=Kansas City Public Library|title=Butler Blackhawk Airplane|url=https://pendergastkc.org/collection/9130/10000026/butler-blackhawk-airplane|website=The Pendergast Years|accessdate=23 April 2020}}

;{{MEX}}

Compañía Aeronáutica del Sur operated the first prototype (msn 100) as X-BAHH.Pentland, 2014

Surviving aircraft

Msn 110 N593H is currently registered and airworthy by a private owner with the FAA in Rockton, Illinois,{{cite web|author=Federal Aviation Administration|title=FAA REGISTRY N-Number Inquiry Results N593H...|url=https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=593H

|date=23 April 2020|accessdate=23 April 2020}} and as last seen was painted black with yellow wings at the Kelch Aviation Museum in Brodhead, Wisconsin.{{cite web|author=Kelch Aviation Museum|title=1929 Butler Blackhawk|url=http://www.kelchmuseum.org/collection/1929-butler-blackhawk/|location=Brodhead, WI|date=2015|accessdate=23 April 2020}}

Msn 111 NX299N is currently on display at the Science City at Union Station, suspended over the atrium and painted orange with cream wings and control surfaces.

Specifications (Butler Blackhawk ({{abbr|ATC|Approved Type Certificate}} 135) )

File:Butler Blackhawk L (cropped).jpg

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol. 2 (ATC 101 - 200)

|prime units?=imp

|crew=One

|capacity=Two

|length ft=24||length in=0

|upper span ft=34||upper span in=0

|upper span note=

Upper wing chord: {{cvt|64|in|m}}

|lower span ft=28||lower span in=6

|lower span note=

Lower wing chord: {{cvt|54|in|m}}

|height ft=9||height in=0

|wing area sqft=295

|wing area note=

:*Upper wing area: {{cvt|180|sqft}}

:*Lower wing area: {{cvt|115|sqft}}

|airfoil=

|empty weight lb=1885

|gross weight lb=2900

|gross weight note=

Useful load: {{cvt|1015|lbs}}

|fuel capacity={{cvt|70|gal|l impgal}}

|more general=

Oil capacity: {{cvt|8|gal|l impgal}}
Undercarriage track: {{cvt|90|in|m}}

|eng1 number=1||eng1 name=Wright J-5 Whirlwind air-cooled radial engine||eng1 hp=220

|prop blade number=2

|prop name=metal fixed pitch propeller

|prop dia ft=||prop dia in=||prop dia note=

|max speed mph=130

|cruise speed mph=110||cruise speed note=or {{cvt|115|mph}} if metal cover in place over front cockpit.

|minimum control speed mph=47

|range miles=650||range note=at cruising speed

|endurance=

|ceiling ft=14000

|climb rate ftmin=

|time to altitude=60 seconds to {{cvt|1000|ft}}

|wing loading lb/sqft=8.06

|wing loading note=

Power loading: {{cvt|13.25|lb/hp}}

|fuel consumption lb/mi=0.629

|fuel consumption note=Minimum, based on fuel burn rate of {{cvt|11.5|usgal}}/hour at the {{cvt|110|mph}} cruise speed and a weight of {{cvt|6.02|lb/usgal}} for aviation gasoline, such as for 100LL and 80/87 fuels

Fuel consumption: {{cvt|11.5|usgal}}/hour

}}

= Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era =

= Related lists =

List of civil aircraft

References

=Notes=

=Citations=

=Bibliography=

{{cite web|last=Eckland|first=K. O.|url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_bo.html|title=AIRCRAFT Bo to By|work=Aerofiles.com|date=17 April 2009|accessdate=23 April 2020}}
{{cite magazine|editor=Horsfall, J.E.|title=The Butler Biplane|publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corp.|location=New York City|date=January 1929|volume=14|number=1|page=72}}
{{cite book|last=Juptner|first=Joseph P. |title=U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol. 2 (ATC 101 - 200)|publisher=Aero Publishers, Inc. |location=Los Angeles, CA |year=1964|lccn=62-15967}}
{{cite web|last=Pentland|first=Andrew|title=Golden Years of Aviation Civil Aircraft Register - Mexico|url=http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_XA-.html|website=www.airhistory.org.uk|location=Leeds, UK|date=13 June 2014|accessdate=24 April 2020}}