Cunningham-Hall PT-6

File:Cunningham-Hall PT-6 with cargo doors open.jpg

File:Cunningham-Hall PT-6 NPC-44.jpg

The Cunningham-Hall Aircraft Corporation was formed in 1928 and the first design was the PT-6 (Personal Transport 6-place), which first flew on April 3, 1929. It was flown to the Detroit Aircraft Show two days later, with minor alterations being made later including a switch from a tailskid to a tailwheel.

The PT-6 was a cabin biplane with an all-metal structure that was stressed to meet military strength specifications rather than the much more lenient commercial requirements, however aside from the cabin, which was covered with corrugated aluminum, most of the airframe was fabric covered. It had a fixed landing gear with a tail wheel. The cockpit held a pilot and either a copilot or passenger, with a separate cabin for four passengers. The aircraft was powered by a {{cvt|300|hp}} Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind radial engine.

The company's final aircraft was a freighter conversion the PT-6F. Built during 1937 and flown in 1938, the passenger cabin was modified as a cargo compartment with {{cvt|156|cuft}} of stowage space, an NACA cowling was fitted, along with a variable-pitch propeller. A freight door was fitted to the fuselage and a loading hatch fitted in the roof. It was powered by a Wright R-975E-1 radial engine of slightly greater power.

Only two PT-6s (s/n 2961 X461E and s/n 2962 NC692W) and one PT-6F (s/n 381 NC16967/NPC44/NC444) were registered, however as many as six of each type may have been built. The discrepancy from many publications with higher numbers may indicate that from two to nine additional airframes were built, but scrapped without being registered or sold, due to the collapse of the aviation market with the deepening of the Great Depression. A production line had been set up, and materials bought to produce 25 examples.Hall, 1971, p.90

Plans for a slightly smaller 4-seat derivative to be named the PT-4, and an armed military variant were also cancelled.

One example was used for charter flying by the Rochester - Buffalo Flying Service, often fitted with skis or floats.Hall, 1971, p.92 One customer was the Fairchild Aviation Corporation. George Eastman of Kodak had his first flight in PT-6

The PT-6F was supposed to have been one of three built from parts still available from the original cancelled production run, for an expected Philippine customer, and even carried the Philippine registration of NPC-44, however a lack of funds caused that sale to be cancelled.Herrick, 1997, p.17 The aircraft was eventually sold for around $7,000, and made its way to Alaska for a career as a bush plane with Byers Airways.Herrick, 1997, p.68

File:Cunningham-Hall PT-6 Aero Digest May 1929.jpg

;PT-6

:Six-seat cabin biplane powered by a {{cvt|300|hp}} Wright J-6 Whirlwind radial engine.

;PT-6F

:Freighter version of the PT-6.

;PT-4

:Cancelled 4 place version.

;PT-6 Bomber

:Cancelled bomber with turret.Herrick, 1997, p.16

File:Cunningham-Hall PT-6F in the Herrick Collection, Anoka MN MDF8669.jpg]]

• PT-6F s/n 381 NC444, formerly NC16967 and NPC44 was restored to airworthy condition and as of 2008 at the Golden Wings Museum at Anoka County-Blaine Airport, near Minneapolis. As of 13 April 2024 is owned and operated by the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum (WAAAM) in Hood River, Oregon.
• PT-6 s/n 2962 NC692W was restored to display-only status and cannot be flown, and is at the Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry in Wasilla, Alaska and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service

File:Cunningham-Hall_PT-6_3-view_Aero_Digest_May_1929.png

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Aero DigestMcLaughlin, 1929, pp.106 and 108 and JuptnerJuptner, 1964, pp.220-221

|prime units?=imp

|crew=Two

|capacity=Four

|length ft=29

|length in=8

|upper span ft=41

|upper span in=8

|upper span note=

• Upper Chord: {{cvt|78|in}}

|lower span ft=33

|lower span in=8

|lower span note=

• Lower Chord: {{cvt|54|in}}

|height ft=9

|height in=7

|height note=

|wing area sqft=378

|wing area note=

|airfoil= Clark Y

|empty weight lb=2670

|empty weight note=

|gross weight lb=4350

|gross weight note=

|fuel capacity={{cvt|90|usgal}}

|more general=

• Oil capacity: {{cvt|6|usgal}}

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name=Wright J-6-9-300 Whirlwind

|eng1 type=9 cylinder air-cooled radial engine

|eng1 kw=

|eng1 hp=300

|eng1 note=

|power original=

|prop blade number=2

|prop name=metal propeller.Built with fixed pitch props, later some were retrofitted with variable-pitch propellers

|prop dia ft=

|prop dia in=

|prop dia note=

|max speed mph=136

|max speed note=

|cruise speed mph=115

|cruise speed note=

|stall speed mph=40

|stall speed note=

• landing speed: {{cvt|45|mph}}

|range miles=690

|range note=

|endurance=6 hours

|ceiling ft=17500

|ceiling note=

|climb rate ftmin=900

|climb rate note=initial rate

|time to altitude=

• 1.5 minutes to {{cvt|2000|ft}}
• 5 minutes to {{cvt|6000|ft}}

|wing loading kg/m2=

|wing loading lb/sqft=10.5

|wing loading note=

|power/mass={{cvt|0.08|hp/lb}}

|more performance=

}}

• 1929 in aviation

{{commons category}}

{{reflist|group=notes}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite web|last=Eckland|first=K.O.|url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_cu.html|title=Aircraft Cu to Cy|work=Aerofiles.com|date=3 August 2008|accessdate=28 January 2020}}
• {{cite magazine|editor=George F. McLaughlin|title=Cunningham-Hall biplane|magazine=Aero Digest|publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corp.|location=New York City|date=May 1929|volume=XIV|number=5|pages=106 and 108}}
• {{cite magazine|last=Hall|first=Randolph F.|title=Cunningham-Hall Aircraft Corp. Story|magazine=AAHS Journal|publisher=American Aviation Historical Society|date=Summer 1971|pages=90–97}}
• {{cite magazine|last=Herrick|first=Greg|title=Sole Survivor - Amazing restoration of the last Cunningham-Hall PT-6F biplane|magazine=Air Classics|date=October 1997|volume=33|number=10|pages=14–18 and 68–70}}
• {{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|pages=220–221}}
• {{cite magazine|editor=George F. McLaughlin|title=Cunningham-Hall biplane|magazine=Aero Digest|publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corp.|location=New York City|date=May 1929|volume=XIV|number=5|pages=106 and 108}}
• {{cite web|last=Theobald|first=Mark|title=Jas. Cunningham, Son & Co.|url=http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/c/cunningham/cunningham.htm|work=Coachbuilt.com|date=2004|accessdate=3 February 2020}}
• {{cite web|author=National Park Service|title=National Park Service - Alaska - National Register of Historic Places|url=https://www.nps.gov/state/ak/index.htm?program=all|accessdate=3 March 2020|work=www.nps.gov}}

Category:1920s United States civil utility aircraft

PT-6

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Biplanes

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1929

Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear