Laird-Turner Meteor LTR-14
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| name=Meteor LTR-14 | image=Laird Turner Special.jpg | caption= }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Racing aircraft | national origin=America | manufacturer=Lawrence Brown Aircraft Company | designer=Roscoe Turner, Professor Howard Barlow | first flight= | introduced=1936 | retired= | status= | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=1 | program cost= | unit cost= | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Laird-Turner RT-14 Meteor, also called the Turner TR-14, Ring Free Meteor, PESCO Special, Miss Champion, Turner Special and the Turner Meteor is the winning aircraft of the 1938 and 1939 Thompson Trophy races.{{cite book|title=Roscoe Turner: aviation's master showman|author=Carroll V. Glines|page= 328}}
Design and development
The aircraft was commissioned and designed by Roscoe Turner in 1936.{{cite web|title=Turner RT-14 Meteor|url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19730886000|accessdate=13 November 2011}} The Meteor would be the last of the Matty Laird race planes as well as the last race plane flown by Roscoe Turner.{{cite web|title=Good and Spooky Replica LTR-14|url=http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=ba2afb94-34c6-449b-87d5-97a7d3433823|accessdate=14 November 2011}}
The aircraft is a conventional geared mid-wing monoplane with a radial engine built in California. It was modified in 1936 by Mattie Laird at the E. M. Laird Airplane Company in Chicago with three-foot longer wings, wing flaps, a longer fuselage and a {{convert|50|u.s.gal|lk=on}} fuel tank.{{cite journal|journal=Skyways|date=October 2001}} In 1938 wheel pants were added for the Oakland races.
Operational history
The aircraft was known by many names. Initially the RT-14 for "Roscoe-Turner 14 cylinder".{{cite book|title=In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft|author1=Eric F. Long |author2=Mark A. Avino |author3=John Travolta |author4=Dana Bell }} The air commerce bureau labeled it the Model No. LTR-14, Serial No. 11, Type 1 POLM.{{cite journal|journal=Sport Aviation|date=April 1971|title=The Roscoe Turner Museum}} The first sponsor was the Ring-Free Oil company, naming the aircraft the Ring-Free Meteor.{{cite journal|journal=Skyways|date=October 2001}} The 1938 sponsor, Pump Engineering Service Corp renamed the aircraft "The PESCO SPECIAL". In 1939, the Champion Spark Plug Co borrowed the name from its 1931 Pitcairn PCA-2 autogyro, giving the aircraft the name "Miss Champion".
- 1937 National Air Races - Turner placed third after missing a pylon in the sun at {{convert|253.802|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}. A fire from a leaking fuel tank prevented Turner from racing in the Bendix Trophy race and required the fabric to be recovered before competing.
- 1938 National Air Races - Turner won the Thompson Trophy Race at {{convert|283.416|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}
- 1938 Oakland Air Race - Second place{{cite journal|journal=Skyways|date=October 2001|page=55}}
The original aircraft was put into storage at Weir Cook Airport for 29 years until it was restored, then donated to the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.{{cite journal|journal=Sport Aviation|date=April 1971|title=The Roscoe Turner Museum}} In December 1972 the plane along with many of Roscoe Turner's trophies were transferred to the Smithsonian.{{cite web|title=CORINTH INFORMATION DATABASE VERSION 1.3|url=http://mlsandy.home.tsixroads.com/Corinth_MLSANDY/rt183.html|accessdate=14 November 2011}} The aircraft retired with less than 30 hours flying time.{{cite web|title=Good and Spooky Replica LTR-14|url=http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=ba2afb94-34c6-449b-87d5-97a7d3433823|accessdate=14 November 2011}}
The Cook Islands minted a $2 Coin in 2008 featuring the Laird-Turner Meteor LTR-14 as part of its 1930s Air Racing Collection{{cite book|title=2012 Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001 to Date|author1=George S. Čuhaj |author2=Thomas Michael }}
Variants
- In 2003, Tom Wathen built a replica of the LTR-14, demonstrating it at the 2003 EAA Airventure airshow.{{cite web|title=Good and Spooky Replica LTR-14|url=http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=ba2afb94-34c6-449b-87d5-97a7d3433823|accessdate=14 November 2011}}
Specifications (Laird-Turner RT-14 Meteor)
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See also
References
{{commons category|Laird-Turner Meteor LTR-14}}
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Laird Aircraft}}
Category:1930s United States sport aircraft