Loening C-2
{{Short description|1920s American amphibious airliner}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=C-2 Air Yacht | image=Loening XHL-1.jpg | caption=One of the XHL-1s }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Amphibious airliner | national origin=United States | manufacturer=Loening | designer=Grover Loening | first flight=1928 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | number built=36 | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Loening C-2 Air Yacht was an amphibious airliner produced in the United States at the end of the 1920s, developed from the OL observation aircraft the firm was producing for the US military."The Loening Cabin Amphibian", 415
Design and development
The C-2 was a two-bay biplane of unconventional design, with a tall, narrow fuselage that nearly filled the interplane gap. The pilot (and sometimes one passenger) sat in an open cockpit at the top of the fuselage, with the engine mounted in front of them. Underneath the fuselage was a long "shoehorn"-style float, that extended forward underneath the engine and propeller. Four to six passengers could be accommodated in a fully enclosed cabin within the fuselage. The main units of the undercarriage retracted into wells in the sides of the fuselage. Stabilising floats were fitted against the undersides of the lower wing.
The C-2 was produced in two versions, the C-2C with a Wright Cyclone engine and the C-2H with a Pratt & Whitney Hornet.Aerofiles Two examples of this latter version were evaluated by the USMC as air ambulances under the designation XHL-1.
Operational history
One C-2C, modified from an OL, was flown from New York City to Bergen by Thor Solberg in 1935, the first flight from the United States to Norway."Highlights from the exhibitions in The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, Oslo" Solberg christened the aircraft Leiv Eiriksson and used it to roughly re-trace its namesake's journey across the Atlantic (albeit from West-to-East, and by air) via Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. This aircraft is now preserved in the Norsk Teknisk Museum in Oslo.
Two C-2Hs were also used by the firm Air Ferries in the 1930s before the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge was completed to transport passengers between Oakland and San Francisco, cutting a normal forty-minute ferry boat ride to just six minutes.[https://books.google.com/books?id=T-QDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1930+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=-PA105 "Special Pier for Air Ferry Speeds Bay Traffic" Popular Mechanics Monthly, July 1930]
The first commercial flights in Aruba were made in 1934 using a C-2H which had been purchased from Standard Oil in Venezuela.{{cite web|url=https://www.airportaruba.com/airport-history|title=Airport History|accessdate=16 September 2017}}
Variants
- C-2C - Wright Cyclone-powered version (23 built)
- C-2H - (USN designation XHL) Pratt & Whitney Hornet-powered version (13 built, plus one converted from C-2C.
Operators
=Civilian operators=
- Kohler Aviation Corporation {{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinaviationhalloffame.org/blog/?p=733|title=Flying the Bridge Across Lake Michigan|accessdate=21 December 2020}}
- Air Ferries Ltd [https://books.google.com/books?id=T-QDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1930+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=-PA105 "Special Pier for Air Ferry Speeds Bay Traffic" Popular Mechanics Monthly, July 1930]{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/history-seaplane-air-ferry-San-Francisco-Oakland-10331533.php|title=The short history of San Francisco's coolest commute|accessdate=21 December 2020}}
=Military operators=
;{{USA}}
Specifications (C-2H)
File:Loening_C-1W_Amphibian_3-view_Aero_Digest_April_1928.png
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units? = imp
|crew=One pilot
|capacity=7 passengers
|length m=10.57
|length ft=34
|length in=8
|span m=13.72
|span ft=45
|span in=0
|wing area sqm=46.8
|wing area sqft=504
|gross weight kg=2,640
|gross weight lb=5,800
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Pratt & Whitney Hornet
|eng1 kw=390
|eng1 hp=525
|max speed kmh=190
|max speed mph=120
|ceiling m=4,300
|ceiling ft=14,000
}}
{{aircontent
|see also=
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Loening C-2}}
- {{cite web |title=Loening |work=Aerofiles |url=http://aerofiles.com/_loening.html |accessdate=2008-10-15}}
- {{cite web |title=Highlights from the exhibitions in The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, Oslo |work=Norsk Teknisk Museum website |url=http://biblioteknett.no/alias/HJEMMESIDE/ntm/eng/exhibitions/highlights.htm |accessdate=2008-10-15 }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- {{cite journal |title=The Loening Cabin Amphibian |journal=Flight |date=7 June 1928 |pages=415–17 |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1928/1928%20-%200459.html |accessdate=2008-10-15}} (This article actually describes the C-2's immediate predecessor, the Wasp-engined Loening C-1.)
{{Loening aircraft}}
{{USN hospital aircraft}}
Category:1920s United States airliners