Rawdon T-1
The Rawdon T-1 was a United States light single-engined civil utility aircraft of the 1950s.
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
| name=Rawdon T-1 | image=Rawdon T-1 North Perry Florida 03.87.jpg | caption=Rawdon T-1 at North Perry airport, Florida, in March 1987 }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=utility and crop-spraying | national origin=United States | manufacturer=Rawdon Brothers Aircraft Inc | designer=Herb Rawdon | first flight=1947 | introduced=1951 | retired= | status= | primary user=crop spraying contractors | number built=36 | developed from=Rawdon R-1 | variants with their own articles= }} |
Development
Herb Rawdon had been chief engineer of Travel Air, and later Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas. He left Beech and with his brother Gene, established the Rawdon Brothers Aircraft firm.
In 1938 they designed a low-wing two-seat trainer, the Rawdon R-1. A single example was constructed, but was not ordered, as hoped, by the Civil Pilot Training Programme. Postwar, the firm developed and built a similar, but higher-powered model, the T-1.Simpson, 2005, p. 248
Operational history
Rawdon built 35 Model T-1s in five variants. The major commercial use of the aircraft was as a trainer and in crop spraying, but it also found other utility uses such as aerial banner towing for advertising purposes. Four examples of the T-1M military version were delivered to the Colombian Air Force. Many aircraft were re-fitted with more powerful engines including the Lycoming O-320 series of 150 h.p.Simpson, 2005, p. 248
On display
A 1949 Rawdon T-1 is owned by the Kansas Aviation Museum collection.{{cite web|title=Kansas Aviation Museum|url=http://kansasaviationmuseum.org/rawdon.php|accessdate=17 April 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926030122/http://kansasaviationmuseum.org/rawdon.php|archivedate=26 September 2012}}
Variants
;T-1 : Initial trainer version powered by a Lycoming O-290-C2 engine of 125 h.p. (13 built);
;T-1CS : Crop-spraying version of the T-1 with belly tank and spray equipment buried in the wing structure (2 built);
;T-1M : Military version delivered to the Colombian Air Force (4 built);
;T-1S : Crop spraying model similar to the T-1CS (9 built);
;T-1SD : single-seat crop sprayer with chemical hopper in place of the rear seat, squared-off wingtips with endplates and modified vertical tail. (7 built).
Specifications (T-1SD)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Green, 1965, p. 290
|prime units? = imp
|crew=1
|capacity=1 passenger/trainee
|length ft=24
|length in=2
|span ft=33
|span in=4
|height ft=7
|height in=3
|wing area sqft=166
|empty weight lb=1,300
|gross weight lb=1,900
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Lycoming O-320 four-cylinder air-cooled
|eng1 hp=150
|max speed mph=138
|cruise speed mph=120
|range miles=500
|ceiling ft=18,000
|climb rate ftmin=900
}}
References
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last=Green|first=William|title=The Aircraft of the World|year=1965|publisher=Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd}}
- {{cite book|last=Simpson|first=Rod|title=The General Aviation Handbook|year=2005|publisher=Midland Publishing|isbn=1-85780-222-5}}
{{refend}}
Category:1940s United States civil utility aircraft