Zerbe Air Sedan
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=Zerbe Air Sedan | image=Zerbe air sedan 1.jpg | caption=Zerbe Air Sedan at the Fayetteville, Arkansas fair grounds in 1921 }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Passenger | national origin=United States | manufacturer= | designer= Professor James Slough Zerbe | first flight=1921 | introduced= | retired= | status=Abandoned project | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=1 | unit cost= | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Zerbe Air Sedan was an American single engine quadruplane passenger aircraft project started by Professor James Slough Zerbe in 1918. The machine made one flight in 1921, was damaged during landing, and was subsequently abandoned.{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3671|title=Zerbe Air Sedan|author=Nathania Sawyer|date=16 April 2012|website=encyclopediaofarkansas.net|publisher=The Central Arkansas Library System|access-date=12 September 2015}}
Design and development
In 1918 Zerbe arrived in Fayetteville, Arkansas to begin work on passenger aircraft for local businessmen. The aircraft, completed in 1919, was a positive staggered equal span quadruplane with double cambered louvered main wings. Equipped with no tailplane or ailerons, the machine was controlled using "ganged" or linkage connected wings with variable-incidence.{{cite web |url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_yz.html|title=Zerbe|author=|date=8 June 2008|website=aerofiles.com|publisher=Aerofiles|access-date=12 September 2015}}
The passenger cabin was made of plywood and fully enclosed with wide stance landing gear attached. A French World War I surplus powerplant was used, and has been reported to be a {{convert|90|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} LeRhône or {{convert|100|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Gnôme rotary engine, but evidence suggests it was in fact a Le Rhône 9J of {{convert|110|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}}.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}
Operational history
The Air Sedan was piloted by Tom Flannery on its first and only flight in 1921 at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Fayetteville. The aircraft took off and quickly climbed to 100 ft (30 m), flew approximately 1000 ft (300 m) then was significantly damaged during landing.{{cite web |url=http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/KleinBernhard/11245.htm|title=Zerbe Air Sedan|author=|date=31 March 2012|website=1000aircraftphotos.com|publisher=|access-date=12 September 2015}}
One report states: "After that Zerbe left town never to be heard of or seen again. (He died in New York in 1921.) What happened to the abandoned damaged plane is unknown."
References
{{reflist}}
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15572779/batesville_daily_guard/
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://issuu.com/insurancenebraska/docs/zerbe_air_sedan Zerbe Air Sedan]
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1921
Category:1910s United States experimental aircraft
Category:Rotary-engined aircraft