"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote in message
.. .
"JGalban via AviationKB.com" u32749@uwe wrote in
news:838437c34fdda@uwe:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

That's an Aeronca C-2 with an E107 engine on the nose. 26 HP. A good
airplane in it's day, it's not a motorglider, though. It's also a
single seater and there's no way it would fly unless those guys weigh
less than about 90 lbs each.

Agreed. I had an opportunity to take a short flight in a C-2
(a.k.a.
Flying Bathtub) about 20 yrs. ago (my first tailwheel flight). The
one I flew looks like the one in the pic except for the landing gear
wheels looked more like bicycle wheels.

Yeah, that's a real early one with what were known as "buggy" wheels.
Most of them had balloon tires though. The bike wheels must be something
it picked up in a restoration.

I think the pic and the story must be a 1930s hoax (or some poor
pilot's
wishful thinking). I can't see any way that two guys could fly a C-2
to South America.


I can't see two guys getting airborne in one, never mnd getting
anywhere! They set a lot of records in their day, though. IIRC someone
got one up to 20,000' plus (probably over Pike's Peak. Your airplane was
unsalable unless you flew it over Pike's peak) and I think one set an
unrefueled endurance record or something. I have a large library of 20s
and 30s aviation mags and books and these two spunky guys in a flivver
stories are commonplace. Aviation was a huge adventure and the world
stopped and held it's breath for record flights. Big temptation for a
couple of kids to try it on a shoestring. I'd be willing to bet they
tried it, one of them following behind in a beat up Model T and it all
ending in tears when the Airknocker went into a tree somewhere. Then,of
course, the phone call home to Ma to get money wired to some ********
town in texas where the wreck lay..



Bertie

Ya gotta link? When you google up this ****, save the link.