Arrow Sport

The Arrow Sport was a two-seat sporting biplane aircraft built in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s.

Arrow Sport
Arrow Sport of 1927 at Lakeland, Florida, in April 2007
Role Sports plane
Manufacturer Arrow Aircraft and Motors
Designer Sven Swanson
First flight 1926
Number built ca. 100

Design and construction

The plane was designed by Swen Swanson and it was of largely conventional configuration with tailskid undercarriage, but was interesting in that the pilot and passenger sat side by side in the open cockpit, and because as originally designed, the fully cantilever wings lacked interplane struts – the upper wing attaching directly to the top of the fuselage. This latter feature proved so alarming to many prospective pilots that the manufacturer later supplied N-type struts that were of no real function other than to allay the aviators' fears.

Survivors

An Arrow Sport A2-60 at the Udvar-Hazy Center.
Arrow Sport at the Lincoln Airport, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Nine biplane Sports remain registered in the United States as of 2020, mostly in museums and private collections,[1] including:

Variants

  • Sport – Two-seat sporting biplane, powered by a 60-hp (45-kW) LeBlond radial piston engine.
  • Sport 85 – 85 hp Leblond radial, extra four degrees of dihedrial on lower wing.[5]
  • Sport A2
  • Sport Pursuit (renamed Sport K in 1935) – Improved version, powered by a 100-hp (75-kW) Kinner K-5 radial engine.
  • Sport V-8 (renamed the Model F) – Two-seat monoplane version, powered by a converted 82 hp (61 kW) Ford V8 automobile engine.

Specifications (A2-60)

Data from American airplane specifications[8]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Capacity: 1 passenger
  • Length: 19 ft 3 in (5.87 m)
  • Wingspan: 25 ft 10 in (7.87 m)
  • Height: 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m)
  • Wing area: 183 sq ft (17.0 m2)
  • Empty weight: 900 lb (408 kg)
  • Gross weight: 1,346 lb (611 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × LeBlond 5D radial engine, 60 hp (45 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 100 mph (160 km/h, 87 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 85 mph (137 km/h, 74 kn)
  • Stall speed: 30 mph (48 km/h, 26 kn)
  • Range: 200 mi (320 km, 170 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,300 m)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

Notes
  1. FAA Registration Query
  2. Ogden, Eloise (December 1, 2017). "North Dakota residents rebuild and model biplane for museum". Seattle Times.
  3. Ogden, 2007, p. 572
  4. Smithsonian: "Arrow Sport A2-60"
  5. Popular Aviation: 15. July 1931. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "Zenith Z-6-B". Aero Digest. September 1931. p. 68.
  7. Trade-a-Plane: "1938 Arrow Sport M"
  8. Aviation January 1932, pp. 47, 50.
Bibliography
  • Ogden, Bob (2007). Aviation Museums and Collections of North America. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85130-385-7.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 81.
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