Jump to content

Fulton Airphibian

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rushd37 (talk | contribs) at 05:07, 5 January 2012 (Corrections to when Airphibian became certified. Who was on the building team.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Infobox Aircraft The Fulton FA-2 Airphibian was an American automobile-airplane manufactured in 1946.

Designed by Robert Edison Fulton, Jr., it was an aluminum-bodied car, built with independent suspension, aircraft-sized wheels, and a six-cylinder 165hp engine. The fabric wings were easily attached to the fuselage, converting the car into a plane. Four prototypes were built.

In December of 1950, the CAA (later to become the FAA) certified one of the prototypes and gave it an 1A11 Aircraft Specification, N74104.[1] Lou Achitoff, was the CAA test pilot.[2] The N74104 is the aircraft that is today in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

The craft made its debut in November 1946 at Danbury, Connecticut, and they were built in Danbury by Robert Fulton, President; Franz Alverez, VP and Engineer; Ted Polhemus Mechanical and Electrical Master; Frazer Dougherty, Test Pilot; Wayne Dasher (Dash), top flight A&E Mechanic; Fred, Tool and Die Maker; Ross Stevens, Aeronautical Engineer and Structural Engineer.[3] Financial concerns forced Fulton to sell to a company that never developed it.[4]

Design

The Airphibian took the approach of converting from an aircraft to a roadable vehicle by a conversion process that left aircraft sections behind during road use. The process consisted of removing a 3 bladed prop and placing on hook on side of fuselage, cranking down support casters, and disengaging lock levers connecting the flight unit to road unit. The wing and aft fuselage are detached for road use.[5]

Survivors

In the mid-1990s, one of the surviving Airphibians was restored by Fulton III, along with David Dumas and Deborah Hanson. Afterwards it was put on display for several years at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in their main display hall. But in 2009 it moved to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (annex of the National Air and Space Museum]].[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://airphibian.com/FAASpecs.htm
  2. ^ http://airphibian.com/Danbury2.htm
  3. ^ http://airphibian.com/Danbury.htm
  4. ^ Martin, Douglas. - New York/Region: "Robert E. Fulton Jr., an Intrepid Inventor, Is Dead at 95". - New York Times. - May 11, 2004. - Retrieved: 2008-06-15
  5. ^ Harry Ziesloff (Feb 1957). "The Roadable Airplane". Experimenter.
  6. ^ "Collections - Fulton Airphibian FA-3-101". Retrieved 26 September 2011.


Stub icon

This article on an aircraft of the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This article about a classic post-war automobile produced between 1945 and 1975 is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fulton_Airphibian&oldid=469659047"