1933 Platt Partial plans

Cyclogyro 1933 = 1p rotorcraft based on experiments in Germany by Prof Adolf Rohrbach. Paddle-wheel wing arrangement was awarded a US patent (which was only one of many similar patents on file), and underwent extensive wind-tunnel testing at MIT in 1927. In essence, oscillating winglets on this wheel went from positive to negative angles of attack during each revolution to create lift, and their eccentric mounting would in theory produce any combination of horizontal and vertical forces. Still, there is no record of this critter ever flying.

Vertigiro c.1935 - Design for a helicopter having a single rotor with movable vanes in the rotor downwash for anti-torque control. Interestingly, an article by W Laurence LePage in the Oct 1936 Journal of the Franklin Institute was the first summary of Rotary Wing progress. Platt's patent #2,074,805 of the control system shows a three-view drawing of a multi-seat version, and at some point there was collaboration between Platt and LePage on this design that apparently never went beyond the model stage.

  Platt-LePage XR-1 [41-001] (Jay Hendrickson coll)
  Platt-LePage XR-1A [42-6581] (Jay Hendrickson coll)

PL-3, -5, XR-1, -1A, YR-1A 1941 = 2pCH; 450hp P&W R-985. POP: 2; 1 each PL-3 and PL-5 twin-rotor prototypes for USAF evaluation as XR-1 [41-001] and XR-1A [42-6581]; rotors: 31'6" (about 33' between pylon centers) length: 29'10". First to use the "VTOL" acronym, the company was also first to experiment with the tilt-rotor. At the time the industry was not ready for the concept, but Platt-LePage patented the idea that would eventually lead to such as Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. XR-1A was damaged at Wright Field during hovering after failure of a pinion bearing in the rotor gear box on the starboard side and it was returned to Platt-LePage for repair and control improvements. In Apr 1945 the USAAF contract was cancelled for the XR-1 along with 7 YR-1As. Lou Leavitt, ex-Platt-LePage test pilot, bought it for to Helicopter Air Transport, Camdem NJ, who overhauled it as [NX69450] and did get it airworthy. Following their bankruptcy, XR-1A was was advertised for sale in AAHS Journal and sold for $1500 to Frank Piasecki—one of its original designers—who modified it as a mock-up for his PA-2B. It was later mistakenly scrapped, and its remaining parts were stored at New England Air Museum.

PL-4 1940 = 1pCH. Design study for an armed attack helicopter, along the lines of PL-3, with four nose-mounted machine guns.

Along with engineering data, several renderings of operational use of a "Helicopter Scout" were produced, anticipating the modern gunship by two decades. Very neat looking design, sort-of a "P-39 meets XR-1" beast. It is interesting that the renderings showed armed helos operating from battleships, in night and bad-weather attacks, and the helicopter outmaneuvering a pursuit plane. Offered to USAAC and USN in 1940—of course, they turned down the idea as impractical. (— Jay Hendrickson 6/21/99)

PL-8 1944 = 1000hp single-engine transport helicopter developed at the same time as PL-9.

PL-9 1944 = Company designation of a design sold to McDonnell Corp that became McDonnell XHJD-1 Whirlaway, the first twin-engine helicopter to fly in USA. It originally was submitted to AAF for the XR-10 designation, which ultimately went to Kellett.

PL-11, -12 1946 = 1pCH; 450hp P&W R-985; rotors: 30'6" load: 1200#; v: 115/95/0 range: 400. Civil version of XR-1A intended as a mail carrier. PL-12 was 4p passenger modification in 1947, only partially completed to the prototypical stage.

PL-14 1946 = 8pCHAm; twin 300hp motors and geared twin rotors on a Grumman Widgeon fuselage. Planning stages only; the company ended operations before a protoype was built.

XR-1 SEE PL-3.

c.1936 = 1pOhwM; 45hp Ford A. Design based on Long Longster and Corben Super Ace plans published in Mechanix Illustrated. Parasol wing. Fuselage was first of Player's geodetic incorporations. Later repowered with 65hp Continental A-65.

  Player CT-6A [NX19994] (Aviation)
  Plxweve geodesic construction

CT-6A Plxweve 1940 = 2pOlwM; 75hp Continental A-75; span: 29'0" length: 20'6" load: 528# v: 130/120/47 range: 350 ceiling: 17,500'. W E Player. Original motor was a Dayton (Ford Model A). All-wood, geodetic construction. All of the wood to make one plane cost a whopping $23.00 (in 1940 dollars, of course), the jigs and forms added another $10.20. Appeared in several motion pictures. POP: 1 [NX19994] c/n 1; rebuilt in 1960. Also seen as Greenleaf, for Aero Industries' president. For allied geodetic creations, SEE Greenwood-Yates, Thalman.

  Player Sport [N21778] (clip EAA Experimenter)

Sport 1940 = 1pChwM; 65hp Continental A-65; span: 30'0" length: 19'0" v: 95/87/x. Wing modified from a Long Longster, tail from a Curtiss-Wright Junior. Fuselage was of geodetic basket-weave construction. Original motor was 50hp Dayton Ford conversion. Canopy cockpit. Still flying in the 1960s [N21778].

  Plews (Chicago Historical Society coll)

1910 = 1pOB; Curtiss copy. No data.

1912 = 1pOB; 50hp converted Roberts marine engine. A predictable design of the day, copying the Curtiss and Wright planes, it flew only once, but not very well, so was stored until rediscovery in 1962 and donation to a museum at Midland-Odessa airport.

1915 = 2pOB; Sturtevand 6. Chance Vought's second design, in league with Anthony Stadlman; built in the machine shop of Frank Pontkowski & John Lichorsik, hence the PLV designation.

A-A-2004 1929 (?>c.1931) = 1p experimental plane with Flettner Rotor Wing; 300hp Wright J-6 Whirlwind driving a propeller in front, and 85hp American Cirrus (ACE) to spin the rotors. [921V]. SEE Flettner.

Eindekker c1971 = Aerobatic ship. 1pCmwM; [N101SC].

Acro Sport 1972 = 1pOB; 100hp Continental O-200; span: 19'7" length: 17'6" load: 610# v: 152/130/50 range: 300. POP: about 400 were reported to be under construction by home-builders by 1977. Developed into Super Acro Sport with 200hp Lycoming IO-360 and 2p Acro Sport II.

Little Audrey 1953 = 1pOmwM; 75hp Continental A-75; span: 18'0" length: 18'0" load: 291# v: 140/125/55; ff: 8/31/53. Modified with Luscombe wings and Cessna spring gear; fuselage replicated from Baker Pete. POP: 1 [N27B], originally christened Poopdeck II, renamed for Poberezny's wife. (Poopdeck I was a clipped-wing, modified Taylorcraft.)

Pixie 1974 = 1pOhwM; 60hp Limbach SL-1700 EA; span: 29'10" length: 17'3" load: 355# v: 103/85/x range: 290. Plans available to home-builders.

Pober Sport 1959 = 1pClwM; 85hp Continental; span: 23'6" length: 18'6" load: 460# v: 125/115/50. [N51G].

  Podge Parasol [NX5401N] (Frank Rezich coll)

Parasol 194? = 1pOhwM, Heath-type with 40hp Continental A-40. [NX5401N]

Special 1967 = 1pClwM [N106P]. No data.

Special II aka Temptress 1972 = 1pClwM rg; 200hp Lycoming TSIO-360; span: 21'5" length: 19'6" load: 465# v: 325/312/65 range: 1400 ceiling: 28,000'; ff: 5/x/72. Gross wt: 1500#; rate of climb: 3800 fpm. One of the fastest home-builts ever built. [N11DP].

1977 = Home-built. 2pClwM rg; 75hp Revmaster 2100D Turbo; span: 26'0" length: 16'0" load: 650# v: 200/168/45 (240/220/57 with 150hp) range: 1100 (1330 with wing tanks); ff: 7/x/77. Side-by-side aerobatic. Kit prices: $9,240-13,990 less engine; alternate engine: 75-160hp Lycoming O-320.

  Polson Special 1922 (David Hatfield coll)
  Polson Special 1927 [NC1723] (Frank Rezich coll)

Special 1922 = 2pOB; 100hp Hisso A. Underslung lower wing. Sold to Earl Daugherty c.1925 for local exhibition work [C/NC1723]. Polson reportedly built several other biplanes patterned after Travel Air designs. Possible involvement with 1916 M-F-P.

  Engineering Division-Pomilio BVL-12 (USAS McCook Field)
  Engineering Division-Pomilio FVL-8 [40081] (USAS McCook Field)

BVL-12 and FVL-8 1919 = Two military designs for US Air Service, based on the brothers' WW1 aircraft for the Italian Air Force, produced by McCook Field after they emigrated from Turin to the US. SEE Engineering Division BVL-12 and FVL-8.

1953 = 1pChwM; 36hp Aeronca; span: 20'0" length: 12'6" load: 267#. Mini-plane very heavily based on the French tandem-winged Pou-de-Ciel (Flying Flea) design, but with modernization and many structural improvements. Two-axis control system; tricycle gear.

Model II 1963 = 1pOM; Nelson engine. Based on Mignet HM-160 Flying Flea. [NX68936] (no explanation of how or why the license, which shows thusly in photos, retained the "X" at this date).

Thunderbird P-2 1959 = 1pOB; 100hp Lycoming O-235; span: 18'9" length: 15'0" load: 280# v: 145/115/55 range: 400; ff: 6/18/59. Looked like a Pitts, but actually was an original design. [N379].

1980 = 2pOhwM; 90hp Continental C-90-12; span: 27'2" length: 21'0" load: 688# v: 104/95/48 range: 350 ceiling: 12,500'. Loosely based on Pietenpol, but considerably larger and faster. Specially outfitted for aerial photography with internal and external camera mounts. [X2933].

1908 = OB; 7hp unknown make motor; span: 35'0". Reported in Jane's to have "such efficiency that more horsepower is unnecessary." But did it fly?

PB-1 1930 = Unknown type; 28hp Lawrance La-3. POP: 1 [504V].

  Powell PH (Edwards FTC)

PH Racer 1925 = 1pOB; 32hp Bristol Cherub; span: 15'9" length: 13'0" (to 14'11" with various motors) load: 165# v: 85/75/45 range: 400; ff: 6/7/25. All-plywood fuselage. Built as a class project under the guidance of instructor Powell, it won the Scientific American trophy at the 1925 Nationals. Became a popular home-builder project through the 1930s.

  Powell Artist's cocept (clip: 1935 Modern Mechanix & Science)

c.1935 = No data found for another design project that calls for some suspension of belief. Two 3-blade props swiveled for both lift and forward movement, which puts it somewhere in the VTOL/helicopter family. Art by Douglas Rolfe from patent drawings.

P-70 Acey Deucy 1970 = 2pO/ChwM; 65-100hp Continental, span: 32'6" length: 20'9" load: 525# v: 104/92/30 range: 250; ff 6/20/70. [N12CP].

1927 = 3pOB; 90hp Curtiss OX-5; span: 30'0" length: 25'0". Built-up from parts of various surplus planes; "many JN-4 fittings." [3686]; scrapped in 1933.

  Powers-Bashforth Mini Master (Marty Comstock)

Mini Master 2+2 MM-100 1989 = 2pChwM; two 64hp Rotax-532 in tandem; span: 33'2" length: 23'9" load: 670# v: 123/81/x. Twin booms.

EK 1931 = 3pOB; 150hp Hisso A. [11385] c/n 11A; reg cancelled 12/1/34.

Snoopy c.1972 = 2pOhwM; 65hp Continental A-65; span: 35'0" length: 21'6" v: X/80/40 range: 350. All-wood, swept-back parasol wings [N5909].

Prescott Pusher [N41PP] (Ian MacFarlane)

Pusher 1985 = 4pClwM rg; 180hp Lycoming O-360; span: 29'4" length: 20'3" load: 850# v: 212/200/66-72 range: 1000; ff: 7/9/85. POP: at least 2 [N41PP, N42PP], plus 68 kits. Dispayed at Wichita Aviation Museum.

  Prest Baby Pursuit [X876K] (Los Angeles Mirror-News)
  Prest Baby Pursuit [N17308] (Frank Rezich coll)

Baby Pursuit 1929 = 1pOhwM; 45hp Anzani; span: 24'0" length: 17'11" load: 225# v: 100/80/40 range: 250. Clarence Prest. Optional 40hp Szekely SR-3, 60hp Lawrance. Diamond-shaped fuselage cross-section. $2,100; POP: 7 [prototype X876K, X955Y, X2304, NX13741, NX17308/17309, x]. Set world's lightplane speed record of 101mph on 5/28/30, using a 40hp Szekely (p: Prest).

Special 1950 = 1pOhwM; 40hp Aeronca E113C; span: 12'6" length: 5'5" v: x/70/30. Gross wt: 325#. [Nx767x].

PL-2-DM 1962 = 1pOhwM; 65hp Lycoming O-145; span: 24'0" length: 15'6" load: 225# v: 90/60/40 range: 90. Appears to be a much larger version of Special. [N850Z].

1937 = 2pO-CM; 45hp Szekely. [18546].

Discovery 1989 = 2pCmwM; 100hp Lycoming O-235; v: 200/168/x. All-composite construction. [N81D].

Sesquiplane 1925 = 2pOswB. Michael Gregor. Became Royal Bird.

Loki 1973 = 1pCmwM; span: 17'10" length: 19'11". Raced at Reno 1973 and 1974.

PT-2C 199x = 2pChwM; 150hp Textron Lycoming O-320; span: 32'6" length: 22'0" load: 750# v: 130/115/x range: 300.

PT-2 Sassy c.1988 = Home-built STOL aircraft. 2pChwM; 75hp Revmaster; span: 31'9" length: 17'6" load: 604# v: 115/105/29 range: 420. Dual-control; side-by-side seating. [N211PT]

Jaguar 199? = Development of Morse 364P. 2pClwM rg; 350hp Rodeck V8 conversion; span: 25'5" length: 21'0" load: 940# v: 300/250/60 range: 1200.

Morse 364P Prowler 1985 = 2pClwM rg; 225hp Auto-Aviation modified Oldsmobile F-85; span: 25'0" length: 21'0" load: 788# v: 220/170/55 range: 1200; ff: 3/17/85 [N611A]

  Prudden TM-1 [5728] (John K Lewis coll)

TM-1, SE-1 1928 = 8pChwM; three 125hp Siemens-Halske SH-12; span: 57'0" length: 36'0" load: 2155# v: 110/95/52 range: 500. William L Lewis, modified from XM-1, and reconfigured with underslung motors. POP: 1 [5728], converted to a single 420hp P&W Wasp as Solar SE-1 Special [7414] c/n 1, but failed to qualify for certification; auctioned for scrap c.1929. Advertised claim of being the first US all-metal aircraft apparently overlooks William Stout's 1923 creation. SEE Solar.

XM-1 1927 = 8pChwM; three 125hp Ryan-Siemens. George Prudden. POP: 1 [X3321], disposition unknown.

  Pruett-Curtiss Pusher [N8234E] (Frank Tallman coll)

-Curtiss Pusher 1960 = Three-quarter-scale Curtiss replica with 65hp Continental C-65 pusher; span: 30'0" length: 30'0". Flown extensively in exhibitions and films by Frank Tallman into the late 1970s. POP: 1 [NR/N8234E=NX18969] c/n 1.

  PSE Racer [R10358] (K O Eckland coll)

Racer 1930 = 1pClwM; 95hp supercharged Cirrus. Basil B Smith; built as a school project. Racer for Cirrus Derby, forced out with motor trouble [R10358].

CS-1 c.1965 = Home-built. 2pChwM; no data. [N225A].

  Pulsar K150 (Pulsar Corp)

K150 aka KIS TR-1 1991 = 2pClwM; 100hp Aeromax and other options; span: 23'0" length: 22'0" load: 700# v: 175/160/52 range: 800. Vance Jaqua, Rich Trickel. Taildragger or tri-gear option, detachable wings for home storage. Marketed kits and components.

SP100 2001 = High-performance "Super Pulsar" turbo version of XP/III with similar features. 2pClwM; 80hp Rotax 912T or Jabiru 3300 (optional Continental or Lycoming); span: 25'0" length: 20'0" load: 650-700# v: 220/208/55 range: 1250.

Super Cruiser aka KIS Cruiser 1996 = 4pClwM; Continental IO-360 or Lycoming O-320; span: 29'0" length: 23'6" load: 1200# v: 210/190/55 range: 800 (data for IO-360). Vance Jaqua, Rich Trickel. Marketed kits and components.

  Pulsar XP/III (Pulsar Corp)

XP/III 1989 = 2pClwM; 80hp Rotax 912 or Jabiru 2200; span: 25'0" length: 20'0" load: 635# v: 165/150/42 range: 1350 (with 120hp Rotax 914: load: 535# v: 195/165/47 range: 1400). Mark Brown. Taildragger or tri-gear option, detachable wings for home storage. Kits and components marketed for home-builders, claimed 500 kits sold worldwide as of 2005.

1916 = 1pOB tractor, in which Purcell set a speed record by flying from San Jose to Sacramento in 40 minutes.

1917 = A cabin aircraft, type unknown, was designed and built in San Francisco, with a celluloid-enclosed cockpit. A claim of Purcell operating the first flying service in the San Francisco Bay Area about this time is challenged by the Christofferson brothers' commercial ventures in 1913-14. However, a documented claim to fame, obloquial as it was, is that in 1922 Purcell was the first California aviator to be arrested for flying without a license.

1928 = 3pOB; 90hp Curtiss OX-5; spand: 35'0" length: 27'5". Very likely a reworked JN-4. [4622]; reg cancelled 1933.

  Puritan [NX20653]

1939 = 2pChwM; 65hp Continental A-65; span: 31'5" length: 22'0". Otto Koppen at MIT. Two-control, spin- and stall-proof. Tricycle gear, twin tails. POP: 1 prototype for General G-1 Skyfarer, registered as Koppen Puritan 50 [NX20653] c/n PX-1C.

  Purvis-Wilson

Helicopter 1910 = 1pOH; two 7hp motors. Three-bicycle-wheeled cart with a 24' vertical shaft for two rotors was too underpowered, but the theory was in the right direction, enough so to earn a US patent. However, funds ran out before their creation flew outside of a brief, tethered test-hop in its barnlike workshop. Unsubstantiated, possibly folkloric, reports claimed it later flew, untethered and piloted by Purvis, momentarily in a show for investors, then crashed and flailed itself to pieces as Purvis ran from it. (A more fanciful version had it running into and destroying the town's water tower, engulfing spectators in a downpour of water and helicopter parts.) Although the venture failed, their design is believed to be the first rotary-winged aircraft ever patented (US patent #1,028,781) and a predecessor to the helicopter. See Sidebar

  Pynchon (National Archives)

Albatross 1893 = Yes, that date is correct, and this patented airborne hotel—the 747 of a century ago—is included in Aerofiles as an interesting example of the creative approach to manned flight taken by one of the early, albeit obscure, visionaries. Data unknown, but note the suitcase rollers for ground movement.

1911 = 1pOmwM; 40hp Indian; span: 25'5" length: 26'4". Arthur Stone. Blériot XI copy used by Earle Ovington in the first US air mail flight, on 9/23/11, to carry 10 lbs of mail from Mineola to Nassau NY—a distance of about three miles.

1911 = 1pOmwM; 30hp Anzani. A variation of the previous. Also had Gnôme rotary.

  1912 Queen Aeroboat (Loening)

Aeroboat 1912 = 1pOmwMFb; 35hp Gnôme rotary pusher; span: 28'0". Grover Loening. Prop chain-driven by motor mounted in hull. POP: 1, concocted from an old speedboat hull, a Blériot fuselage, and two discarded wings.

Aeroboat 1913 = 2pOmwMFb; 50hp Gnôme rotary; span: 40'0". Improved version of the previous with new wings of steel spars and aluminum ribs, aluminum hull. Destroyed in a storm that year before it was fully flight-tested.

Twin Monoplane 1911 = 1pOmwM; two 50hp Gnôme opposite-turning rotaries in tractor-pusher configuration; ff: 7/10/11 (p: Frank Stone). Basic Blériot design, with a partial fuselage with an open, triangular V-boom empennage. Commissioned by Willis McCormick, then president of the NY Aeronautical Society, for $10,000, it crashed on its maiden flight, but it founded a company.

  Queen-Martin art: K O Eckland (1978 Popular Aviation)
  Queen-Martin (clip: 12/5/11 Aero)

-Martin 1911 = 1pOB; 100hp Gnôme 14-cylinder twin-row rotary; span: 30'0" length: 29'0" v: 45-55. James V Martin. Modified Burgess-patent controls, with ailerons gaining roll assist in turns by way of a unique cable system that activated elevators at a 1:6 ratio. The plane's gross weight of 950# included a large tank that carried five hours' worth of fuel. POP: 1. After a crash at Nassau while making an emergency landing and repairs, Martin switched to a Kirkham motor and began flying exhibitions, apparently moving with Queen Co to the West Coast in late 1911. Disposition of the aircraft is unknown as he acquired a Gage biplane for tours at San Francisco and the Northwest in 1912.

Venture 1987 = 2pClwM rg; 250hp Continental IO-520, later 300hp IO-550; span: 27'6" length: 16'3" load: 700# v: x/288/71 range: 1150; ff: 7/1/87 [N62V].

Monoplane 1908 = 1pOmwM; 28hp Ford T; span: 38'0" length: 18'0". Construction claimed to have begun in 1900, long before Wright Brothers historic flight; crashed on its first flight (date unstated) and was stored in a shed until 1965. Made of wood from trees on the Quick farm, which is about as home-built as it gets.

Special 1928 = 1pOB; 180hp Hisso E. Modified Standard J-1 for ag operations [NX1307] c/n X-1.

1977 = 1pCmw tandem-wing; 22hp Onan two-cyl opposed; span: 16'8" length: 17'4" load: 280# v: 140/133/49 range: 820. Tom Jewett, Burt Rutan, Gene Sheehan. Composite materials. Fuel economy: 104 mpg. POP: reportedly about 1,000 Quickie and 2,000 Q2/Q200 plans and kits had been sold to home-builders. An estimated 600 were completed to flying.

Free Enterprise aka Big Bird 1982 = 1pCmwM; 135hp PZL-F 4A-235; span: 51'6" length: 24'8" load: 2550# v: x/200/61-98 ceiling: 24,500'; ff: 3/8/82. Empty wt: 1700#. Intended for a 23,000-mile non-stop global flight without refueling, beginning and ending at Houston TX. A full autopilot system with alarms enabled the pilot to sleep for short periods. Take-off was made on a jettisonable dolly, and a ventral skid served for landing. Crashed during a test flight on 7/2/82, killing pilot Tom Jewett.

Q2 1980 = 2p version of Quickie with 55hp VW or 64hp Revmaster 2100DQ; span: 16'8" length: 19'7" load: 525# v: 180/x/70 range: 1020; ff: 7/1/80 [N810A]. Fuel economy: 60mpg.

Q200 19?? = Q2 with 100hp Continental.