Role	Two seat sport and training aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Aero Engineering Corporation
First flight	1936

The Aeroneer 1-B is an all-metal light aircraft built in the United States in 1936. It did not reach production, despite an attempt to interest the USAAC in it as a trainer, but it appeared in three Hollywood films.

Design

The Aeroneer 1-B was initially developed by the Aero Engineering Corp, which named it. Its later development was taken up by the Phillips Aviation Company,^[1] so it appears as the Aeroneer 1-B in contemporary publications,^[1][2] though later sources may refer to it as the Phillips Aeroneer 1-B.^[3]

The Aeroneer is a low wing cantilever design. Its wing is in five separate parts: a short span, rectangular centre section, trapezoidal panels over most of the span and rounded tips. The outer panels carry some dihedral. It is built around a single spar placed at 30% chord. Torsional loads are resisted by a torsion box formed by the riveted Alclad skin that covers the whole wing and an auxiliary spar at 65% chord.^[1][2][4] Its ailerons are metal framed but fabric covered, mounted on piano hinges from the upper surface.^[4] Split flaps with an area of 24 sq ft (2.2 m²) run under the trailing edge from aileron to aileron.^[1][4]

The engine is a 125 hp (93 kW) Menasco C-4, an air-cooled, inverted four-cylinder inline, though other 85–150 hp (63–112 kW) Menasco engines could also have been fitted. The fuselage is all-metal, Aclad skinned and stiffened, though immediately behind the engine and around the cockpit the structure is reinforced with chrome-molybdenum steel tubes.^[1][4] The enclosed cockpit, under a sliding canopy and seating two side-by-side with dual controls, is over the wing.^[2][4] The empennage is conventional, with the tailplane set at mid-fuselage; its elevators are balanced and fitted with trim tabs. The fin is straight-edged but the short, broad, balanced rudder is curved.^[1][2]

The Aeroneer has a tailwheel undercarriage. Its mainwheels are on parallel, forward-raked oleo strut legs. The wheels have hydraulic brakes and both they and the legs are faired-in.^[1] The tailwheel, also fitted with a shock absorber, is free to caster. Floats or skis can replace wheels.^[2]

Development

The date of the Aeroneer's first flight is not known but by February 1937 it had completed "extensive tests" and was "ready for production".^[4] Nonetheless, it did not receive its Approved Type Certificate until the summer of 1938.^[1]

In the absence of civil orders, Phillips slightly increased the span as well its power, in the hope that USAAC would order it as a basic trainer.^[3] A 160 hp (120 kW) Menasco B-6 six-cylinder inline installation was planned,^[1] though another six-cylinder, inverted inline, a 145 hp (108 kW) Ranger 6-410, was finally installed.^[3]

Operational history

No order was placed and the Aeroneer may have been sold to MGM; it appears in several films including The House Across the Bay (1940), where it took the rôle of the Crane X-PT, Power Dive (1941), and Sky Raiders (1941).^[3][5]

The Aeroneer is reported to have survived in storage in Arizona until at least 2005. In 2007 it was advertised as for sale^[3] and its current state is unknown.

Specifications (Menasco C-4 engine)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Capacity: One passenger
• Length: 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 6 in (9.91 m)
• Height: 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m)
• Wing area: 168 sq ft (15.6 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,505 lb (683 kg)
• Gross weight: 2,200 lb (998 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 43 US gal (160 L; 36 imp gal)
• Powerplant: 1 × Menasco C-4 4-cylinder, air-cooled inline, 125 hp (93 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 129 mph (208 km/h, 112 kn)
• Cruise speed: 118 mph (190 km/h, 103 kn)
• Range: 704 mi (1,133 km, 612 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 11,800 ft (3,600 m) service
• Rate of climb: 625 ft/min (3.18 m/s)
• Landing speed: 49 mph (79 km/h; 43 kn)

References