Townsend Thunderbird

The Townsend Thunderbird is a homebuilt design created by the experienced cropduster Gid Townsend and built in 1956 with assistance of Curtis Pitts.[1]

Townsend Thunderbird
Role Homebuilt aircraft
National origin United States of America
Designer Gid Townsend
First flight 1956
Number built 1
Developed from BT-13

Design

The Thunderbird is powered by a 245 hp (183 kW) Jacobs radial engine with a constant speed propeller. The horizontal stabilizer and aluminum wings are the outer panels of a Vultee BT-13 trainer. The engine cowl is from a Cessna UC-78. The fuselage is welded tubing with fabric covering. The landing gear is from a Cessna 180.[2]

Operational history

By 1974 the prototype was unflyable. The aircraft was later metalized, the turtledeck was removed, and it was converted to use a Wright R-975 radial engine.[3]

Specifications (Townsend Thunderbird)

Data from Experimenter

General characteristics

  • Capacity: 2
  • Length: 21 ft 2 in (6.45 m)
  • Wingspan: 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)
  • Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
  • Wing area: 120 sq ft (11 m2)
  • Empty weight: 1,800 lb (816 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 50 gal
  • Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-975 radial, 450 hp (340 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 210 kn (240 mph, 390 km/h)
  • Cruise speed: 132 kn (152 mph, 245 km/h)
  • Stall speed: 65 kn (75 mph, 121 km/h)
  • Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s)

References
  1. Experimenter. July 1957. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Townsend sidebar". Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  3. "AL HESSELGRAVE'S THUNDERBIRD A-1". Sport Aviation. September 1980.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.