Engineering:Church Midwing JC-1

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Church Midwing JC-1
Church Midwing JC-1.jpg
A Church Midwing on display
Role Racing aircraft
National origin United States of America
Manufacturer Church Airplane & Mfg Co
Designer James Church
First flight 1928
Developed from Heath Parasol

The Church Midwing JC-1, a.k.a. Church Mid-Wing Sport,[1] is a midwing racing aircraft designed by James Church using the fuselage of a Heath aircraft.

Design and development

The Church Midwing was designed to be an affordable homebuilt aircraft. Church marketed kits for $190.

The open cockpit midwing aircraft featured windows in the wings for visibility downward.[2]

Operational history

Built to be a pylon racer, a Church Midwing placed third in the 1930 National Air Races. The Church used many parts from the Heath Parasol design. In 1931 the prototype was modified with an installation of a 38 hp inline air-cooled Church designed engine and a cowling modification to accommodate the cylinders protruding upward in the pilot's line of sight.[3] A 1931 advertisement placed by Heath in Popular Mechanics extolled the virtues of its first-place finish with its parasol configuration, compared to the Church's midwing planform.[4]

Variants

RW4 RagWing Midwing Sport Replica
An ultralight replica of the JC-1, produced by RagWing Aircraft Designs.[5]
Church Racer[1]
Essentially a Midwing fitted with a model J-3 46hp Church Marathon engine.[6]

Aircraft on Display

  • EAA AirVenture Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin - 1[7] A Basket case 5 year restoration completed in 1971 by Gene Chase, outfitted with a Heath-Henderson B-4 engine.[8]

Specifications (Church Midwing JC-1)

Data from EAA

General characteristics

  • Length: 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m)
  • Wingspan: 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
  • Wing area: 110 sq ft (10 m2)
  • Empty weight: 367 lb (166 kg)
  • Gross weight: 584 lb (265 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 4.5 Gal (17 litres)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Heath-Henderson B-4 Inline 4 cylnder, 27 hp (20 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 78 kn (90 mph, 140 km/h)
  • Cruise speed: 61 kn (70 mph, 110 km/h)
  • Stall speed: 24 kn (28 mph, 45 km/h)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "American airplanes: Ca - Ci". Aerofiles.com. 2008-08-15. http://aerofiles.com/_ca.html. Retrieved 2011-01-28. 
  2. Jay P. Spenser, National Air and Space Museum. Aeronca C-2: the story of the flying bathtub. 
  3. Popular Aviation: 43. July 1931. 
  4. Popular Mechanics. January 1931. 
  5. "RW4 RagWing Midwing Sport Replica". http://www.ragwing.net/fleet/RW04MidWingSport.html. Retrieved 4 April 2011. 
  6. Popular Aviation: 133. August 1932. 
  7. "Church Midwing". http://museum.eaa.org/collection/aircraft/Church%20Midwing.asp#TopOfPage. Retrieved 2 April 2011. 
  8. Air Trails: 22. December 1971. 

External links