Engineering:American Gyro AG-4 Crusader
| AG-4 Crusader | |
|---|---|
| Role | |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | American Gyro Company |
| Designer | Thomas M. Shelton |
| First flight | 1935 |
| Introduction | 1935 |
The American Gyro AG-4 Crusader is a small twin engine aircraft. The aircraft was designed as the Shelton Flying Wing in 1933 by Thomas Miles Shelton.[1]
Design
The AG-4 was developed using wind tunnel tests. The American Gyro AG-4 Crusader is an aluminum skinned four place low-wing twin engine aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear, twin tail booms with individual rudders, and a teardrop shaped fuselage. The wing uses trailing edge flaps and 25 gallon fuel tanks are mounted in each wing root. Retractable landing gear were also tested on the model.[2]
Operational history
The prototype was painted a copper color with green leather seats. It was tested in 1935 at Denver Colorado.[3] The aircraft was funded from stock issued in the Crusader Aircraft Corporation, a parent of the American Gyro Company. The company folded in 1938 under securities fraud investigations before the Crusader could go into production[4]
Popular culture
Tootsietoy came out with a die-cast metal toy of the plane, No. 719 in its catalogue.[5] Hubley and Wyandotte also made toys based on the Shelton Flying Wing.
Variants
- American Gyro AG-4 Crusader
- American Gyro AG-6 Buccaneer
- A six place variant design powered by Menasco engines[6]
Specifications (AG-4 Crusader)
Data from AAHS Journal
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 3 passengers
- Length: 21 ft 7 in (6.58 m)
- Wingspan: 36 ft (11 m)
- Height: 7 ft (2.1 m)
- Wing area: 206 sq ft (19.1 m2)
- Empty weight: 2,000 lb (907 kg)
- Gross weight: 3,000 lb (1,361 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 50 gal
- Powerplant: 2 × Menasco C4-S Inline four cylinder piston, 150 hp (110 kW) each
- Propellers: 2-bladed
Performance
- Maximum speed: 202 kn (233 mph, 375 km/h) [7]
- Cruise speed: 180 kn (210 mph, 340 km/h) [7]
- Range: 520 nmi (600 mi, 970 km) [7]
- Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,300 m) [7]
- Rate of climb: 1,760 ft/min (8.9 m/s) [7]
References
- ↑ "The CRUSADER NX14429 Page of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register Website". http://www.dmairfield.com/airplanes/NX14429/index.html.
- ↑ "none". AAHS Journal: 42. Spring 2004.
- ↑ E Stanton Brown (August 1935). "The American Gyro Crusader". Popular Science.
- ↑ The Journal of Air Law, Volume 8. p. 71.
- ↑ "Pre-War Tootsietoys - article by Clint Seeley". http://www.tootsietoys.info/Tootsietoys-Aircraft.html.
- ↑ Aerospace yearbook, Volume 18. Manufacturers Aircraft Association, Manufacturers Aircraft Association, Inc., New York, Aerospace Industries Association of America. p. 268.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Aero Digest April 1935, p. 52.
Bibliography
- "American Gyro Crusader". Aero Digest 26 (4): 52. April 1935. https://archive.org/details/aerodigest2619unse/page/n319/mode/1up. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- Roca, Alexander Crusader: The Story of the Shelton Flying Wing, its Company, and its Creator Rare Birds Publishing; 1st edition (1989) ISBN:978-0962288609
External links
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