American Eagle A-101

American Eagle A-1 & A-101
American Eagle A-101 on display in the Yanks Air Museum at Chino, California in January 2008
Role	light sporting biplane
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	American Eagle Aircraft Corporation
Designer	Robert T McCrum & Waverly Stearman
First flight	9 April 1926
Status	some flying in 2009
Primary user	flying schools and private owners
Number built	approx 300

The American A-1 & A-101 were American-built light 2/3-seat biplanes of the 1920s.

Design and development

The American Eagle A-1 was designed in late 1925 as a training aircraft to replace the World War I biplanes then in use by the Porterfield Flying School. The prototype A-1 first flew at Richards Field in Kansas City Missouri on 9 April 1926.^[1] Small modifications made to the design in 1927, including ailerons on the lower wings, led to the A-101 designation. The 90 h.p. Curtiss OX-5 engine was initially fitted, but the 100 h.p. Curtiss OX-6 was fitted to later production A-101s.^[2]

Operational history

A total of approximately 300 A-1/A-101 aircraft had been completed by 1929. These served successfully with flying schools and private owners for many years and several survived in flying condition and displayed in museums in 2007.^[3]

Specifications (A-101)

Data from Simpson, 2001, P.41

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 1 or 2
• Length: 24 ft 1 in ( m)
• Wingspan: 30 ft 0 in ( m)
• Height: 8 ft 4 in ( m)
• Empty weight: 1,227 lb ( kg)
• Gross weight: 2,041 lb ( kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss OX-5, 90 hp ( kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 99 mph ( km/h)
• Cruise speed: 85 mph ( km/h)
• Range: 385 miles ( km)
• Rate of climb: 500 ft/min ( m/s)

References

Notes

1. Simpson, 2001, P. 40
2. Aerofiles (November 2006). "American Eagle, Roos American Eagle". Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
3. Ogden, 2007, P. 572

Bibliography

• Ogden, Bob (2007). Aviation Museums and Collections of North America. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-385-4.
• Simpson, Rod (2001). Airlife's World Aircraft. Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84037-115-3.

External links