Welcome

I don't know if any of you were a member of the "Porterfield Airplane Club" which Chuck Lebrecht hosted for many years. Chuck has decided to give up the Porterfield Club due to health and economic reasons. I've taken it upon myself to keep the legacy going and have started this social web site dedicated to "Keeping the Skinny Birds Flying".

The site will be a good place to share information, pictures, stories, videos, parts, and to create lasting friendships for people with an interest or knowledge of the Porterfield Airplane. I just started getting this site together June 1st, 2009, so there is a limited amount of information. If you have any information to add, please do. If you have parts for sale, help items, technical info, or just want to share your airplane pictures please join us.

Also, if you have any ideas to improve the site, please feel free to comment and/or help build the site. I hope that this site will generate a database for information and history pertaining to the Porterfield Airplanes that may be shared and used by all interested. As well as a place to meet and make life long friends whom share some of the same interests of flying, building, and knowledge of the Porterfield Airplane. If you know any others that may be interested please invite them to join.

Brief History of the Porterfield Airplane

The American Eagle Aircraft Corporation was started in 1925 by Ed Porterfield for the express purpose of providing a safe training aircraft for the fledgling Porterfield Flying School. Porterfield felt that a safer, better performing trainer was badly needed to replace the existing "Jennys" and Lincoln "Standards" being used in his flight school. In April 1926, the American Eagle, Model A-1, first flew from Richards Field in Kansas City, Missouri. The airplane had been designed by Waverly Stearman after much consultation with Porterfield concerning the characteristics necessary for a good training aircraft. It was a three-place, open cockpit bi-plane that was suitable for both training and light commercial activity and was typical of the era. In November, 1927, the OX-5 powered A-1 received an Approved type Certificate - ATC #17. Various changes were made to the original A-1 design (The most notable being the addition of ailerons on the lower wing.) leading to the A-101 designation. Most Eagles were powered with war surplus Curtiss OX-5 engines, but variations were available with the OXX-6, Hisso, Anzani, and others. During may of 1928, production was 12 planes per week with ever increasing orders. In mid-1928 an OX-5 powered A-101 sold for $2815. Approximately 300 of the A-1 / A-101 models were sold.

In 1929, American Eagle brought out a new model, the A-129, which received ATC #124. The new model was very similar to the earlier "Eagles" except that it was powered by a 5-cylinder Kinner K5 engine which required a longer nose on the aircraft to maintain proper balance. This gave rise to the "Eagle" A-1 and A-101 versions being called "shortnose Eagles", and the A-129 Kinner powered model being called the "longnose Eagle" and other such names. The A-129 "Kinner Eagle" would not win any beauty contests, but it was stable and reasonably easy to fly. The A-129 was also sold with several other engine configurations including the OX-5 and OXX-6.

During 1928 and 1929 business was booming for the American Eagle Aircraft Corporation and they produced several other aircraft in addition to the A-101 and A-129. None of these sold as well, but production of the A-201, A-139, A-229, A-329, A-429, as well as several prototypes, placed the company near the top of the vibrant aircraft industry. The stockmarket crash in late 1929 changed all that, and in 1930 the company found almost no market for its aircraft. In desperation, Porterfield started the design that eventually became the American Eaglet monoplane. It was a small, light weight, parasol design that was powered by a three cylinder Szekely radial engine. Although the "Eaglet" sold fairly well, the company was in trouble, and in May 1931, the American Eagle Aircraft Corporation merged with the Lincoln Aircraft Company. The new company was known as the American-Eagle-Lincoln Aircraft Company, and most of the production was focused on the "Eaglet". However, the deepening depression soon ended this last gasp of American Eagle. Ed Porterfield went on in later years to organize the well known Porterfield Airplane Company.

During its six years in existence the American Eagle Aircraft Corporation produced over 700 aircraft and held eight Approved Type Certificates issued by the Department of Commerce. It was the third largest producer of commercial aircraft in the world at the time of the depression, and its products were among the finest private aircraft manufactured during that era.

History from Wings of History Museum.


During the 1930s, the firm of Porterfield Aircraft Corporation, located in Kansas City, was enjoying a modest success with the Model 35 light aircraft - a tandem two-seater built of traditional steel tube fuselage with a wooden wing - all, of course, covered in fabric. The exceedingly slim fuselage sported a variety of engines including the five-cylinder Warner Scarab junior radial of 90-hp. Aimed at the lower-cost sport flying market, the Model 35 could be fitted with various options and numerous paint schemes were available.

As the new four-cylinder opposed powerplants came available, Ed Porterfield modified his basic design a bit to take advantage of these new and reliable engines. The CP-50 retained the standard Porterfield profile but it was fitted with either Franklin, Continental, or Lycoming engines - all of 50-hp. Given the name Collegiate, famed race pilot Roscoe Turner was briefly the sales manager and director of advertising for the new design. Available in variants ranging from a very basic training machine to a more deluxe sports model, over 50 were built before attention was turned to the higher-powered CP-55 and CP-65 models.

Once again, these aircraft were all fitted with opposed engines from the three manufacturers but the airframes were basically similar to the earlier design.
Porterfield never achieved the numerical success of the larger light aircraft manufacturers such as Piper, Aeronca, and Taylorcraft but the planes were well made and popular with pilots. However, with the start of World War Two, light aircraft production for civilian use came to a stop and the bigger companies benefited greatly from military contracts but Porterfield, with no large military orders forthcoming, quietly faded away.

Porterfield 35
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Model 35 Flyabout
Role two-seat cabin monoplane
Manufacturer Porterfield Aircraft Corporation
Designed by Noel Hockaday
First flight 1935
Introduced 1935
Number built 240+

The Porterfield Model 35 Flyabout was an American two-seat cabin monoplane built by the Porterfield Aircraft Corporation of Kansas City.
Development
The aircraft was designed by Noel Hockaday and was built by students at the Wyandotte High School as the Wyandotte Pup. Porterfield Aircraft recognised the potential of the aircraft design and bought the design rights and also the services of Hockaday as works manager and designer. The Pup was developed to appear in 1935 as the Porterfield Model 35 Flyabout a braced high-wing-monoplane. It had a fixed tailskid landing gear and room for two. It was originally powered by a 60hp (45kW) LeBlond 5D radial engine. Variants later appeared with different engine installations and a deluxe model the De Luxe Sport. Over 240 aircraft were built.

Variants
Model 35
1935 production variant with a 60hp (45kW) LeBlond 5D radial engine
Model 35-70
1937 production variant with a 70hp (52kW) LeBlond 5DE radial engine.
Model 35-V
Variant powered by a 65hp (48kW) Velie M-5 engine.
Model 35-W (De Luxe Sport)
Luxury model (also known as the Model 90) with a 90hp (67kW) Warner Scarab Junior radial engine.

Specifications (Model 35-70)
Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2760
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Capacity: 1 passenger
Length: 20 ft 3 in (6.17 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)
Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Wing area: 147 ft² (13.66 m²)
Empty weight: 806 lb (366 kg)
Gross weight: 1310 lb (594 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × LeBlond 5DE radial piston, 70 hp (52 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 115 mph (185 km/h)
Range: 360 miles (579 km)
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4570 m)

Porterfield Collegiate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Collegiate
Role two-seat monoplane trainer
Manufacturer Porterfield Aircraft Corporation
First flight 1936
Introduced 1936
Produced 1936-1941
Number built 400

The Porterfield Collegiate was an American two-seat training monoplane built by the Porterfield Aircraft Corporation of Kansas City.
Development
Developed originally as the Porterfield Zephyr a light-weight version of the earlier Model 35 Flyabout for use a pilot trainer. Powered by a 40hp (30kW) Continental A-40 engine it was later re-designated the Porterfield CP-40. To improve performance the engine was replaced with a 50hp (47kW) Continental A50-4 engine and re-designated the CP-50 Collegiate. It was a braced high-wing monoplane with a tailskid fixed landing gear. Total production was about 400 when production stopped in 1941 at the start of American involvement in the Second World War. A number of variants were produced with different engine installations.

Variants
CP-40 Zephyr
Original 40hp version
CP-50
Improved production variant with a 1935 production variant with a 50hp (47kW) Continental A50-4 engine
CP-55
Revised engine cowling
CP-65
Powered by a 65hp (48kW) Continental A65-8/9 engine.
FP-60
Powered by a 60hp (45kW) Franklin 4AC-171-A1 engine.
FP-65
Powered by a 65hp (48kW) Franklin 4AC-176-B29 engine.
LP-50
Powered by a 50hp (37kW) Avco Lycoming O-145-A1 engine.
LP-55
Powered by a 55hp (41kW) Avco Lycoming O-145-A3 engine.
LP-65
Powered by a 65hp (48kW) Avco Lycoming O-145-B1/B2 engine.
Specifications (CP-65)
Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2760
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 22 ft 8 in (6.91 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 9 in (10.59 m)
Height: 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Wing area: 168.80 ft² (15.68 m²)
Empty weight: 671 lb (304 kg)
Gross weight: 1160 lb (526 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Continental A65-8/9 flat-four piston engine, 65 hp (48 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 108 mph (174 km/h)
Range: 300 miles (483 km)
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4570 m)


High Flight

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr