Pietenpol Sky Scout
| Air Scout | |
|---|---|
| Role | amateur-built airplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Pietenpol |
| Designer | Bernard Pietenpol |
| First flight | 1933 |
| Developed from | Pietenpol Air Camper |
The Pietenpol Sky Scout is a parasol wing homebuilt aircraft designed by Bernard Pietenpol.[1]
Development
[edit]The Sky Scout was a lower-cost follow-on to the Pietenpol's first homebuilt design, the Pietenpol Air Camper, using a lower-cost Ford Model T engine, rather than the more current Ford Model A engine. The aircraft was redesigned for the heavier engine by reducing it to a single-person aircraft. The new pilot location required a section called a "flop" to be installed, essentially a section of the wing that was hinged up to allow the pilot to stand up when getting into and out of the aircraft.[2] The aircraft was designed to be built of spruce and plywood. The drawings were published in the 1933 Mechanix Illustrated magazine.
Survivors
[edit]- A Sky Scout is on display at the Pioneer Flight Museum in Kingsbury, Texas.[3] This Scout is powered by a Model A engine. It is intended to be a flyable aircraft but for the present is only occasionally run up.
- The number one Pietenpol with a 1921 Model T engine is on display at the Model T Museum in Richmond, Indiana.
- Sky Scout N1933A is on display at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon.
- One is on display at the Minnesota Historical Center, Fountain, Minnesota, just 15 miles from Pietenpol's home town of Cherry Grove. Bernard Pietenpol is also buried in Fountain.
- Sky Scout CF-BAA was tracked down and found in a trailer in Saskatchewan, Canada, where it had been stored for a quarter of a century. Some parts are missing, including the engine, propeller, two elevators and a rudder.[4]
Variants
[edit]Claude Sessions developed a finned head modification on his Sky Scout for lighter-weight air-cooling. The engine was featured in Modern Mechanics magazine in 1931 and formed the basis for the American Flea Corporation Universal 50-60 engine.[5]
Specifications
[edit]Data from Sport Aviation
General characteristics
- Crew: one
- Length: 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m)
- Wingspan: 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
- Height: 8 ft 5 in (2.57 m)
- Powerplant: 1 × Ford Model T engine Inline four cylinder piston
- Propellers: 2-bladed
Performance
- Maximum speed: 54 kn (62 mph, 100 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 48 kn (55 mph, 89 km/h)
- Stall speed: 30 kn (35 mph, 56 km/h)
- Rate of climb: 200 ft/min (1.0 m/s)
See also
[edit]Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
- Fisher FP-505 Skeeter
- Heath Parasol
- Loehle Sport Parasol
- Pop's Props Cloudster
- Pop's Props Zing
- RagWing RW1 Ultra-Piet
- Smith Termite
Related lists
References
[edit]- ^ Mechanix Illustrated Magazine. 1933.
{{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Sport Aviation. March 1958.
{{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Pietenpol Air Scout". Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- ^ Mitchell, Kevin (November 18, 2023). "This airplane is a missing link. It's a lost holy grail. Everybody thought it was gone — long gone. And it turns out, it's there". National Post.
- ^ Sport Aviation. February 1960.
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