Howard DGA-11

The Howard DGA-11 was a four-place, single-engine, high-wing light monoplane built by the Howard Aircraft Corporation, Chicago, Illinois. The DGA-11, powered by a nine-cylinder 450-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior radial engine, was purportedly the fastest four-seat civil aircraft of the late 1930s, able to achieve a top speed of about 200 miles per hour. A favorite of the high society and Hollywood circles, the DGA-11 cost about $16,500 in 1938 — a princely sum for the time. A slower and less costly version, the DGA-12, used a 300-horsepower Jacobs engine.

History

The Howard DGA-11 is a direct descendant of the famous DGA-6 racing plane Mister Mulligan. Designer/pilot Ben Howard's nomenclature claimed "DGA" stood for "Damn Good Airplane".

The DGA-6's racing success did indeed bring the DGA series much attention, and in its various permutations, differentiated mainly by different powerplants, the DGAs-8, 9, 11, 12 and -15 emerged as coveted aircraft, owned by corporations, wealthy individuals, and movie stars, such as Wallace Beery, who was himself a pilot. (In the movie, "Bugsy", Warren Beatty in the title role is flown from Los Angeles, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, in a red DGA-15.) In an era when airlines were flying DC-3s, the Howards at 160 to 170mph could match their speed and range. The rear seat exceeded airline leg room with limousine-like capaciousness. And with its high wing loading, the Howards rode through most turbulence with airline-like solidity.

World War II

With America's entry into World War II, most of the civilian Howards were commandeered by the military. The Army used them as officer transports and as ambulance planes. They were used variously as an officer's utility transport and for instrument training. The Howard was and is an excellent instrument platform, very stable and solid, especially compared to modern light aircraft.

The -11 was probably the ultimate of the series. Configured as a four-place aircraft, with the 450hp Pratt & Whitney R-985, it is graceful and powerful with perfectly classical lines.

The Competition

The Howard's most comparable contemporary is the glamorous Beech 17 Staggerwing, so called because it's a closed cabin biplane with the top wing leading edge unusually positioned aft of the bottom wing's leading edge. The Beech 17, except for the earliest in the series, has a retractable gear as opposed to the Howard's fixed one. The Staggerwing is a more complex aircraft (some might say fussy), with its more closely spaced ribs and rib stitching, round tapered fuselage, and Rube Goldberg gear retraction mechanism. None can deny its beauty. Like the Howard, the Beech 17 was offered with the same selection of powerplants, including Wright, Jacobs, and the R-985, which powers almost all surviving 17s and Howards. Another contemporary, the Stinson Reliant Gullwing was 20 to 30 knots slower than the Howard with a smaller (300hp) Lycoming and more drag from its thick wing.

Also introduced in the latter part of this period, and driven by the same Pratt & Whitney engine, was the radically advanced Spartan Executive. The Spartan was an all metal, low wing monoplane with retractable gear, good for at least 200MPH. Conceptually, this aircraft was a major leap beyond the others, which were of conventional metal tube and fabric construction. The Howard, is however distinguished by a lovely, elliptical tipped wood wing which is extremely strong. And, in fact the V_NE of the rugged Howard is 270mph, far higher than almost all modern single reciprocating-engined aircraft currently flying.

Vintage Years

In its vintage years, the Howard, ironically, because of its enormous utility, has suffered a bit in cachet in comparison to the Staggerwing. The Staggerwing, by the late fifties and early sixties, was already a highly pampered antique, usually seen in beautifully restored condition, and showing up frequently at fly-ins. The Howards, by contrast, with their dependability and simple maintenance, great interior room, and ruggedness, were frequently used like flying trucks as bush planes and very often for skydiving. Consequently, they were often as not seen in pretty beaten up condition flying as workhorses, not show horses.

In more recent years, the Howards have joined places with the Staggerwing (they are honorary members of the Staggerwing Club of Tullahoma, Tennessee) and now are usually seen as they should be in decent to magnificently restored condition. However, they still provide great utility. Superb travelling airplanes with much better visibility, headroom, and shoulder room than the Staggerwing, the 15s especially have very long "legs" with a fuel capacity of 151 gallons in three belly mounted tanks. This gives endurance of more than 7 hours, for a range at normal cruise (130kts/150mph) of over 1,000 statute miles.

Fuel management of the Howard is also less complex than for the Staggerwing which requires careful juggling. The Howard features a simple tank selector mounted under the instrument panel. It lets the pilot simply choose front, center, or rear tank; it is as simple as that.

With modern avionics, the Howard surpasses in many respects any contemporary light aircraft for its combination of room, comfort, speed, range, carrying capacity, and certainly panache. The supercharged P&W gives excellent performance from high altitude strips, and lets the Howard fly comfortably and confidently at mid-altitudes above most normally-aspirated aircraft and below turbine driven planes.

There is nothing to compare to the pleasure of flying behind a radial engine, which turning over at lower RPMs than a horizontal opposed, feels smoother and generates a comfortable low, reassuring rumble for less pilot fatigue, while propelling the Howard through the sky in a most stately fashion. It's arrival never goes unnoticed, even at the most jaded exec jet terminals or International airports. And, with the stability previously noted, it is a pleasure to fly the Howard on instruments, particularly on approach, day or night.

A very few of the beautiful 11s also still fly, of the 100 or so Howard variants airworthy, including one out of Santa Paula, California, which is probably the world headquarters of Howards with at least five flying out of that field. Another example of the DGA-11, restored by the renowned restorer and inventor, Jim Younkins, can be seen in the Arkansas Air Museum. Younkins’ flying replica Mr Mulligan is also there, a masterpiece which provides the fullest appreciation of Ben Howard’s design accomplishment.

Specifications (DGA-11)

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General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Capacity: 3 passengers
• Length: 25 ft 5 in (7.75 m)
• Wingspan: 38 ft 0 in (11.59 m)
• Height: 8 ft 5 in (2.57 m)
• Wing area: 185 ft² (17.2 m²)
• Empty weight: 2,450 lb (1,111 kg)
• Loaded weight: 4,100 lb (1,860 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 4,100 lb (1,860 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine, 400-450 hp (299-336 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 170 knots (196 mph, 315 km/h)
• Range: 869 nm (1,000 miles, 1,609 km)
• Service ceiling: 26,000 ft (7,926 m)
• Wing loading: 22.2 lb/ft² (108 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb ()

See also

Comparable aircraft

• Beechcraft Staggerwing

Designation sequence
DGA-1 - DGA-2 - DGA-3 (Pete) - DGA-4 (Mike) - DGA-5 (Ike) - DGA-6 (Mr Mulligan) - DGA-7 - DGA-8 - DGA-9 - DGA-11 - DGA-12 - DGA-15 -

DGA-18

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Howard DGA-11".