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Pitcairn Mailwing
The Pitcairn Mailwing family was a series of Mail Carrier and Sport aircraft produced in the U.S.A. from 1927 to 1931.
Contents
Design and development
The Pitcairn Mailwings were developed by Pitcairn to carry Air Mail for the U.S. Postal Service. Of simple and robust construction they also had relatively benign flying characteristics.
They were constructed using Chrome-moly steel tube and square section, Spruce spars with spruce and plywood built-up ribs. The fuselage was faired using wooden formers and covered with fabric. The tail sections were built up from Steel tube and fabric covered. Not often seen in other aircraft, the Pitcairn Mailwing had a ground adjustable Fin and in-flight adjustable tailplane.
The undercarriage was of Outrigger type with Oleo-Spring shock absorbers and disc brakes on the mainwheels. All models looked very similar, changes were minor, with several fuselage extensions being the most obvious.
The mail was carried in a fireproof metal lined compartment forward of the pilots cockpit. The Mailwings were flown extensively by the U.S. Air Mail service from 1927 until the end of dedicated Air-Mail routes.
Pitcairn also built the same aircraft in sport versions for private use. These Sport aircraft had the mail compartment removed and a side by side 2-seat cockpit was fitted.
Variants
- PA-5 - original production version of 1927 with Wright J-5-9 engine; ATC 18 (32 built)
- PA-5 Mailwing - mail carrier version
- PA-5 Sport Mailwing - sport version with seats for two passengers
- PA-6 - 1928 production version with Wright J-5-9 engine; ATC 2-22 (early), 92 (late) (53 built)
- PA-6 Super Mailwing - mail carrier version
- PA-6B Super Mailwing - (1 converted from PA-6)
- PA-6 Sport Mailwing - sport version with seats for two passengers
- PA-6 Super Mailwing - mail carrier version
- PA-7 - 1929 production version with Wright J-6 engine; ATC 196
- PA-7M Super Mailwing - mail carrier version (12 built)
- PA-7S Super Sport Mailwing (15 built)
- PA-8 - 1930 production version with Wright J-6 engine; ATC 364
- PA-8M Super Mailwing - mail carrier version (6 built)
Operators
Specifications (PA-5 Mailwing)
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References
- Juptner, Joseph P. (1963). U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol.2. Los Angeles: Aero Publishers, 279-81.
- www.airminded.net Pitcairn Mailwing. airminde.net. Retrieved on 2008-10-20.
- U.S. Air Mail Service – 90th Anniversary. Antiqueairfield.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-20.
Lists relating to aviation | |
|---|---|
| General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
| Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
| Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
| This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pitcairn Mailwing". |
