Ryan Navion

Navion
Portland International Jetport, 2004.
Type	Light Prop
Manufacturer	North American Aviation / Ryan Aeronautical
Introduced	1948
Status	Active
Primary users	United States Military Private Owners
Number built	1,200+

File:Navion A side 20060729.jpg

Navion

File:Navion side 20060729.jpg

Navion with open canopy

File:RyanNavion07A.JPG

Ryan Navion at Delta Air Park 1988

The Navion is a United States single-engine, four-seat aircraft originally designed and built by North American Aviation in the 1940s. It was later built by Ryan Aeronautical Company and the Tubular Steel Corporation (TUSCO).

Development history

The Navion was originally designed at the end of World War II by North American Aviation as the NA-143 (but produced under the NA-145 designation). It was designed for the civilian market but also attracted the interest of the United States Army Air Forces. The Army Air Force ordered 83 of the NA-154 version, designated the L-17A, to be used as a liaison aircraft, personnel and cargo carrier, and trainer for the university-based Reserve Officers Training Corps flight training program, 35 of which were later converted to L-17C by the Schweizer Aircraft Company by fitting them with L-17B model features such as an auxiliary fuel tank.

Ryan Aeronautical Company acquired the design in 1948, and built approximately 1,200 examples over the following three years. Ryan designated the airplane the Navion A and, later, the Navion B (with 260 hp engines of either the Lycoming GO-435-C2 or optionally the Continental IO-470 engine. The A Navions became the basis for the military L-17B.

A single prototype Navion C was developed to compete for the US Air Force trainer aircraft procurement that was awarded to Beechcraft (resulting in the T-34). This prototype did not survive. TUSCO took over production of the Navion in the mid 1950s, manufacturing D, E, and F models with a variety of enhancements including tip tanks and flush rivets. TUSCO also introduced the Navion Rangemaster G model in 1960, which incorporated all previous advancements, replaced the Navion's sliding canopy with a side door, enlarged the cabin, created 5 separate seats, and standardized use of tiptanks and larger, late-model Continental engines. An H Model was produced as well, very nearly the same as the G Model except for a few minor enhancements. The last few Navions were manufactured (all H Models) by Navion Aircraft Company during a short production run ending in 1976 during one of several attempts to restore the airplane to commercial viablity.

Sales of the aircraft were helped by the visibility of several famous celebrities who flew them, including Veronica Lake, Arthur Godfrey, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cullen. Retired Utah Senator Jake Garn is a current Navion owner.

The Navion was envisioned as a plane that would perfectly match the expected postwar boom in civilian aviation, since it was designed along the general lines of, and by the same company which produced the P-51 Mustang, generally regarded as the best Allied fighter aircraft. It was felt that wartime pilots would want to come home and continue flying with their families and friends under more peaceful conditions, but the postwar boom in civilian aviation did not materialize to the extent the manufacturers envisioned. Republic offered an Amphibious aircraft, the Seabee, Cessna offered the 195, and Beech (now Raytheon) offered the Bonanza. Of all these aircraft, the Bonanza was by far the most successful (it is still in production 60 years later). All of these aircraft were significantly more advanced than prewar civilian aircraft and they set the stage for aircraft built from aluminum sheets riveted to aluminum formers. Before the war, light civilian aircraft such as the Piper J-3 Cub and Aeronca Champion typically were made of wood or steel-tube fuselages with wooden wings. These pre-war designs were also marketed after the war, but did not sell well.

Navion Rangemaster aircraft were manufactured from 1961 to 1976. Their production followed that of earlier canopy-model Navion aircraft. In addition to the 39.5-gallon (150 liter) main fuel tanks, the Rangemasters added tip tanks with 34 gallons (128 l) each. The total fuel capacity of 107.5 gallons (407 l) gave these Navions the range for which they are named.

Present day

As of 2005, many Navions are still flying and there is an active Navion owners community. The American Navion Society, formed in 1960, provides information to help Navion owners maintain and fly their airplanes, and organizes annual conventions and other social events for Navion owners. Another more recently formed group Navion Skies provides additional support.

It has been said that there are no two Navions alike, in part due to the fact that numerous companies produced the airplane in different parts of the country, in part due to its long service history and many approved modifications, and because without the continuous manufacturing production and support of these airplanes for most of the last 40 to 50 years, owners and third-party organizations have successfully sought numerous improvements to the aircraft on their own via FAA field approval and supplemental type certificates. The airplane has been repeatedly modified with numerous larger powerplants including the latest aircraft piston engine designs available. One Navion was even re-registered experimental and fitted with a Czech built Walter Turbine engine reportedly allowing the airplane to climb in excess of 5000 feet per minute.

Popular Culture

In the 1972 made-for-television film "Family Flight", starring Rod Taylor and Dina Merrill, a family flying a Navion is forced down in the desert. The family later attempts to land the Navion on an aircraft carrier.

Military Operators

• US Air Force

Specifications (L-17)

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Capacity: three passengers
• Length: 27.25 ft (8.3 m)
• Wingspan: 33.38 ft (10.17 m)
• Height: 8.53 ft (2.60 m)
• Wing area: 184 ft² (17.09 m²)
• Empty weight: varies, depending on equipment ()
• Loaded weight: 2,750 lb, (1,247 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Continental E185 , 185/205 hp (138/153 kW)

Performance

• Never exceed speed: 190 mph (306 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 155 mph (250 km/h)
• Stall speed: 64 mph gear and flaps up, 50 mph gear and flaps down (103 / 80 km/h)
• Range: varies with auxiliary tanks ()
• Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4572 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,250 ft/min (381 m/min)
• Wing loading: 11.4 lb/ft² estimated (55.7 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 13.4 lb/hp estimated, Navion A modelbb (8.1 kg/kW)

Sources

• Ryan Aeronautical Company. Navion Operation Manual (3rd ed., February 1, 1949).
• U.S. Bureau of Aeronautics. Technical Order 1L-17A-1: Flight Handbook USAF Series L-17A, L-17B, and L-17C Aircraft (1 October 1948)
• Aviation Consumer. Used Aircraft Guide
• American Navion Society web site
• L-17.org web page
• Warbird Alley L-17 web page

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Navion

• American Navion Society
• Navion Skies web site
• L-17.org
• Warbird Alley L-17 page
• Fraser Blues Navion formation demonstration team
• Type Certificate Data Sheet (PDF).

See also

Comparable aircraft

• Beechcraft Bonanza
• Messerschmitt Bf 108 / Nord 1000 Pingouin
• Mooney M20
• Piper Comanche

• Variable-Response Research Aircraft

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ryan Navion".