General Aircraft Monospar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Monospar | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Cabin monoplane |
| Manufacturer | General Aircraft |
| Maiden flight | 1932 |
| Number built | 45 |
The General Aircraft Monospar was a British family of aircraft built by the General Aircraft Company to exploit the new cantilever wing developed by the Monospar Wing Company Limited.
[edit] Design and development
After producing a number of experimental cantilever wings based on the work of Swiss engineer H.J. Steiger the Monospar Wing Company designed a light low-wing aircraft designated the Monospar ST-3 and built by the Gloster Aircraft Company. After successful testing of the ST-3 a new company General Aircraft was formed to use the new Monospar wing in new designs.
The first design was the ST-4 a twin-engined low wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel landing gear. Powered by two Pobjoy R radial engines the first aircraft (registration G-ABUZ) first flew in May 1932 and was followed by five production aircraft. The ST-4 II an improved variant with minor differences followed with a production run of 30. In 1933 the ST-6 appeared, a similar aircraft to the ST-4 with manually retractable landing gear and room for an extra passenger. The ST-6 was only the second British aircraft to fly with a retractable landing gear (the first the Airspeed Courier was flown a few weeks earlier). Another ST-6 was built and two ST-4 IIs were converted.
The Croydon factory closed down in 1933 and a larger factory was opened in 1934 at Hanworth where the company produced a developed version the ST-10 externally the same but powered by two Pobjoy Niagara engines an improved fuel system and aerodynamic refinements.
[edit] Operational history
The ST-10 prototype (G-ACTS) won the 1934 Kings Cup air race at an average speed of 134.16 mph. Only one other ST-10 was built along with two similar ST-11s with de Havilland Gipsy Major engines for export to Australia[1]. A production batch of ten ST-12 aircraft was based on the ST-11 with fixed landing gear.
[edit] Variants
- Monospar ST-3
- Experimental cantilver monoplane, one built.
- ST-4
- Experimental cantilever monoplane, seven built.
- ST-4 II
- Improved variant of ST-4, 22 built, two later converted to ST-6 standard.
- ST-6
- As ST-4 with manual retractable landing gear, two built and two conversions from ST-4 IIs.
- ST-10
- Improved variant with two Pobjoy Niagara engines, two built.
- ST-11
- de Havilland Gipsy Major engined variant, two built.
- ST-12
- Fixed landing gear variant with two de Havilland Gipsy Major engines, 10 built.
[edit] Survivors
- One ST-12 (registration VH-UTH) is held by the Newark Air Museum, England
[edit] Specifications (ST-12)
Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft [2]
General characteristics
- Capacity: 4
- Length: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
- Wingspan: 40 ft 2 in (12.24 m)
- Height: 7 ft 10 in (2.30 m)
- Wing area: 217 ft² (20.16 m²)
- Empty weight: 1,840 lb (835 kg)
- Gross weight: 2,875 lb (1,304 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × de Havilland Gipsy Major 4-cylinder inverted inline piston engine, 130 hp (97 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 158 mph (254 km/h)
- Range: 410 miles (660 km)
- Service ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Priest, Joan. Virtue in Flying 1975 Angus & Robertson ISBN 0207132305
- ^ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, p. 1938.
[edit] Bibliography
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985, p. 2158.
- Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 3. London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
[edit] External links
- British Aircraft Directory ST-3
- British Aircraft Directory ST-4
- British Aircraft Directory ST-6
- British Aircraft Directory ST-10
- British Aircraft Directory ST-11
- British Aircraft Directory ST-12
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