Anderson Greenwood AG-14

AG-14
Role Utility aircraft
Manufacturer Anderson Greenwood
Designer Ben Anderson, Marvin Greenwood & Lomis Slaughter Jr[1]
First flight 1947
Introduction 1950[1]
Number built 6
Variants Cessna XMC

XAZ-1 Marvelette

The Anderson Greenwood AG-14 is a two-seat utility aircraft developed in the United States shortly after World War II. It is an all-metal, shoulder-wing monoplane of pod-and-boom configuration, equipped with a pusher propeller, side-by-side seating and fixed tricycle undercarriage.[1]

Development

Anderson Greenwood's sole aircraft design was actually a collaborative effort of three engineers: Ben Anderson, Marvin Greenwood & Lomis Slaughter Jr. The name of the last member of the design team was not included in the product name as it was thought it would not boost sales.[1]

The prototype first flew in October 1947, but plans to mass-produce the aircraft were interrupted by the Korean War. Eventually, only five more examples were built before Anderson Greenwood abandoned the project in favour of producing aircraft components for other manufacturers.

The aircraft's design placed the wing behind the cabin and allowed easy entry via automobile-like doors on each side of the cabin. The propeller is well protected and provides safety on the ground in comparison to tractor configuration aircraft. The airfoil employed is a NACA 4418 giving high lift and a stable stall characteristics. The flaps are two-position and mechanically operated by a flap handle on the cabin floor between the seats. The engine starter is foot-actuated and the nose-wheel steering is connected to the control wheel.[1][2]

The AG-14 has very good visibility and one reviewer termed it "amazing".[2]

The aircraft was certified on 20 September 1950 in the normal category. The certification includes a prohibition on aerobatics and spins. One reviewer termed it as "positively spin resistant."[2][3]

Serial numbers 1, 2 and 3 were produced in 1950, while 4 and 5 were built in 1953.[4]

In 1969 one AG-14 aircraft was acquired by Cessna Aircraft Company and taken to Wichita, Kansas for evaluation. Cessna designed and constructed a single prototype aircraft of similar configuration, the Cessna XMC, equipped with a Continental O-200 engine of 100 hp (75 kW), with the goal of a possible Cessna 150 replacement. The Cessna evauation program ran though 1971 and 1972. While performance was similar to a C-150, the aircraft suffered from high cabin noise levels as well as cooling problems, while not providing any performance advantages over the Cessna 150.[5]

An AG-14 was also used as the basis of the XAZ-1 Marvelette test bed aircraft built by the Mississippi State University in the 1960s.[6]

Operational history

In May 2009 the five production aircraft were still on the US registry listed as Anderson Greenwood AND-51-A.[4]

Specifications (AG-14)

Data from Hoadly 1950[2]

General characteristics

Performance

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Plane and Pilot: 1978 Aircraft Directory, page 13. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. ISBN 0-918312-00-0
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hoadley, Ed (December 1950). "Anderson-Greenwood AG-14". Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  3. ↑ Federal Aviation Administration (October 1950). "Aircraft specification no. 4a1". Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Federal Aviation Administration (May 2009). "FAA Registry Make / Model Inquiry Results". Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  5. ↑ Visschedijk, Johan, Walter van Tilborg and Karl Smithl (December 2003). "Cessna XMC". Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  6. ↑ Meyman, Jos. "The Mississippi Marvel". Air Enthusiast (Bromley, UK: Tri-Service Press) (Forty-one, Midsummer 1990): pp. 49–53. ISSN 0143-5450.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anderson Greenwood AG-14.

See also