A 1928 three seat commercial biplane. Powered by a 90 hp Curtiss engine, the Imperial had a maximum speed of 90mph (145 kmh).
The first Bird Wing took McCrum and his assistants 63 days to build at a cost of US$12.000. The prototype flew over 5000 passengers over a period of 15 months.
Among the many pilots who flew the birds wing was Hap Arnold and Charles Lindbergh. McCrum suggested a comprehensive program of courses of flight training, which included training flight in a Bird Wing, and build the aircraft from scratch. The Bird Wing Imperial was tested to meet the requirement of 1931 and 50 were ordered, then cancelled at the beginning of the great Depression.
McCrum revised the plans for the Bird Wing again in the 1950s to install a 450 hp 336 kW Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial engine and a 3 inch fuselage widening to convert the design into an agricultural aircraft which never went into production.
Bird Wing Model 1
Engine: 1 × Curtiss OX-5, 90 hp / 67 kW
Propeller: 2-bladed wooden fixed pitch
Wingspan: 31 ft 4 in / 9.55 m
Wing area: 303.5 sq ft / 28.20 sq.m
Airfoil: Aeromarine 2
Length: 23 ft 6 in / 7.16 m
Height: 8 ft 7 in / 2.62 m
Empty weight: 1.236 lb / 561 kg
Gross weight: 2.255 lb / 1023 kg
Fuel capacity: 34.5 US gal / 28.7 imp gal / 131 l
Maximum speed: 90 mph / 140 km / h / 78 kn
Rate of climb: 460 ft / min / 2.3 m / s
Service ceiling: 10.000 ft / 3.000 m
Cruise speed: 75 mph 121 km / h, 65 kn
Landing speed: 30 mph / 26 kn / 48 km / h
Wing loading: 6.95 lb / sq ft / 33.9 kg / sq.m
Power / mass: 0.04 hp / lb 0.066 kW / kg
Crew:
Capacity: 2 pax
Bird Wing No. 2
Upper and lower ailerons
Bird Wing No. 4
Engine: Hisso, 180 hp / 134 kW
Bird Wing Imperial
1930
Engine: Wright Whirlwind R-540, 165 hp / 123 kW
Max speed: 118 mph / 190 km / h
All Aero 