The Larkin KC-3 Skylark was a single-engine amphibious two-seater homebuilt aircraft, a pusher-style design with a single 100 hp Volkswagen air-cooled engine above and behind the fully enclosed cockpit. The booms are at¬tached to the wings and connected at the rear, between twin vertical stabilizers, by one single-elevator surface. One unique feature of the airplane’s structure is the use of a square tubular aluminum keel which is responsible for the loads from the landing gear and the main fuselage. The cockpit seats two occupants in side-by-side configuration, with a large Plexiglas canopy curving around both occupants. The landing gear is a tricycle arrangement with the nose gear positioned at the foremost point of the nose and the two main gear semi-recessed into teardrop-shaped fairings on the lower sides. For amphibious operations, there is an optional V-shaped lower hull of fiberglass which can be added.
The Skylark KC-3 first flew in 1972 and was registered N1LA.
My father, Tony Austin, worked for Larkin Aircraft in the late 1960s-early ’70s. He collaborated on the engineering and fabrication of the fuselage and other structural components of the one prototype. I had opportunity as a boy to witness the Skylark’s construction and first flight, and have sat in the actual aircraft. I never flew in it as it was only ever piloted by the designer, Keith Larkin himself, to my knowledge.
Thad Austin
Engine 65-hp Volkswagen.
Wingspan 26’6”
Length 19’6”
Gross Wt. 1246 lb
Empty Wt. 790 lb
Fuel capacity 17 USG
Top speed 115 mph
Cruise 105 mph.
Stall 42 mph
Climb rate 550 fpm
Ceiling 12,000 ft
Takeoff run 600 ft
Landing roll 400 ft
Range 525 miles
Seats: 2
All Aero 