Wagner Twin 1 Cubs

In 1951 Harold A Wagner built a 1946 Piper J-3C and 1947 PA-11 fuselages mounted side-by-side for twin performance. Built in five days, despite having unequal motors and props (42″ wood and 45″ metal), it demonstrated negligible balance problems, the motors were later matched as 85hp with metal props. The overlapping prop clearance came from a 4.75″ spacer on the left motor’s propeller shaft. Flown from the right fuselage only, the added horsepower would in theory support four passengers, but the increased wing loading in reality wouldn’t.

The outer wing panels and tailplane were standard components. The resulting aircraft looked so odd that even Mr.Wagner called it “The Thing”. Because of the close proximity of the fuselages, only the righthand one could be occupied by a pilot and passenger, the lefthand fuselage serving only the purpose of engine mounting. No propeller synchronizing was envisaged, the props rotating in different planes instead. This was accomplished by a ‘distance piece’ on the lefthand engine/prop combination.

First flown on 6 December 1951, it had STOL take-off, 1500fpm climb rate and would take-off and fly on one motor. It is claimed that flight qualities were just great, even with one engine out. The one built, NX1334N, was dismantled after 150hrs of flight.