Swiss pioneer Carl Steiger-Kirchhofer (1856-1946) made some flights with this parabolic wing tail-less glider in 1891.
Steiger 1891 glider
Aircraft
Stedman TS-1 City of Leeds
The Stedman TS-1 City of Leeds was a two-seat tandem sailplane designed and built by R.F. Stedman in Leeds, UK, in 1932. It was first flown on 21 July 1934 at Baildon, UK. It became BGA.213 and survived the war.
.
Wingspan: 50 ft
Wing chord: 6 ft
Wing area: 295 sq.ft
Weight: 424 lb
Wing loading: 2-2.48 lb/sq.ft
Seats: 2
Stedman 1930 Biplane
In 1930 Charles T Stedman of South Bend IN., USA, built a three-place, open cockpit biplane, powered by a 110hp Warner Scarab engine.
Stedman 1929 Biplane
In 1929 a two-place cabin biplane was the concept of Capt Charles R Bowers. Design work was done by Harold L Scholl, formerly of McCook Field, and J W Van Cleve. Money was put up by insurance broker Stedman plus Howard and Hugh Woolverton. They bought out (Clyde W) Shockley Flying Service and incorporated as Rainbow Flying Service and Rainbow Aircraft Corp.
Built at South Bend IN., USA, the biplane was registered NX294V c/n 1 and powered by a 75hp Rover engine.
Steco Aerohydroplane
The (James S & Ralph C) Stephens Engineering Co Aerohydroplane of 1911 was designed by James Stephens as an open biplane on wheel or floats. Interplane stabilizer panels were non-controllable—for a right turn, the right panel stayed in place and the left panel swung free, and vice-versa. This prevented the aircraft (wings) from sideslipping or stalling. Turning was accomplished by the empennage flight control steering system (not wing-warp) which gimbaled 360 degrees. These was no elevator, rudder, or ailerons. 1915 US aircraft patent #1,127,105.
Tricycle gear or all known pictures show two 16′ Burgess pontoons.
Stored in 1914, it was recovered in 1990 to the American Wings Air Museum at Blaine MN, where reassembly began in Feb 2002. It was to be fitted with the tricycle landing gear, which incorporates pneumatic shock absorbers, independent main gear brakes, and has nosewheel steering.
Engine: 50hp Gnôme Omega
Span: (upper) 41’8″
Span: (lower) 36’0″
Length: 31’0″
Speed: 50 mph
Seats: 1
Steco / Stephens Engineering Co
Chicago IL.
USA
In 1911 the Stephens Engineering Co built the Aerohydroplane.
St. Louis Aircraft PT-35
The 1936 PT-35 was entered in military evaluation for a primary trainer, but was beaten out by Stearman.
A two place open cockpit biplane.
Engine: Wright R-760, 225 hp
St. Louis Aircraft PT-15 / PT-1W
St. Louis Aircraft brought out a biplane primary trainer in 1935, hoping to win an Army production contract. Initially unsuccessful, St. Louis Aircraft continued to develop the airplane and demonstrate it (including a crash at Wright Field in 1936) for the Army, which eventually acquired a trial batch of 14 trainers in 1939. The Army identified these trainers as PT-15. All but one of them ended up being assigned to Parks College (at Cahokia, Illinois) for use in Parks’ Army aviation cadet training program. The hoped-for big production orders were not forthcoming, being won instead by the Boeing/Stearman PT-13/PT-17/N2S Army/Navy primary trainer.
PT-15 / PT-1W
Engine: Wright R-760, 225hp
Wingspan: 33’10”
Length: 25’0″
Useful load: 708 lb
Max speed: 124 mph
Cruise: 105 mph
Stall: 53 mph
Range: 355 mi
Ceiling: 14,500′
Seats: 2
XPT-15
1940
No built: 1 / 39-702
YPT-15
1941
No built: 13 / 40-001-013
St. Louis Aircraft XCG-5
One other military aircraft project was undertaken by St. Louis Aircraft during the Second World War. Having already placed large-scale aircraft production contracts with the major airframe builders, the Army sought to employ secondary sources when it decided in 1941 to develop a significant glider assault capability. Not being burdened at the time with aircraft production contracts, St. Louis Aircraft was invited to participate in the Army’s glider program, obtaining contracts to develop eight-place and fifteen-place troop-carrying gliders. The eight-place XCG-5 demonstrated serious aerodynamic flaws during its first test flights (at Lambert Field) in 1942. The redesign necessary to correct the aerodynamic, as well as significant structural, problems doomed the XCG-5. The larger, heavier XCG-6 was never built.
St. Louis Aircraft PT-LM-4
The 1940 PT-LM-4 was a low-wing, open cockpit, tandem seat, trainer with conventional landing gear, powered by a 180 hp (134 kW) Ranger 6-440C-3 engine. The fuselage was constructed of welded steel tubing with aluminum skins. The wings used aluminum construction with aircraft fabric covering.
The St. Louis PT-LM-4 was a primary trainer designed for use in the Civilian Pilot Training Program of World War II. Fairchild won the training contract, with St. Louis Aircraft Company building licensed versions of the PT-19 instead. Only one, NX25500, was ever built.
PT-LM-4
Engine: 1 × Ranger 6-440C-3, 180 hp (130 kW)
Length: 24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)
Wingspan: 30 ft (9.1 m)
Height: 7 ft 10 in (2.39 m)
Wing area: 157 sq ft (14.6 m2)
Gross weight: 2,012 lb (913 kg)
Maximum speed: 119 kn; 220 km/h (137 mph)
Cruise speed: 109 kn; 201 km/h (125 mph)
Stall: 55 mph
Range: 345 mi
Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s)
Crew: 2
