Rankin RBM-4

The Rankin RBM-4 of 1928 was a two-place low wing monoplane powered by a 60hp LeBlond 5D engine. Fist flown by Basil B Smith, they were priced at $2,500.

One appears in a 1936 register as four-place cabin with a 200hp Wright NC9622 (how the NC was acquired is unknown)] c/n 3, owned by brothers Alexander, Arch, and Charles Rankin of Wayne MI. Company promotion also told of a three-place open cockpit with 90hp LeBlond 7D also in progress, with a useful load circa 500 lb and max speed of 110mph, as well as an ambitious plan for a network of national distributors.

Engine: 60hp LeBlond 5D
Wingspan: 37’1″
Length: 25’6″
Useful load: c.350 lb
Speed: 100 mph
Seats: 2

Rahn Aircraft Corp Cyclogyro

An invention of William Rahn in collaboration with Gus Miller, formerly with the Zeppelin Works in Germany, this 1933 experimental aircraft was only 15 feet long, and carried two 6-foot span rotating wings on each side. Powered with a 240 hp supercharged Wright Whirlwind motor, the wings are disposed about a central axis and change their incidence so as to produce both lift and negative drag.

It was said to fly forwards at up to 100 mph without the aid of a normal propeller.

The two 6′ rotating wings on each side theoretically would cause the plane to rise or descend vertically, or fly laterally without a conventional propeller up to 100mph, but it is unrecorded if this 15′-long creation, registered NX13247, ever accomplished any of these feats.

Rackett A

In 1936 William Rackett built the Rackett A two-place open cockpit biplane. Powered by a 90hp Curtiss OX-5 engine, it first flew, possibly, on 24 March 1936, registered N15793 c/n 1.

It was sold by Rackett on 7 July 1936 and repurchased by him on 21 October 1936.

The registration was cancelled on 1 November 1937 for unstated reasons.