The
Aerial Engineering Corporation Standard 6W-3
was a commercial transport modification of the
US
Standard J-1
biplane
military trainer aircraft
, with new wings, engine and accommodation for four passengers. First flown in 1925, it was built in small numbers.
Design and development
[
edit
]
The Standard J-1 military trainer had been built in large numbers at the end of
World War I
. With many surplus after the war, it was a natural choice for adaptation by several manufacturers. Ariel Service, with the experienced designer
Harvey Mummert
who was an early collaborator with
Glenn Curtiss
, produced the Mercury Standard 6W-3 by combining a completely new wing with a Standard J fuselage and
empennage
, modified to accommodate four passengers rather than a student and with a new and more powerful engine.
[2]
The Standard 6W-3 was a
single bay biplane
with constant
chord
, straight-edged wings swept at 5° and with a more modern, thicker
airfoil
than most of those used during WWI. Its upper wing was flat but the lower one had 1.5° of
dihedral
. There were
balanced
ailerons
on the upper wing. Both wings were wooden structures based on twin
spruce
box spars
with the lower wing attached to the lower fuselage
longerons
and the upper wing braced to it. without
stagger
, by a pair of vertical
interplane struts
on each side between the spars. The narrow centre section, where the chord was reduced to improve the pilot's upward field of view, was supported over the fuselage with pairs of N-form
cabane struts
.
[2]
Its modified Standard fuselage, with new
longerons
and covering, now housed a 120 kW (160 hp) six-cylinder, water-cooled
inline
Curtiss C-6
engine with a honeycomb
radiator
in front of it and a fuel tank in the upper wing. Immediately behind it a new, large, under-wing cockpit with seats for four passengers, two in aft-facing
side-by-side seats
and two more opposite them. The seats were easily replaceable, allowing the 6W-3 to act as a mailplane. The pilot was in a separate cockpit behind the passengers with a large
fairing
behind his head.
[2]
The
empennage
was conventional, with a low
aspect ratio
tailplane
and generous
elevators
mounted on top of the fuselage. The
fin
was triangular, with a rounded
rudder
. The 6W-3 had conventional, fixed, tailskid
landing gear
with wheels on a single axle held by twin V-struts to the lower fuselage longerons. Rubber cord shock absorbers were fitted.
[2]
The first flight was in 1925. Fewer than ten were built.
[1]
Specifications
[
edit
]
Data from
Les Ailes, February 1926
[2]
General characteristics
- Crew:
One
- Capacity:
four passengers
- Length:
8.20 m (26 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan:
10.57 m (34 ft 8 in)
- Height:
3.33 m (10 ft 11 in)
- Wing area:
33.85 m
2
(364.4 sq ft)
- Airfoil
:
Clark Y
- Empty weight:
713 kg (1,572 lb)
- Gross weight:
1,198 kg (2,641 lb)
- Fuel capacity:
200 L (44 imp gal; 53 US gal)
- Powerplant:
1 ×
Curtiss C-6
water-cooled 6-cylinder
inline
, 120 kW (160 hp)
- Propellers:
2-bladed, 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in) diameter
Performance
- Maximum speed:
169 km/h (105 mph, 91 kn)
- Cruise speed:
145 km/h (90 mph, 78 kn)
- Stall speed:
73 km/h (45 mph, 39 kn) minimum speed
- Range:
580 km (360 mi, 310 nmi)
- Service ceiling:
4,575 m (15,010 ft)
References
[
edit
]