General Skyfarer
| Skyfarer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role | Two-seat cabin monoplane |
| Manufacturer | General Aircraft |
| Designer | Otto C. Koppen |
| First flight | 1940s |
| Number built | 18 |
The General Aircraft G1-80 Skyfarer was a 1940s American two-seat cabin monoplane aircraft built by the General Aircraft Corporation of Lowell, Massachusetts.
The General Aircraft Corporation was established to build an aircraft designed by Doctor Otto C. Koppen from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The aircraft was the G1-80 Skyfarer, a two-seat cabin high-wing braced monoplane with a light alloy basic structure and a mixed steel tube and fabric covering. It had an unusual tail unit, a cantilever tailplane with the elevator mounted on the upper surface of the tail with aluminum endplate fins and no movable rudders. It was powered by a 75 hp (56 kW) Avco Lycoming GO-145-C2 geared air-cooled four-cylinder engine.
The aircraft incorporated aerodynamic control principles covered by patents issued to Fred Weick, an early aeronautical engineer who went on to design and market the Ercoupe. Since it had no rudders (or rudder pedals), it was simpler to fly (it had a single control wheel, which controlled the ailerons and elevator), and was considered spin-proof. The aircraft was certified in 1941 with a placard that stated that the aircraft was characteristically incapable of spinning. The company also made a comment to Popular Science in a September 1941 article, with first public photos that an "average" person could learn to fly the Skyfarer ...in an hour or so...
It was anticipated that many aircraft would be ordered and built, but the United States became involved in the Second World War and the Skyfarer program was abandoned after 17 examples had been built. The rights and tooling passed to Grand Rapids Industries, who built two aircraft before stopping production. The company became a manufacturer of the Waco CG-4A troop glider.
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