The American Gyro AG-4 Crusader is a small twin engine aircraft. The aircraft was designed as the Shelton Flying Wing in 1933 by Thomas Miles Shelton.[1]
| AG-4 Crusader | |
|---|---|
| Role | |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | American Gyro Company |
| Designer | Thomas M. Shelton |
| First flight | 1935 |
| Introduction | 1935 |
Design
editThe AG-4 was developed using wind tunnel tests. The American Gyro AG-4 Crusader is an aluminum skinned four place low-wing twin engine aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear, twin tail booms with individual rudders, and a teardrop shaped fuselage. The wing uses trailing edge flaps and 25 gallon fuel tanks are mounted in each wing root. Retractable landing gear were also tested on the model.[2]
Operational history
editThe prototype was painted a copper color with green leather seats. It was tested in 1935 at Denver Colorado.[3] The aircraft was funded from stock issued in the Crusader Aircraft Corporation, a parent of the American Gyro Company. The company folded in 1938 under securities fraud investigations before the Crusader could go into production[4]
Popular culture
editTootsietoy came out with a die-cast metal toy of the plane, No. 719 in its catalogue.[5] Hubley and Wyandotte also made toys based on the Shelton Flying Wing.
Variants
edit- American Gyro AG-4 Crusader
- American Gyro AG-6 Buccaneer
- A six place variant design powered by Menasco engines[6]
Specifications (AG-4 Crusader)
editData from AAHS Journal
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 3 passengers
- Length: 21 ft 7 in (6.58 m)
- Wingspan: 36 ft (11 m)
- Height: 7 ft (2.1 m)
- Wing area: 206 sq ft (19.1 m2)
- Empty weight: 2,000 lb (907 kg)
- Gross weight: 3,000 lb (1,361 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 50 gal
- Powerplant: 2 × Menasco C4-S Inline four cylinder piston, 150 hp (110 kW) each
- Propellers: 2-bladed
Performance
- Maximum speed: 202 kn (233 mph, 375 km/h) [7]
- Cruise speed: 180 kn (210 mph, 340 km/h) [7]
- Range: 520 nmi (600 mi, 970 km) [7]
- Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,300 m) [7]
- Rate of climb: 1,760 ft/min (8.9 m/s) [7]
References
edit- ^ "The CRUSADER NX14429 Page of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register Website". Archived from the original on 2013-10-21. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
- ^ AAHS Journal: 42. Spring 2004.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - ^ E Stanton Brown (August 1935). "The American Gyro Crusader". Popular Science.
- ^ The Journal of Air Law, Volume 8. p. 71.
- ^ "Pre-War Tootsietoys - article by Clint Seeley".
- ^ Aerospace yearbook, Volume 18. Manufacturers Aircraft Association, Manufacturers Aircraft Association, Inc., New York, Aerospace Industries Association of America. p. 268.
- ^ a b c d e Aero Digest April 1935, p. 52.
Bibliography
edit- "American Gyro Crusader". Aero Digest. Vol. 26, no. 4. April 1935. p. 52. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- Roca, Alexander Crusader: The Story of the Shelton Flying Wing, its Company, and its Creator Rare Birds Publishing; 1st edition (1989) ISBN 978-0962288609