Crosby CR-4

CR-4
CR-4 displayed at the EAA Airventure Museum
Role Racing aircraft
National origin United States
Designer Harry Crosby
First flight April 1938
Number built 1
Developed from Crosby CR-3

The Crosby CR-4 is a racing aircraft developed in the late 1930s

CR-4

Development

The Crosby CR-4 is the follow-on of the Menasco C6S-4 powered Crosby CR-3 (a.k.a. C6R-3) designed to be powered by a twelve cylinder Ranger V-770 engine[1] The aircraft was designed while Crosby was recovering with a broken back and fractured skull from the 1936 crash of his all metal CR-3. Despite a prior failure causing a crash, money shortages prompted Crosby to reuse the Menasco C6S-4 engine from his former racer. Funding for construction came from fellow racer Kieth Rider. Students from the Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in Glendale, California assembled the aircraft.[2]

Design

The CR-4 is a low-wing monoplane with conventional landing gear. The construction is all-metal stressed skin. The triangular wings featured a straight leading edge with a long chord tapering to a point at the wingtips. The left cowling held a combination oil tank and surface cooler. The seat and canopy adjusted up six inched in travel for take off and landing visibility. The landing gear used compressed air from a Lux air bottle rather than mechanical or hydraulic mechanism.[3] Copper filings found later in the line, combined with wind resistance prevented on leg from locking.[4]

Operational history

The first flight was performed in April 1938 at Mines Field with severe aileron flutter and a wheel collapse on landing.

In late 1939, the CR-4 was filmed for use in the movie Tail Spin. In 1945, Crosby died while bailing out of a XP-79B. The CR-4 was sold by his wife to be restored by its new owner. The aircraft was placed in storage in a school bus until purchased by Morton Lester. Lester donated the airframe to the EAA Airventure museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where it was restored and placed on display.[6]

Variants

Specifications (CR-4)

Data from Sport Aviation

General characteristics

Performance


References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crosby CR-4.
  1. "Crosby CR-4". 10 March 2012.
  2. John Underwood. Grand Central Air Terminal. p. 74.
  3. John Underwood. Grand Central Air Terminal. p. 74.
  4. Frank Sabo (March 1957). Experimenter: 14. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. AAHS journal no.54: 290. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "Crosby CR-4". 10 March 2012.
  7. Birch Matthews. Race with the wind: how air racing advanced aviation. p. 109.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/24/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.