Friesley Falcon

Hi, The batboy's name is Wilton Eich, not "Wonton" Eich. He was my father and Harvey Eich, was my grandfather and Warren and Allen Eich were my great uncles. Thank you!

reply

I've seen a black & white print of the Marysville Merchants Baseball Team posing before the Friesley Falcon airliner, August 1921. The team posed with the crew in front of the large twin engined aircraft, they recorded the fact that they were the first ball team in history to travel by aircraft to play a ball game. They are from left to right: Cliford Gottwalls, Warren Eich, Roy Francis (pilot), Capt. B. M. Spencer (designer, builder and pilot), Grafton Reed (mechanic), Clyde Manwell, Louis Wilcoxen, Tyrell Brook, Bryden Kelly, Lou Anthony, Unknown, Allen Eich, Charles Brown, and Harvey D. Eich (manager). The bat boy standing in front is Wonton Eich. The man who funded the Friesley Falcon project was Harold Friesley (aka Friesleben). The Friesleben family had a farm on Highway 70 between Marysville and Oroville. The Airliner was partly constructed on the farm. Although this twelve passenger airliner was not a finacial success, the Friesley Falcon was aerodynamically and technologically a success. The Friesley Aircraft Corp. went bankrupt in 1922 and it is believed that the aircraft was sold to China.

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Capacity: 12 passengers
Length: 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)
Wingspan: 65 ft 3 in (19.89 m)
Height: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m)
Wing area: 897 sq ft (83.3 m2)
Airfoil: U.S.A. 5
Empty weight: 5,600 lb (2,540 kg)
Gross weight: 8,600 lb (3,901 kg)
Fuel capacity: 40 US gal (33.3 Imp gal; 151 L)
Powerplant: 2 × Liberty L-12 V-12 cylinder, water cooled, low compression, 400 hp (300 kW) each
Propellers: 2-bladed Paragon, 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) diameter , pitch 7 ft (2.44 m)

Performance
Maximum speed: 120 mph (190 km /h; 100 kn) [3]
Cruise speed: 90 mph (78 kn; 140 km /h) [3]
Stall speed: 55 mph (48 kn; 89 km /h) [3]
Time to altitude: 4 min to 5,000 ft (1,640 m)
Wing loading: 9.3 lb /sq ft (45 kg /m²)

reply