Gwinn Aircar

There were two built. The first went on a sales tour during the National Air Races with V.P. and sales manager Fred Hawks accompanied by Nancy Love in 1937. In August 1938 Hawks and a passenger were killed shortly after take off when the Aircar collided with power cables. Joseph Gwinn then donated the other Aircar to his old employers Consolidated Aircraft. Convair, as was, redesigned the plane which became a monoplane known as the Model 111. Powered by a 65 h.p Continental pusher engine this plane suffered all sorts of problems which eventually led to Convair giving up and the plane was unceremoniously scrapped in or around 1946.

Power plant 1 x 95 h.p Pobjoy Niagara 7 cylinder radial

Span 24'0" Length 16'3" Wing area 169 sq ft
Empty weight 1,099 lb Gross weight 3,377 lb

Max speed 118 mph Cruising speed 103 mph Range 495 miles

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My grandfather was one of the people that built this airplane.My parents and I have books and papers all about this airplane.

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The Aircar was hardly the first aircraft with a tricycle landing gear; that goes back at least as far as the 1911 Curtiss Pusher, and there were a few other tricycle-geared aircraft in between.

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The test pilot for the Air Car was Richard K. Benson, my uncle. During one flight he inadvertantly got the Air Car into a spin and at about 10,000 feet and was able to recover at about 1000 feet. Saving the airframe got him a $10,000 reward from Gyinn. As far as my uncle knew at the time the Air Car was the first with tricycle landing gear. I also was told that there was a hidden rudder trim handle under the pilots seat for testing and my Uncle was supicious that Mr. Hawks was unaware of it at the time of the crash.

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