Great Lakes Aircraft Company
Cleveland, Ohio | |
Founder | John Duncan |
---|---|
Headquarters | , United States |
Website | greatlakesaircraftcompany |
Great Lakes Aircraft Company is an aircraft manufacturer known for the 2T-1A Sport Trainer biplane. The company has a long history of building both private and military aircraft.
Origins
In 1929, the Great Lakes Aircraft Company (GLAC) was formed in
Great Lakes Trophy
The Great Lakes Trophy was awarded in 1930 and 1931 to the fastest plane with an engine of 510 cubic inches or less that participated in the
2T biplane
The model that most people think of today when someone says, "Great Lakes aircraft," is the enduring 2T biplane; also known as the
The original models had a wing span of 26 feet 8 inches and length of 20 feet 4 inches. The useful load was 578
Aerobatic planes
As the years went by, the original Cirrus engine installation was replaced by Warner radials, inline Menascos or Fairchild-Rangers, and horizontally-opposed Lycomings, Franklins, or Continentals. Tex Rankin, a stunt pilot of the 1930s and 1940s, made the Great Lakes Sport Trainer famous. He had one specially modified and installed a 150 hp supercharged Menasco engine.[6] It was painted red, white and blue with his name upright on one side, and upside down in the other, so folks would know who he was when he flew by upside down. Tex's airplane is being restored by the Oregon Aviation Museum.
For about 30 years, until the late 1960s, the Great Lakes Sport Trainer was the top American-made acro plane. Other pilots who made the Great Lakes reputation famous were: Hal Krier, Hank Kennedy, Bob "Tiger" Nance, Lindsay Parsons, Dorothy Hester, Betty Skelton, Charley Hillard, and Frank Price. The first United States entry in a world aerobatics contest was a Great Lakes biplane that Frank Price of Texas took to Eastern Europe in 1960.
Re-establishment of the company
During the 1960s Harvey Swack of Cleveland, Ohio, obtained the rights to the Sport Trainer design and all the factory drawings for it. Harvey then sold plans to homebuilders until 1990, when he sold off the plans business to Steen Aero Lab of Palm Bay, Florida. There have been a great number homebuilt Great Lakes Sport Trainers built over the years, which kept interest in this old biplane alive.
In 1973 Doug Champlin brought the Great Lakes back into production in Oklahoma. The general design was not changed much. The fuselage was strengthened by using thicker walled tubing, and the engines used were 150 or 180 hp Lycomings. The wings utilized
In 1978 Dean Franklin bought Champlin's interest in Great Lakes and the factory, inventory and several airframes in various stages of completion were moved to Eastman, Georgia. Franklin completed the in process airframes and then built serial numbers 1001 through 1010. Franklin still owns serial number 1001. Franklin sold Great Lakes to a group in New England and they went out of business in 1983.
In 2000, John Duncan of Palmer Lake, Colorado, bought the Great Lakes Sport Trainer type certificate and tooling. In 2006 Duncan announced his plan to bring the Sport Trainer back into production once again. When he gets 10 airplane orders, the factory will begin production. Duncan's company today is called The Great Lakes Aircraft Company LLC.
Aircraft
Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
---|---|---|---|
Great Lakes BG | 1933 | 61 | Dive bomber |
Great Lakes B2G
|
1 | BG with retractable landing gear and enclosed bomb bay | |
Great Lakes TG-1 | 18 | License built T4M | |
Great Lakes TG-1 Commercial
|
2 | Civilian version of TG | |
Great Lakes TG-2 | 32 | Reengined version of TG-1 | |
Great Lakes XSG | 1931 | 1 | Prototype biplane observation flying boat |
Great Lakes TBG
|
1 | Prototype torpedo bomber | |
Great Lakes 2-S-W
|
|||
Great Lakes 2-T-1
|
~240 | Training biplane | |
Great Lakes 2-T-2 Speedster
|
1 | Racing version of 2-T-1-A | |
Great Lakes 4-A-1 | 3 | Twin engine flying boat | |
Great Lakes 41 | 1 | Development of Inland Model T | |
Great Lakes X
|
1 | Reengined version of 2-T-1E |
References
- ^ Air law review, Volume 4, Alison Reppy editor, New York University, 1933, page 11
- ^ "Great Lakes Aircraft Gives New Light Plane Trophy". Michigan Manufacturer & Financial Record: 4. 1929.
This trophy will be awarded to the pilot in the 1930 tour who scores the highest number of points in a plane powered with an engine of 510 cubic inches or less.
- ^ "Great Lakes Company." greatlakesaircraftcompany.com. Retrieved: December 16, 2010.
- ^ "History." greatlakesaircraftcompany.com. Retrieved: December 16, 2010.
- ^ "Great Lakes Owners". Aero Digest. December 1936. p. 79. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ Air Trails: 47. Winter 1971.
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(help) - ^ Davisson, Budd. "420 HP Turbine Powered Great Lakes....No, We're Not Kidding." Air Progress', November 1976 via airbum.com. Retrieved: December 16, 2010.