Command-Aire

The Command-Aire was an aircraft manufacturer from the late 1920s and early 1930s based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Command-Aire
FormerlyArkansas Aircraft Corporation
IndustryAerospace
FateBankruptcy
PredecessorArkansas Aircraft Company
Successornone
Founded1926 (1926)
Founders
  • Major John Carroll Cone
  • W. F. Moody
Defunct1931 (1931)
Headquarters
Little Rock, Arkansas
,

United States
Key people
  • Albert Vollmecke
  • Robert B. Snowden
ProductsAircraft
Command-Aire 5C3 N997E

History

The company was founded on August 26, 1926 by Major J. Carroll Cone and W. F. Moody as the Arkansas Aircraft Corporation.[1][2] Aircraft were built in the former Climber Motor Company Factory at 1823 East 17th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas.[3] After a failed attempt by their first engineer to produce their own design, they attempted to arrange the purchase of a production licence for the Heinkel HD 40, and when that fell through they hired a Heinkel engineer, Albert Vollmecke, who would be responsible for the rest of the company's designs.[2] In September 1928, the company was purchased by Robert B. Snowden and the name was changed to Command-Aire. With rapidly declining sales due to the Great Depression, and with no acceptable offers for a merger, the company declared bankruptcy in 1931 and its remaining assets were sold off.[1]

Aircraft
Model name 1st flight ATC # No. built Type
Glider[4] 1928 n/a 1 glider (NX3895)
3C3[5] 1928 ATC 53, 2-201 178 or 179 three seat biplane
4C3 1929 n/a 1 Prototype two-seat biplane
5C3[6] 1929 ATC 184, 2-251 63 or 64 three seat biplane
BS-14 1930 ATC 2-204 1 Prototype two-seat training biplane
BS-16 1930 n/a 2 Prototype three-seat training biplane
MR-1 Little Rocket 1930 n/a 1 Single-seat racing monoplane

References

Citations
  1. Lock, Robert G. "Development of Arkansas Aircraft Corporation Model 3C3" (PDF). OX5 Aviation Pioneers. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  2. Smith, 1992, p.224-246
  3. "Command-Aire". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  4. Lock, Robert G. (February 2010). "My Friend Albert Vollmecke Part II". Vintage Airplane. Vol. 38 no. 2. EAA Vintage Aircraft Association. pp. 19–24.
  5. Juptner, 1962, p.139-140
  6. Juptner, 1964, p.242-244

Bibliography
  • Juptner, Joseph P. (1962). U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol. 1 (ATC 1 - 100). Los Angeles, CA: Aero Publishers. pp. 139–140. LCCN 62-15967.
  • Juptner, Joseph P. (1964). U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol. 2 (ATC 101 - 200). Los Angeles, CA: Aero Publishers. pp. 242–244. LCCN 62-15967.
  • Smith, William M. (1992). "The Right Plane at the Wrong Time: A Brief History of the Command-Aire Aircraft Company". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 51 (3): 224–246. doi:10.2307/40023098. JSTOR 40023098.
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