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The Aeronca C-2 wasn't fast, big, or powerful, but it was one of the first American airplanes to be affordable and practical for the average person to own. Essentially a powered glider, it heralded the dawn of general aviation in the United States, paving the way for later types such as the Piper J-3 Cub. The pilot sat on a bare plywood seat with five instruments, a stick, and rudder pedals in front of him. If the pilot wanted a heater or brakes, that cost extra. The little plane had odd, almost comical lines that earned it the nickname "The Flying Bathtub." Aeronca sold 164 C-2s in 1930 and 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression.
What became the C-2 was derived from the U.S. Army Air Service GL-2 glider designed by Jean Roche, a French-born engineer at McCook (later Wright) Field in Dayton, Ohio. Roche’s next design, this time with an engine, was built with the help of John Dohse and Harold Morehouse. In September 1925, both plane and inexperienced pilot Dohse made their first flights. Dohse and Morehouse eventually left Dayton to pursue other interests (Dohse went on to work for Boeing in Seattle), and Roche was left to find a way to produce his successful little plane. In 1929, he sold his design to the Aeronautical Corporation of America ("Aeronca") of Cincinnati, Ohio, and after some refinement, it became the first of many Aeronca C-2s and follow-on designs.
The airplane’s powerplant followed a circuitous route. First, Roche installed a borrowed Henderson motorcycle engine, but it couldn't get the plane off the ground. Roche next turned to Harold Morehouse, who had designed a small engine to pump ballast air into a blimp. It was modified and installed for the airplane’s first flights. When a crash destroyed that engine, another was fashioned by Roy Poole and Robert Galloway. For C-2 production, the Poole-Galloway engines were fabricated by the Govro-Nelson Company, assembled at Aeronca, and called Aeronca E-107s.
The Museum's restored 1929 C-2 was owned by Robert Cansdale and donated in 1986. It has an Aeronca E-113 36-horsepower engine that was typically used to power heavier Aeronca C-3s.
The Aeronca C-2 wasn't fast, big, or powerful, but it was one of the first American airplanes to be affordable and practical for the average person to own. Essentially a powered glider, it heralded the dawn of general aviation in the United States, paving the way for later types such as the Piper J-3 Cub. The pilot sat on a bare plywood seat with five instruments, a stick, and rudder pedals in front of him. If the pilot wanted a heater or brakes, that cost extra. The little plane had odd, almost comical lines that earned it the nickname "The Flying Bathtub." Aeronca sold 164 C-2s in 1930 and 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression.
What became the C-2 was derived from the U.S. Army Air Service GL-2 glider designed by Jean Roche, a French-born engineer at McCook (later Wright) Field in Dayton, Ohio. Roche’s next design, this time with an engine, was built with the help of John Dohse and Harold Morehouse. In September 1925, both plane and inexperienced pilot Dohse made their first flights. Dohse and Morehouse eventually left Dayton to pursue other interests (Dohse went on to work for Boeing in Seattle), and Roche was left to find a way to produce his successful little plane. In 1929, he sold his design to the Aeronautical Corporation of America ("Aeronca") of Cincinnati, Ohio, and after some refinement, it became the first of many Aeronca C-2s and follow-on designs.
The airplane’s powerplant followed a circuitous route. First, Roche installed a borrowed Henderson motorcycle engine, but it couldn't get the plane off the ground. Roche next turned to Harold Morehouse, who had designed a small engine to pump ballast air into a blimp. It was modified and installed for the airplane’s first flights. When a crash destroyed that engine, another was fashioned by Roy Poole and Robert Galloway. For C-2 production, the Poole-Galloway engines were fabricated by the Govro-Nelson Company, assembled at Aeronca, and called Aeronca E-107s.
The Museum's restored 1929 C-2 was owned by Robert Cansdale and donated in 1986. It has an Aeronca E-113 36-horsepower engine that was typically used to power heavier Aeronca C-3s.
