N854N, 1929 Davis D-1W Parasol Wing Rare Beauty. Rev. 1

This parasol tapered-gull wing beauty can be traced to the earlier parasol-wing Vulcan V-1 first produced by the Vulcan Aircraft Corporation of Portsmouth, Ohio and called the American Moth. The Davis D-1 aircraft's predecessor design, the parasol-wing Vulcan V-1 was sold to the Davis Aircraft Corporation of Richmond, Indiana in 1929. The modified first design by Davis called the Davis V-3 was then produced in small numbers. An improved version of the V-3 called the Davis D-1 approved in November, 1929 was successively produced as the Davis D-1, Davis D-1K and Davis D-1W monoplane until all production terminated in 1937. The featured N854N was one of the earliest production Davis models. LeBlond radial engines of 60 and 85 horsepower were first used. A 70 horsepower LeBlond powered model offered in 1931 and 1932 was discontinued as insufficient performance difference was noted from the 60 horsepower version. The LeBlond 60 horsepower model grossed out at just 1,335 pounds with a 495 pound useful load and had a top speed of 100 miles per hour, cruising at 85.

The Kinner R-5 100 horsepower engine powered the Davis D-1K of 1931, considerably improving performance. The last engine offered was the 125 horsepower Warner Scarab radial in 1933. Several surviving Davis D-1Ws were re-engined with the Warner Super Scarab of 145 horsepower. It is important to note that no production Davis D-1 was ever offered with the 145 horsepower Warner Super Scarab. My added performance figures below reflect the 125 horsepower Warner version, not that of N854N, which is incorrectly listed as having a 125 horsepower Warner engine. N854N was re-engined with a 145 horsepower Warner Super Scarab radial, and had this engine at the time (1995) of my photograph. The ability to carry different sized small radial engines was a definite asset of the Davis D-1 design.

The graceful parasol tapered-gull wing with elliptical trailing edge and geometric pattern of landing gear struts and wing struts viewed head-on were its most distinctive and striking recognition features. The Davis D-1 aircraft originally carried a tail skid rather than the tailwheel shown above. The Davis wing carried a 20 gallon fuel tank within the airfoil shape of the wing center section and a 10 gallon tank in the fuselage. This thin wing design with Gottingen 387 airfoil section tended to stall abruptly and sink faster near the stall point. It could side-slip to advantage into a short field, but airspeed needed to be kept up under that flight condition to prevent loss of lift and an abrupt stall with unwelcome result so near the ground. The Gottingen 387 airfoil is thinner than that of the later Stinson Reliant gull wing series, and is also thinner than that of the different USA 35B airfoil on the Piper J3-C Cub. 

The Davis D-1W was perhaps the most admired and coveted parasol wing aircraft of its time with a beauty and grace that was exceedingly compelling to pilots who could fit into its small tandem seating cockpits. Access to and egress from the forward cockpit required agility of a small person. Some aircraft have had the forward cockpit covered or abandoned for use. Pilots much over six feet tall fly with knees interfering with the instrument panel and control stick range. This rare aircraft is highly valued by antique hunters and the few remaining are priced like that rare element Unobtainium.

N854N as NC854N was photographed by me at the gala 65th Anniversary of the founding of Santa Paula Airport in 1995 as a fly-in distinguished visitor and I feel fortunate to have been in its presence. I am only showing one photograph of a Davis D-1W in this article as any example with later added engine cowl or speed ring (never offered by the factory) substantially alters the delicate appearance of the original Davis design, degrading it in my personal view. The uncowled radial-engined aircraft  looks exactly "right" from any perspective with its delicate beauty and grace and captivates  both the fortunate pilot, passenger and photographer. If this sounds like I am going overboard in my praise of this aircraft's design appearance, I assure the reader that is my intent, for the design deserves any and all accolades bestowed upon it. My vintage photograph was taken with a 35mm SLR camera and the color print scanned into my PC for uploading here. No photograph does it justice-it must be seen in person to study all its delicate and fine design attributes.

There are 14 Davis V-3/D-1 aircraft currently on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) register at this writing. I find that five of them have been re-engined with the Warner Super Scarab 145. N854N with the W-145 would have higher performance figures than those I have listed below for the D-1W Warner 125 horsepower production version. There are three Davis D-1Ks on the register; two with the Kinner K/R-5 and one re-engined with (of all things!) a Continental C-125 engine, a flat opposed-cylinder engine. Two of the D-1s still have the original LeBlond 85 horsepower radial engines with the D-1-66 engine designator. One of the D-1Ws has been re-engined with a smaller LeBlond 85. One of the Davis V-3s (listed as 1928?) now is N62298 reclassed by the FAA as Experimental with unknown engine. Davis built about 50 total aircraft, 23 V-3s and the rest, about 27 D-1s.

The five Davis V-3 models of the 14 extant aircraft deserve special mention. As stated, the original builder-Vulcan Aircraft Company used the V-1 designation for the American Moth predecessor design. The Davis Aircraft Corp. first produced an improved model, the V-3 parasol wing with 60 Hp LeBlond 5D radial engine. Davis then modified and refined their V-3 design, particularly in the tail area and the redesigned cockpits, resulting in the new design-the Davis D-1 with several engine choices. 

Three of the five Davis V-3s are 1929 models. And three of the Davis V-3 models have been subsequently re-engined with the Warner Super Scarab 145.

Do not confuse the Davis D-1 parasol wing design with the different Leeon Davis DA-2A or Davis DA-5 low wing vee tail experimental designs of the 1960s and 1970s, respectively. 

Please click on the photograph of N854N above to see the Aircraft Profile page.

Davis D-1W 125 Original Specifications (Not for N854N aircraft)

Powerplant: Warner Scarab 7 cylinder radial 125 Hp

Wing Span: 30 ft 2 in

Wing Area: 144 sq ft

Wing Loading: 10.1 lbs/sq ft

Power Loading: 11.69 lbs/Hp 

Overall Length: 20 ft 4 in

Overall height: 7 ft 3 in

Empty Weight: 904 lbs

Gross Weight: 1,461 lbs

Fuel: 30 gallons in two tanks

Oil: 3 gallons

Landing gear Type: long stroke oleo dampening strut mains, tail skid

Performance 

Max Speed: 142 mph

Cruise Speed: 123 mph

Landing speed: 43 mph

Max rate of Climb: 1,270 ft/min

Service Ceiling: 14,000 ft

Range: 480 miles

Endurance: 4 hrs

Fuel Consumed: 7 gal/hr at cruise

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