N71828 Luscombe 8A Silveraire

[CrazyLee]

[Doug Robertson]

The name Silvaire (correct spelling) by Luscombe was first used for the Luscombe 8C model in 1940. An 8A was modified by Luscombe to become the prototype 8C Silvaire with a Continental C75 75 horsepower engine with fuel injection and dual ignition. Both exterior and interior changes were made. The 8C instrument panel had a shock-mounted section accented by chrome. The interior included maroon cloth and tan leather. An external maroon color stripe on the sides with stylized S on the cowl and maroon leading edge of the wings were added. The cowl was changed and Luscombe-designed wheel pants were now standard.

The first public use of the Silvaire name was in a color ad in the May 1940 AERO DIGEST, introducing and featuring the new Luscombe 8C Silvaire. Post-war built 8As starting in 1945 were also called by then Silvaires as the external color scheme was standardized across models. Additional priimary colors were introduced post-war in the same scheme.

Don Luscombe was a pioneer in introducing light aircraft production all-metal duraluminum monocoque construction fuselages to aviation with the Phantom model of 1934, the year that the Luscombe Aircraft Development Corporation was founded. Use of "Silvaire" later as the 8C through 8F model name was a natural as all Luscombes were completed in shiny aluminum with minimum color enhancements. All the Luscombe 8 series, the 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E and 8F were built under the same ATC #694.

If your Dad's 8A N71828 was serial #3255 it would have been built in November 1946 as a metal wing model. Total 8A production in November 1946 was 186 aircraft, think of that! (November 1946 production also included 65 Model 8Es with metal wings)! There were also earlier 8As built with T-section wings and with stamped rib wings.

[CrazyLee]

[Doug Robertson]

Lee, Thank you for the link to your great tribute site covering your Father's flying career and all his airplanes. I really enjoyed the look back in time, photos, history and specs. That was a time when spin training was taught for the Private. I learned at a time (1965-66) when we were taught by Federal Aviation Agency mandate to recognize stall onset and recover controlled flight so as to prevent a spin from ever developing.

Your question about the Globe Swift various canopies: There were several versions; the first one was an "Invitation to sunburn" according to the Joseph P. Juptner ATC book series U. S. Civil Aircraft, Vol. 8. One mod put a tinted green "Lucite" top on it to reduce the heat and sunburn potential, Another did incorporate a bubble canopy, and TEMCO's late production acquired from Globe in August 1947 made the Swift into a cabin model appearance with door. Some early Globe versions had slide down windows into the fuselage, others had a hinged canopy with optional central metal cover.

Re the Piper Tri-Pacer conversion back to tail dragger: Many pilots of the day questioned why they had to now carry around an extra 30-40 or so pounds of nose gear which reduced usable load and created drag on the airframe. Many PA-22 Tri-Pacers were converted back to PA-20 Pacer tail dragger configuration. This was worth two miles per hour speed increase in the 125 and 135 horsepower versions of PA-20s versus PA-22s. Empty weight comparisons were 30 to 40 pounds lighter in the respective conversions back to tail dragger, yielding that much more useful load.

But, because of concerns about easier handling which led to the production Cessna 172 and 150, some tail draggers were actually converted to tri-gear by STC after manufacture. The Cessna 140 conversion to Cessna "145" was one such after-market tri-gear conversion by Supplemental Type Certificate. I haven't seen one of those in years.