Aeronca C-2

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American light aircraft

title: "Aeronca C-2" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1920s-united-states-civil-utility-aircraft", "aeronca-aircraft", "high-wing-aircraft", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1929", "aircraft-with-fixed-conventional-landing-gear", "single-engined-piston-aircraft"] description: "American light aircraft" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeronca_C-2" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American light aircraft ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]

FieldValue
nameAeronca C-2
imageAeroncaC-2CF-AOR.jpg
captionAeronca C-2 in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum
typeMonoplane
national_originUnited States
manufacturerAeronca Aircraft
designerJean A. Roche
first_flight1929
developed_from1925 Roche Monoplane
number_built164
variantsC-1 Cadet
Aeronca C-3 Master
::

|name=Aeronca C-2 |image=AeroncaC-2CF-AOR.jpg |caption=Aeronca C-2 in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum |type=Monoplane |national_origin=United States |manufacturer=Aeronca Aircraft |designer=Jean A. Roche |first_flight=1929 |introduction= |retired= |status= |primary_user= |more_users= |produced= |developed_from=1925 Roche Monoplane |number_built=164 |variants=C-1 Cadet Aeronca C-3 Master

The Aeronca C-2 is an American light monoplane designed by Jean A. Roche and built by Aeronca Aircraft.

Development

Roche Monoplane

Jean A. Roche was a U.S. Army engineer at McCook Field airfield in Dayton, Ohio. Roche developed an aircraft with automatic stability and was granted U. S. Patent No. 1,085,461. Roche published his engineering ideas for the aircraft in Aerial Age Weekly and Slipstream Monthly magazines. The prototype was started in Ohio in 1923 with the assistance of fellow engineer Quinten Dohse. The aircraft used a triangular cross-section welded steel tube fuselage, with wood wings, was fabric-covered, and used wire bracing throughout. A Henderson engine was installed, but did not perform well. Next a custom 29 hp two-cylinder Morehouse engine was developed for the aircraft. On September 1, 1925, the aircraft was successfully test flown. Many pilots including Jimmy Doolittle tried out the aircraft. Wright Aeronautical hired Morehouse and rights to his Wright-Morehouse WM-80 engine. Left without an engine, They turned to Robert E. Galloway of the Aeronautical Corporation of America to use the Aeronca E-107 engine. The rights to the aircraft were sold to Aeronca in 1928 as the basis for the C-2.

Aeronca C-2

The Aeronca C-2, powered by a tiny two-cylinder engine, made its first flight in October 1929, with its public debut in St. Louis in February 1930.

Equipped with only four instruments (altimeter, oil temperature, oil pressure, and tachometer), Aeronca sold 164 of the economical C-2s at the height of the Great Depression in 1930-1931, helping to spark the growth of private aviation in the United States.

The Aeronca C-2 also holds the distinction of being the first aircraft to be refueled from a moving automobile. A can of gasoline was handed up from a speeding Austin automobile to a C-2 pilot, (who hooked it with a wooden cane) during a 1930 air show in California.

A single Aeronca C-2, G-ABHE, was converted to a glider by H.J. Parham in England after an in-flight engine failure and forced landing. The nose was faired in after the removal of the engine. It first flew as a glider 15 May 1937 and went to the Dorset Glider Club but was destroyed in the club hangar during a storm in November 1938.

Variants

;Aeronca C-2: Single-seat light sporting aircraft, powered by a 26 hp Aeronca E-113 piston engine. ;Aeronca C-2 Collegian: Improved two-seat version, with a wider fuselage, a 40 hp E-113A engine, and a number of design improvements but retaining the open cockpit and strut-braced undercarriage. Confusingly, Aeronca renamed this version the C-3 Collegian. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/EL-2003-00273.jpg" caption="Aeronca C-2N Scout De luxe at Langley. This is now at the EAA Museum, Oshkosh."] ::

;Aeronca C-2N Scout: Deluxe sporting aircraft, powered by a 36-hp (27-kW) Aeronca E-112 or E-133A piston engine. Four built. Note that a P prefix, as in PC-2N, would indicate that the aircraft was fitted with floats, P standing for Pontoon.

Surviving aircraft

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Aeronca_C-2_‘NC647W’_(25745734552).jpg" caption="C-2 Sport at Yanks Air Museum"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Aeronca_C-2N_N11417_VA_Msm_Richmond_21.04.04R_edited-3.jpg" caption="C-2N at the Virginia Aviation Museum before moving to Shannon"] ::

;Canada

;United Kingdom

  • A-100 – C-2 (modified) G-ABHE under long-term restoration in Cornwall, England as a composite, modified to comply with microlight aircraft rules.

;United States

Specifications (C-2)

|prime units?=imp

|ref=Aeronca C-2: The Story of the Flying Bathtub

|crew=one |capacity= |length ft=20 |length m=6.10 |span ft=36 |span m=10.98 |height ft=7 |height in=6 |height m=2.28 |wing area sqft=142.2 |wing area sqm=13.2 |empty weight lb=406 |empty weight kg=184 |eng1 name=Aeronca E-107 |eng1 type= 1.75L flathead piston engine |eng1 number=1 |eng1 hp=26-30 |max speed mph=80 |max speed kmh=128 |cruise speed mph=65 |cruise speed kmh=104 |stall speed mph=31 |stall speed kmh=50 |range miles=240 |range km=384 |ceiling ft=16,500 |ceiling m=5032 |wing loading lb/sqft=4.92 |wing loading kg/m2=24

References

References

  1. (June 1958). "This Month's Old Timer: The Roche' Monoplane". EAA.
  2. Payne, Stephen, ed. ''Canadian Wings'' (Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd., 2006), p.163.
  3. (May 2011}} The C designation derived from the fact that Aeronca had earlier been formed as the Cincinnati Aeronautical Corporation,{{cite journal). "The Aeronca Experience". Aeroplane Monthly.
  4. (10 December 2015). "Aeronca C-2: Small plane, big records". Flyer Media Inc.
  5. "Aeronca C-2". Ingenium.
  6. "Aircraft".
  7. "Aeronca C-2". Smithsonian.
  8. "FAA Registry [N626N]". U.S. Department of Transportation.
  9. "Aeronca C-2 Sport".
  10. "FAA Registry [N647W]". U.S. Department of Transportation.
  11. "Aeronca C-2 - Untitled".
  12. "FAA Registry [N10304]". U.S. Department of Transportation.
  13. (24 January 2009). "Craig MacVeigh's Aeronca C-2 Project". Antique Aircraft Association and Airpower Museum.
  14. "FAA Registry [N11276]". U.S. Department of Transportation.
  15. "CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT".
  16. "FAA Registry [N11417]". U.S. Department of Transportation.
  17. "1933 Aeronca C-2-N Deluxe Scout - NC13089". EAA.
  18. (2014). "Aeronca Aircraft On Display EAA Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin (Part 1)". National Aeronca Association Magazine.
  19. "Aeronca C-2".
  20. "FAA Registry [N30RC]". U.S. Department of Transportation.
  21. Spenser, Jay P.. (1978). "Aeronca C-2: The Story of the Flying Bathtub". Smithsonian Institution Press.
  22. Ellison, Norman. (1971). "British Gliders and Sailplanes". A & C Black Ltd.

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1920s-united-states-civil-utility-aircraftaeronca-aircrafthigh-wing-aircraftsingle-engined-tractor-aircraftaircraft-first-flown-in-1929aircraft-with-fixed-conventional-landing-gearsingle-engined-piston-aircraft