Photo ID: 1011248
click image to enlarge |
Model: Rearwin Skyranger 185 |
Registration: N73820 |
| Year: 1946 |
Serial Number: 1825 |
| Engine(s): Continental C-85-12, 85-HP |
Owner: Steve Manchester
Raynham, MA |
Location: Greenville Municipal Airport
Greenville, Maine |
Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
| Date: 2003, September |
Present Registration: Same |
Present Owner (FAA info): |
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Notes: 10/22/03 - The Rearwin Skyranger line was given CAA, Aircraft Type Certificate #729 in 1940. Several models were offered with the main difference being the engine. About 80 were built before production stopped in 1942 because of the war effort.
In 1943 the company was reorganized as the Commonwealth Aircraft Corp. The Commonwealth Skyranger 185, with its Continental C-85-12 engine, is a post-war aircraft with production beginning in early 1946. You could take a new one home from the factory on Long Island for about $3,000.
The Skyranger 185 is fabric covered. The fuselage is welded steel tubing, and the wing has wood spars and ribs. This was now the day of the Cessna 120/140, Luscombe and similar all-metal aircraft, so the Skyranger 185 represented the end of an era in factory-built aircraft. However, a full electrical system was standard, and the aircraft has some nice features including a large baggage compartment, wing slots which give better aileron control at low speeds, and more. This was the last in the Rearwin series of aircraft. |
Photo ID: 1011249
click image to enlarge |
Notes: Two 12.5-gal. wing tanks were standard, 18-gal. tanks were an option. Isn't that an interesting fin/rudder design, compared to Cessna, Piper and similar contemporaries! Steve says it is adequate, except that you can't slip it as hard as the Cessna 140, Cub and others. |
| Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
Photo ID: 1011250
click image to enlarge |
Notes: Note the wing slats.
Steve learned to fly in his father's Cessna 140A and has put 300-hours on the Skyranger in the past three years. |
| Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
Photo ID: 1011251
click image to enlarge |
Notes: Heading out across the Maine countryside at just over 100-mph.
A nice site on the Rearwin aircraft is here. You can navigate to the Skyranger page from there. |
| Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
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