Last October Paul Cullman stopped by the museum with his Curtis Wright Junior. At the time we were marveling over the little plane with its incredibly simple cockpit and rather complex little engine. Turns out Paul needed some work done on the Junior and ended up leaving it here for the winter. It’s been great having such a rare little plane sitting in the hangar.
More photos after the jump.
Paul Cullman in his 1931 Curtiss-Wright Junior CW-1S
Well as promised, Paul Cullman visited again, this time with his beautiful Curtiss-Wright Junior CW-1S. As much as we liked the L-5 visit (more pictures from that visit below), seeing the Junior was a real treat. This airplane was built in 1931 and was Curtiss’ answer to an affordable airplane during the depression. It was sort of the LSA of its time and was designed to cost about the same as a ‘medium class’ automobile. Unfortunately, today’s LSAs don’t quite even come in at the expensive class of cars.
The small, two seat pusher design looks rather unusual and apparently the airplane’s were teased a bit during the 1930s for looking like a bathtub. But it looks like a lot of fun to fly and is so simple. Originally the airplanes came with a tiny Szekely 45 hp three cylinder radial. Paul’s Junior is a CW-1S and has the 40 hp, nine cylinder Salmson radial on it. The engine is great and looks just like a miniature version of a bigger radial.
Nine cylinder 40 hp Salmson Radial Engine
A few more pictures of Paul’s Stinson L-5 that he flew in the other week.
Ambulance Door Open on the Stinson L-5
Stinson L-5 Cockpit
Stinson L-5 from the apartment