History question: homebuilt pushers

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I was just looking back through the EAA Modern Mechanix Flying and
Gilder Manuals. None of the aircraft depicted were pushers -- except
for the Wright Flyers and some early Curtiss. In poking around for
old flying boat designs, I've found lots of pushers.

Does anyone know of any home built pushers from that era (1929-1932)?
I'm just curious.

Thanks.

[wright1902glider]

> Does anyone know of any home built pushers from that era
(1929-1932)?
> I'm just curious.
>
> Thanks.

That period isn't really my specialty, but I'd be surprised if you
find many, if any, pusher land aircraft. A pusher prop with or without
a chain-drive PSRU (sp?) has advantages on a flying boat because it
allows you to position the prop in an area that minimizes spray and
wave interference. On a large flying boat like a Sikorsky, Martin, or
Boeing its not so much of an issue since the wing and engines are well
above the water. However on something like an early Supermarine or
many of the Italian planes, it could matter. Pushers more or less
disappeared altogether between 1930 and 1945, then reappeared briefly
on the B-36. The jet era again forced them into obscurity and onto
Dick's drawing board.

FYI: Wilbur Wright preferred the pusher design for two reasons. First,
it minimized the number of aerodynamic factors he had to design for in
1903 since the airframe was not subject to prop wash. Second, it
worked in 1903 and continued to work, so the basic Wright powertrain
was never really modified or improved.

Harry Frey
Wright Brothers Enterprises

[ChuckSlusarczyk]

In article . com>,
says...
>
>I was just looking back through the EAA Modern Mechanix Flying and
>Gilder Manuals. None of the aircraft depicted were pushers -- except
>for the Wright Flyers and some early Curtiss. In poking around for
>old flying boat designs, I've found lots of pushers.
>
>Does anyone know of any home built pushers from that era (1929-1932)?
>I'm just curious.

Only thing I could think of from that era was the Burgess -Dunne seaplane.It was
a tailess swept wing biplane .Similar to the easy riser of hang glider fame.I
think only 3 were built and I don't think they would be considered homebuilts
but most everything built back could be considered homebuilt :-)

Chuck S

[Ron Wanttaja]

Well, there's one homebuilt pusher from the era by extension, at least. The
Curtiss Junior was a production plane from the '30s...

http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/collection/airplanes/Curtiss%20Junior.htm

....and an all-wood homebuilt version was introduced in the '60s, called the
Woody Pusher.

<http://www.sun-n-fun.org/content/interior.asp?section=museum&body=planes/woodys_pusher>

Ron Wanttaja

[John[_9_]]

On May 2, 2:28 am, Richard Riley > wrote:
> On 1 May 2007 14:27:21 -0700, wright1902glider
>
> > wrote:
> > Pushers more or less
> >disappeared altogether between 1930 and 1945, then reappeared briefly
> >on the B-36. The jet era again forced them into obscurity and onto
> >Dick's drawing board.
>
> In WW2 there were several pusher fighters that never made it past the
> drawing board or prototype stage. Blohm und Voss P.207/2 ,Dornier
> P.247/6 Borovkov-Florov "D", Curtis P-55 Ascender, Kyushu J7W1
> Shinden. My favorite (and probably the most whimsical) was the
> Daimler-Benz Jaeger. Don't know if it's a pusher or not.
>
> Don't know of any homebuilt pushers from that era.


There was at least one pusher fighter that made past prototype stage.
The SAAB J21 was a twin boom tricycle gear single engine pusher. It
was later modified into a jet with some success.

John Dupre'

[[email protected]]

Go Here: http://www.wwiaviation.com/framer/planes/british/index.html

and look up (click on Select An Aircraft):
Airco DH-2
RAF F.E.-2d
RAF F.E.-8

Go to http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWpusher.htm to see
the Breguet M5.

And if you Google "Pusher Aircraft" images you'll get a bunch more.
There have been a heap of pusher airplanes all through aviation
history.

Dan

[[email protected]]

On May 2, 9:59 am, Ron Wanttaja > wrote:
> Well, there's one homebuilt pusher from the era by extension, at least. The
> Curtiss Junior was a production plane from the '30s...
> ...and an all-wood homebuilt version was introduced in the '60s, called the
> Woody Pusher.

That's the kind of thing I expected to see in the Flying and Glider
manuals! It just seemed odd that there were no pushers in the
manuals. (Okay, there's an airboat depicted at the end of one of the
books, but that article is about making propellors.) I wanted to see
the plans to a pusher of the era.

On to the next quest ...

Thanks, all.


M