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Old 26th Nov 2009, 23:46
  #4631 (permalink)  
MReyn24050
 
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Mel's challenge

skytrain10 you have it. It is indeed the Bryan's Autoplane.

Leland D. (Dewey) Bryan of Milford Michigan designed, built and flew three different versions of his Autoplane, using materials from an Ercoupe as the basis for the construction of these aircraft. The first was flown in 1953.

Model II is illustrated here, and used a Continental A-75 engine as a pusher, had a wingspan of 22', and an all-metal twin-boom tail. It was convertible from air to road use by means of a folding-wing, designed to form a protective rectangle around the prop. The pusher propeller provided both air and road power. Maximum speed on the ground was about 60 mph. The Model II traveled about 1000 miles on the road under its own power and flew for about 65 hours.
He rebuilt the Model II to create the two-seater III in the 1970s, changing each wing so that it would fold once to an upright position, rather than twice to form a rectangle. Bryan died in the crash of his Roadable III in 1974. It is reported that the cause of the crash was the failure of a wing to lock securely in the extended position.
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