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The Gwinn Aircar Company of Buffalo, NY was formed in 1935 by Joseph M Gwinn, Jr, former Chief Engineer at Consolidated Aircraft Corporation. The 'Aircar' was designed as a 'foolproof' airplane that would be simple and, above all, safe to fly since it would neither stall nor spin. The aircraft first flew in early 1937 and received Civil Aeronautics Authority Approved Type Certificate 682. Gwinn hired Frank Hawks, racing pilot and record setter, and Nancy Love, another famous pilot, to tour the country demonstrating the aircraft. On 23 August 1938, Hawk failed to clear high tension power lines while taking off in the Aircar and was killed in the resulting crash. Gwinn suspended production and closed the Aircar plant.

 Identifier

NASM.XXXX.0064

Creator

Gwinn Aircar Co.

Date

1936-1937

Provenance

No donor information, gift, unknown, XXXX-0064, unknown

Extent

2.18 Cubic feet ((2 records center boxes))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of drawings of the Gwinn Aircar. It includes engineering and production drawings for the aircraft.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Topics

Aeronautics

Aeronautics, Commercial -- United States

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings