The Baldwin Red Devil was a series of early pusher configuration

Pusher configuration

In a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...

 aircraft employing steel tube construction. The aircraft were designed by Thomas Scott Baldwin

Thomas Scott Baldwin

Thomas Scott Baldwin was a pioneer balloonist and U.S. Army major during World War I. He was the first American to descend from a balloon by parachute.-Early career:...

, an early pioneer of airships.

Development

After building several aircraft, Baldwin had C. and A. Wittemann of Staten Island, New York build an aircraft similar to the basic Curtiss Pusher

Curtiss Model D

|-See also:-External links:...

. The aircraft used fabric covered steel tubing instead of wood construction. A 60 hp, Hall-Scott V-8 provided engough power for 60 mi/h flights. The aircraft was named "Red Devil III", and subsequent designs would be named "Baldwin Red Devil". Each of the Red Devil's tubing were painted a bright red, with yellow contrasting wings.

Design

The airplane was powered by water cooled Hall-Scott V-8 engine of 60 hp, The aircraft was covered with vulcanized fabic that was tacked to the ribs rather than rib-stitched. The landing gear was made from steel tubes with hickory wood inserts. Control cables were routed through copper tubing. It had a left foot controlled throttle and a right foot controlled magneto kill switch.

Operational history

The "Red Devil III" was test flown by Baldwin over Mineola Field. The first flight resulted in a wreck into a telegraph pole, with no major injuries. The Baldwin School offered flying lessons in the aircraft for $500 (1911 dollars), if the student proved they had life insurance for flight. It was the student's responsibility to also find an insurance broker to provide the policy, because there were no flight training policies available at that time. Baldwin previously had toured the country in Curtiss aircraft and his own designs. By the time he had produced the "Red Devil", he had more bookings then he could handle, the "Red Devil" would be advertised in several towns in close proximity, then substitute pilots and aircraft would be flown with full crowds of spectators. In one display in St. Louis he flew the "Red Devil" under the Eads

Eads Bridge

The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis, connecting St. Louis and East St. Louis, Illinois....

 and McKinley Bridges

McKinley Bridge

The McKinley Bridge is a steel truss bridge across the Mississippi River. It connects northern portions of the city of St. Louis, Missouri with Venice, Illinois. It opened in 1910 and was taken out of service on October 30, 2001. The bridge was reopened for pedestrian and bicyclists on November 17,...

 in St.Louis.
On October 12, 1913, Tony Jannus

Tony Jannus

Antony Habersack Jannus, more familiarly known as Tony Jannus , was an early American pilot whose aerial exploits were widely publicized in aviation's pre-World War I period. He flew the first airplane from which a parachute jump was made, in 1912. Jannus was also the first airline pilot, having...

 flew actress Julia Bruns

Julia Bruns

Julia Eliza Bruns was a stage andsilent film actress from St. Louis, Missouri. Once called the most beautiful girl in the world, she eventually succumbed to alcoholism and drug addiction and died at 32....

 in a Red Devil in a New York Times Derby.

Variants

A Red Devil is on display at the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

's Udvar-Hazy Center (UHC) of the National Air and Space Museum

National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., United States, it is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and...

. This example has a different configuration without a forward mounted elevator. The aircraft was purchaced in 1950 from an established display at Roosevelt Field, in Mineola, Long Island, New York by Paul E. Garber

Paul E. Garber

Paul Edward Garber was the first head of the National Air Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. With his work and effort, the most complete collection of historical aircraft in the world was gathered and preserved...

 along with a Bleriot XI

Blériot XI

The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in...

, and Nieuport 10

Nieuport 10

|-See also:- External links :* *...

 for $2500.

Specifications (Bladwin Red Devil)

See also