Commonwealth Skyranger
Encyclopedia
The Commonwealth Skyranger, earlier produced as the Rearwin Skyranger, was the last design of Rearwin Aircraft. It was popular due to its easy and stable flight characteristics.
Design and development
The Skyranger was originally produced in 1940 and was furnished with a variety of opposed engines made by Continental MotorsContinental Motors Company
Continental Motors Company was an American engine and automobile manufacturer. The company produced engines for various independent manufacturers of automobiles, tractors, and stationary equipment from the 1900s through the 1960s. Continental Motors also produced Continental-branded automobiles in...
and the Franklin Engine Company
Franklin Engine Company
The Franklin Engine Company was a manufacturer of aircraft engines, formed as the H. H. Franklin Co. in 1902, located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Barely surviving bankruptcy in 1933, the company was purchased by a group of ex-employees and renamed Aircooled Motors in 1937...
. Seating two people side-by-side, it featured a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
and wooden wing and it sold for about $3000. It had a conventional landing gear
Conventional landing gear
thumb|The [[Piper PA-18|Piper Super Cub]] is a popular taildragger aircraft.thumb|right|A [[Cessna 150]] converted to taildragger configuration by installation of an after-market modification kit....
, with a tailwheel.
Commonwealth Aircraft
In 1942 the Rearwin Airplane Company was purchased by Commonwealth AircraftCommonwealth Aircraft
Commonwealth Aircraft was formed in late 1942 on the acquisition of the assets of Rearwin Aircraft & Engines. Commonwealth continued producing the acquired Rearwin designs in the acquired Rearwin facilities in Kansas City, Kansas. In early 1946, Commonwealth took over Columbia Aircraft...
of Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. In 1946 Commonwealth re-established the construction of the Skyranger at their Valley Stream plant for just one year. It had many minor modifications but was essentially the same aircraft. As the anticipated post-war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
boom in civil aviation had not then started, Commonwealth went bankrupt in 1947. 275 Skyrangers were built by Commonwealth.
Serial numbers in the 1500s were built by Rearwin. Serial numbers in the 1600s are Commonwealth 185 Skyrangers.