Comeback For A Perky Pusher?

The Teenage Anderson-Greenwood May Get A New Lease On Life

RIGHT after World War II, in a burst of pent-up inventiveness, America produced a batch of the most interesting private airplanes designed in this country since the 1920s. People who had developed new and different ideas during the war finally had a chance to try them out, and instead of the group of same-looking airplanes the industry turned out both before and since that time, for a few years there we got to look at some machines with different lines.

We got, for example, the Republic Seabee, and apart from being underpowered it was - and is - an excellent airplane which looks like no other. We got the Navion, a far cry from the fabric covered pre-war high-winger. We got the distinctive Bonanza, and we got the Anderson-Greenwood.

"We got the Anderson who?" you ask. Ah, we expected that, gentle reader, for Messrs. Anderson and Greenwood of Houston, Texas, built just six copies of their imaginative and attractive little airplane, and only three of those are still active on the U. S. Civil Aircraft Register (another is inactive).

Tower operators around Mississippi, Minnesota and Southern California might occasionally hear a pilot reporting an Anderson-Greenwood on downwind, but the odds are that not many elsewhere have heard it.

PRIVATE PILOT has sensitive antennae, however, which are constantly deployed to pick up the least twitchings in the network of underground news services which permeates the world of those who build and fly airplanes. When faint signals began to come in on one of those antennae not long ago, we got to work to bring up the signal, and here is what we learned.

A distinctive little two-seat all-metal airplane that looks like no other, yet still manages to look good, and that already has its FAA type certificate, may soon be coming on the market after a lapse of fifteen years. There is no telling yet what it will be called, but fifteen years ago it was the Anderson-Greenwood Space Coupe.

Featuring the 90-hp Continental that powers the Ercoupe/Aircoupe and that may eventually power the Bede BD-1, the Space Coupe is scheduled, if plans mature, to be offered at "under $8,500." And the plans, if not entirely mature, are at least adolescent already: all production jigs and tooling are ready, two fuselage sections are in master jigs nearing completion, every part is on hand for four complete aircraft, and most parts are completed for another sixteen ships.

Of course, you can't rush right to the phone and place your order, because L. W. "Roy" Hubert and his associates, who own the manufacturing rights, hadn't quite completed organizing the producing company at this writing. And Hubert is frank to admit that it takes a small mountain of greenies to support the construction of a line of airplanes. But he feels good about the prospects, and we'll keep you posted on progress.

Meanwhile, back to the Space Coupe. Robert Leaders of St. Cloud, Minnesota, flies one. Others are registered to the aero physics department of Mississippi State College and to Yahwehs Kingdom Society of Landisville, New Jersey. But the one PRIVATE PILOT ran to earth was backed into a corner between a hangar wall and a cinderblock fence at Flabob Airport near Riverside, California.

Flabob (pronounced FLAY-bob) must be one of the most colorful fields in the land: there are old airplanes of every description tucked away in odd corners, people are building homebuilts here and there, the latest twins are tied down beside dowager Stinsons and elderly but dignified Cubs, and the whole place reeks of personality and airplanes-are-wonderful atmosphere.

Roy Hubert and his charming wife, Hazel, share a fond affection for the Space Coupe. A longtime pilot with current single and multi-engine land and sea ratings, he likes it because it flies well. She likes it because it is not awkward to get into, and because the propeller is behind the cabin. "I don't like that thing whirling around in front of my nose," Mrs. Hubert explained.

We rolled a Cessna 140 out of the way, wheeled the Space Coupe out to a nearby hose and washed her down. Hubert then trundled her out onto the grass for some pictures, a task he handled by himself about as easily as he would have wheeled a baby carriage. "I could let my wife do all the ground handling for me," I thought to myself as I watched. "It would make her feel wanted." (I love my wife, and believe it is quite important that she feel wanted.)

The Space Coupe hadn't been flown for a couple of weeks, but after a thorough pre-flight Hubert got in and cranked her up, and the engine caught on the third revolution of the prop. This particular engine is not muffled, and there was no mistaking it was on. Production models are slated to have a sound baffling system, but not a standard muffler, which robs a wee mite of power.

Flabob, though it has unicom, has no tower radio, but traffic was light and Hubert took off for a couple of passes over the field for photographs. Then he landed to take aboard yours truly for a look at how the Space Coupe behaves.

The first thing you think of when you climb in is that somebody forgot to install the nose. There is just nothing sticking out there in front of you, with the result that you can see the runway something like six or eight feet in front of your toes.

Your next thought is likely to be that the landing gear has collapsed, because the runway appears to be roughly at hip pocket level. Inasmuch as I was sitting on my hip pockets at the time, I was somewhat concerned.

"Relax," Hubert grinned, noting the wary glance I cast overboard at the asphalt taxiway, passing away to the rear in unaccustomed proximity. "You're used to sitting perched up there in the air. In this ship you've got a great feel for the runway, because you're no higher than a car seat. It's just like driving the family bus down the freeway. See?"

And with that he checked the approach, rolled onto the runway and drove the family bus down the freeway. There is little tendency to wander, but minor corrections with the steerable nose wheel produce crisp response.

With approximately fifteen gallons in the twenty-four-gallon fuel tank, and a wind guesstimated at five knots, the Space Coupe came off at an indicated 70 mph. After a quick twist of the overhead trim knob Hubert put his hands in his lap and we watched the dials settle down to show a businesslike 800 fpm climb at 80 mph.

There were three other airplanes working the circuit, so we scanned the area as we rolled into a gentle left bank, and right then and there the Space Coupe let me have a one-two sales punch: one, this airplane has the damnedest good visibility you can imagine, and two, why bother with the rudder when it turns so well without using it?

The position of the cockpit well in front of the leading edge of the wing gives unrestricted vision out, down and forward, and the pilot can see backward both above and below the wing with ease. To clear the very small area blanked by the wing itself requires the merest touch on the wheel, to lift or lower the wingtip on the turn side. You can't see directly backward through the engine, of course, unless you have Batvision.

As for rudderless turns, this particular Space Coupe has no rudder pedals in the right-hand seat. No matter, we tooled happily around the sky without them, and the airplane behaves with surprising agility as a two-control ship. Aileron and elevator control are quite positive - no sogginess.

Not wishing to have the rudder feel left out, I inquired politely into its status. Another scan to check the traffic and Hubert trod on the pedals alternately, while the Coupe slewed her twin tails across the sky in a vigorous fandango. "Plenty of rudder there, even if there is only one," he noted, and I was inclined to agree.

The Space Coupe was certificated by its original builders as a spin-recoverable airplane, but after certification rudder travel was limited and Hubert says the aircraft cannot now be put into a spin, even intentionally. "It just won't do it," he says. Still, our wings-level crab into a cross-wind landing confirmed there is ample effect still left in the single rudder, mounted on the left vertical fin.

Hubert has owned the Coupe about two years, and has flown it all over the western states. On numerous cross-countries he has found that at 4,000 feet and seventy-five percent power, the aircraft trues out at 122 mph with the 90-hp Continental, and drinks from four and one-half to five gallons per hour. Fuel capacity is twenty-four gallons in the wet leading edge of the wing center section, so that four hundred and fifty mile trips with a safe reserve are easily within reach. Service ceiling is listed as an impressive 19,000 feet.

The Space Coupe has a narrow-chord, broad-span wing of rather thick section, and the engine thrust line is on the wing chord line, which is unusual for pusher airplanes.

The landing gear has a solid and comfortable feel, provided by two hydraulic cylinders encircled with steel springs on the inboard end of each leg. You land on the oil, but taxi on the spring. The steerable nose wheel is connected to the control wheel in Hubert's airplane, but on the production models he will offer either a wheel or a rudder-pedal hookup. The latter might have some advantages.

One man, using one hand, can rock the Space Coupe back on its main gear and it will stay there, resting on a couple of metal studs under the rear of each tail boom. In this position the nose wheel may be worked on, and the engine compartment angle is changed somewhat. But working on the engine is easy even when the ship is in a three-wheel attitude. Two fasteners release the front-hinged cowling which neatly hoods the chest-high Continental.

Being a pragmatist, I naturally asked Hubert how he felt about trying to break into the small airplane market against the Big Three, plus Mooney and the invading legions of Rockwell-Standard. He grinned, but it was Mrs. Hubert who replied.

"What if the people who made the Volkswagen had felt that way about the auto Big Three?" she inquired. "How many VWs do you suppose they would have sold? Or even tried to sell? And look at the kind of reaction they forced out of Detroit by selling all those VWs that Detroit didn't think anyone wanted to buy."

While I pondered that shrewd response, Hubert took up the cudgels for free enterprise. "All you have to do is offer a good airplane that's different, for a competitive price," he said. "There's no doubt but what we've got the airplane, and we think we can compete. And the growth potential of this design is impressive."

He mentioned plans for a folding wing, so the little pusher could be towed home and stored in the garage. Designs are being prepared for a four-place model, an STOL version with the pusher prop turning within a circular shroud, a six-place turbo-prop version, a gyro model, and even a pure jet with two small turbines in the booms.

" All we need is the engines," Hubert said. "We've got a really adaptable design. And some of the engines are in sight."

Lunchtime also was in sight at that stage in our interview, so we wheeled the Anderson-Greenwood tail-first back into her corner, tied on the windshield cover, and bade the Huberts adieu. The airplane looked intriguing, even crowded into a corner and wearing blinders. I kind of hated to leave her there, and it is my fixed intention before long to cadge Roy Hubert into letting me have another go at her.

Captions:

Photo 1
[from Table of Contents]

Photo 2

Photo 3
The Anderson-Greenwood sits low to the ground. Tanya Kudla shows how easy it is to leave the cabin.

Photo 4
Engine cooling air is gathered by scoops at each wing root and ducted inboard to the 90-hp Continental.

Photo 5
One girl-power is enough to rock the Space-Coupe back on its main gear, as Tanya handily demonstrates here.

Photo 6
Owner L. W. Hubert, right, and PRIVATE PILOT's Bob Said suds off the Space Coupe at Flabob Airport so she will look glamorous for the photo sessions.

Photo 7
No-nose design gives superb forward visibility both on the ground and airborne.

Photo 8
Below, Hubert runs a preflight on the twin tail assembly. Note single rudder.

Photo 9
Chest-high engine installation makes it easy to work on the 90-hp Continental normally installed in Space Coupe. Two fasteners secure the one-piece cowling.

Photo 10
Clean lines of Space Coupe's passenger pod show in this photo.

Photo 11
Below, inboard flaps are manual, and the handle between seats locks at full up. half flap or full down.

Photo 12
Proposed production model will have dressed-up cabin. Instruments above panel are engine experiments. "...A Bird That Looks Like No Other, But Still Looks Good..."

Photo 13
Broad-span, narrow chord wing shows clearly in photo at left as Space Coupe crosses above camera.

Photo 14
The relatively thick wing shows in this shot of a Space Coupe takeoff past colorful assortment of planes.

Photo 15
Because they are similar in so many respects, PRIVATE PILOT felt our readers might like to see a line-by-line comparison of the Anderson-Greenwood with the familiar Aircoupe and Jim Bede's prototype BD-1. The figures were taken from information supplied by Alon, Incorporated; the FAA type certification records on the Anderson-Greenwood, and Doubleday and Company's "The Aircraft of the World," by William Green and Gerald Pollinger.