Arrow Sport Explained

The Arrow Sport was a two-seat sporting biplane aircraft built in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s.

Design and construction

The plane was designed by Swen Swanson and it was of largely conventional configuration with tailskid undercarriage, but was interesting in that the pilot and passenger sat side by side in the open cockpit, and because as originally designed, the fully cantilever wings lacked interplane struts – the upper wing attaching directly to the top of the fuselage. This latter feature proved so alarming to many prospective pilots that the manufacturer later supplied N-type struts that were of no real function other than to allay the aviators' fears.

Survivors

Nine biplane Sports remain registered in the United States as of 2020, mostly in museums and private collections,^[1] including:

• a Sport Pursuit (N8181, serial 432) preserved in the terminal building of the Lincoln Airport in Nebraska, Arrow's city of manufacture, and owned by the Nebraska State Historical Society.
• a Sport (N530A, serial 304) preserved at the Dakota Territory Air Museum in North Dakota.^[2]
• a Sport A2-60 (ex-N9325/G-AARO, serial 341) preserved at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.^{[3] [4]}
• a Sport Pursuit (N853H, serial 412) is on display at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Oregon.

Variants

• Sport – Two-seat sporting biplane, powered by a 60-hp (45-kW) LeBlond radial piston engine.
• Sport 85 – 85 hp Leblond radial, extra four degrees of dihedral on lower wing.^[5]
• Sport A2
  • Sport A2-40
  • Sport A2-60 LeBlond radial engines
  • Sport A2-66
  • Sport A2-90 Tangerine
  • Sport A2-100 Kinner C-5^[6]
• Sport Pursuit (renamed Sport K in 1935) – Improved version, powered by a 100-hp (75-kW) Kinner K-5 radial engine.
• Sport V-8 (renamed the Model F) – Two-seat monoplane version, powered by a converted Ford V8 automobile engine.
  • Sport M – Model F with a Menasco C-4 Pirate engine.^[7]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• American airplane specifications . . January 1932 . 31. 1. 47–51 . registration .
• Zenith Z-6-B. Aero Digest. September 1931. 19 . 3 . 68.
• Book: Ogden, Bob. Aviation Museums and Collections of North America. 2007. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. 978-0-85130-385-7.
• Book: Taylor, Michael J. H. . Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation . 1989 . Studio Editions . London . 81 .

External links

• Arrow Sport A2-60 – National Air and Space Museum
• Arrow Sport – Aviation History Online Museum

Notes and References

1. https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/MakeModelInquiry FAA Registration Query
2. News: North Dakota residents rebuild and model biplane for museum. December 1, 2017. Seattle Times. Eloise. Ogden.
3. Ogden, 2007, p. 572
4. https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/arrow-sport-a2-60/nasm_A19870076000 Smithsonian: "Arrow Sport A2-60"
5. Popular Aviation. July 1931. 15.
6. Zenith Z-6-B. Aero Digest. September 1931. 68.
7. https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?make=ARROW&model_group=NO+MODEL+GROUP&model=SPORT&listing_id=2281088&s-type=aircraft Trade-a-Plane: "1938 Arrow Sport M"