Church Midwing JC-1 explained

The Church Midwing JC-1, a.k.a. Church Mid-Wing Sport,[1] is a midwing racing aircraft designed by James Church using the fuselage of a Heath aircraft.

Design and development

The Church Midwing was designed to be an affordable homebuilt aircraft. Church marketed kits for $190.

The open cockpit midwing aircraft featured windows in the wings for visibility downward.[2]

Operational history

Built to be a pylon racer, a Church Midwing placed third in the 1930 National Air Races. The Church used many parts from the Heath Parasol design. In 1931 the prototype was modified with an installation of a 38 hp inline air-cooled Church designed engine and a cowling modification to accommodate the cylinders protruding upward in the pilot's line of sight.[3] A 1931 advertisement placed by Heath in Popular Mechanics extolled the virtues of its first-place finish with its parasol configuration, compared to the Church's midwing planform.[4]

Variants

RW4 RagWing Midwing Sport Replica
  • An ultralight replica of the JC-1, produced by RagWing Aircraft Designs.[5]
    Church Racer[1]
  • Essentially a Midwing fitted with a model J-3 46hp Church Marathon engine.[6]

    Aircraft on Display

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: American airplanes: Ca - Ci . Aerofiles.com . 2008-08-15 . 2011-01-28.
    2. Book: Aeronca C-2: the story of the flying bathtub. Jay P. Spenser, National Air and Space Museum.
    3. Popular Aviation. July 1931. 43.
    4. Popular Mechanics. January 1931.
    5. Web site: RW4 RagWing Midwing Sport Replica. 4 April 2011.
    6. Popular Aviation. August 1932. 133.
    7. Web site: Church Midwing. 2 April 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110719095958/http://museum.eaa.org/collection/aircraft/Church%20Midwing.asp#TopOfPage. 19 July 2011. dead.
    8. Air Trails. December 1971. 22.