Raoul J. Hoffman was a Hungarian-born Jewish engineer and writer who moved to the United States of America notable for the aircraft he designed or helped to design.
Hoffman helped develop the Laird Super Solution racer, and Owl Trimototor. Later he worked for C.L. Snyder's company Arup Manufacturing Corporation, developing a series of tailless aircraft known as the Arup S-1, and S-2.[1] When diagnosed with tuberculosis, Hoffman moved to St. Petersburg, Florida and developed his own version[2] for a customer in Chicago, Illinois. After poor performance, and arson destroying the Arup S-3 follow-on, Hoffman returned to Arup to develop the Arup S-4.[3]
The chord of Hoffman's own design spanned from the rear of the cowling along the entire fuselage of the aircraft. The thickness of the wing was up to 200NaN0 at the root. From the top the wing appeared semi-circular with a slightly swept leading edge. The aircraft used a conventional taildragger configuration with retractable landing gear. The center section and controls were welded steel tubing, and the rest was spruce wood with aircraft fabric covering.[4]
The test aircraft used fixed landing gear for trials. Test flights were successful, with the aircraft winning an impromptu race against a 1650NaN0 conventional aircraft.[5] Visibility was noted as poor compared to conventional aircraft. During later 1936 testing, the prototype caught fire and crashed, from leaking fuel lines, killing its test pilot.