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Flight span - A bit of history How a 19-year-old kid designed the Long-Wing Eaglerock, a pre-depression best seller. Airplanes are now designed as a team effort but they used to be the creation of an individual's singular genius and dreams. This certainly distinguished Al Mooney's airplanes, whose contributions to aviation design were recalled by the recent revival of Mooney production in Texas. No longer with the firm, Al is in retirement from Lockheed and we asked him to tell our readers how he got started in aviation. His memory adds a rich pioneer flavor to general aviation history in his own words, which follow: In the summer of 1925 I was carpentering on a house for my Dad in Denver, Colorado (Mooney writes). One day a Stearman-Swallow flew over, headed for Colorado Airways Airport. I dropped my hammer, jumped into a 1923 Buick and beat it out there. J. Don Alexander, a film maker, was there to meet the pilot, Justin Mclnany. I didn't know either one of them but looked the Swallow over and asked a few questions about its characteristics. I was a snot-nosed kid of 19, dressed in overalls. Mr. Alexander got interested in my questions and asked how come I knew all about aspect ratio and such questions which they couldn't answer. I remarked I intended to become an airplane designer. Alexander Film was the largest producer of advertising "trailers" for movie houses and Mr. Alexander decided to get into the airplane business and build some planes for his salesmen. Dan Noonan, who had built a set of high-lift wings for Jennies and Standards, was hired as chief engineer and he set up in Englewood, a Denver suburb, the remains of the old Longren aircraft plant moved in from Topeka, Kansas. They offered me a job as draftsman and general roustabout at $65 monthly. I went to work on June 24, 1925, helping Dan arm-wave plans for the new Eaglerock. There were no stress analysis, performance or weight and balance calculations and many of the fittings and joints of the much lighter Longren were used. We worked like hell and got it ready to fly in late August. Joe Hammer was the test pilot. He weighed only 120 pounds and had the 50-gallon tank down to about 15 by the time he got it off in late afternoon. But the best it did was get up about 500 feet with two on board. It was a four-place with OX-S engine, folding wing and strut bracing. Meanwhile, I had been doing a rough brand of stress analysis and the preliminary design at home. So in the middle of September I asked J. Don for an appointment. He said he wouldn't listen if I was going to run down his airplane or Dan Noonan. So I said I wasn't learning anything that way and would drop out and go to school. But he told me to see him after lunch. He asked Noonan what he thought. "Let Mooney design it, and I'll build it," Noonan said. So next morning Don told me to get with it, in full charge as designer. He was really one of the greats. We did, and on January 14, 1926, with our own field snowbound, we took it out to Colorado Airways' field. It was real cold and the snow was crusted. Captain J. Cordner of the Air National Guard agreed to test it, Old Joe Hammer having departed for greener pastures earlier. It ran a few feet on the crusted snow, then literally jumped into that cold air. 0l' Cap was in heavy winter flying gear and had a full tank, so that flight was for more than an hour. He went up around 14,000 feet and gave it a pretty good wringing out. J. Don rushed out to the field and was there when Cap landed. He had a way of complimenting a guy, when he liked something, by offering a cigar. I didn't smoke then, but he came up and said, "Here, have a cigar, have a whole pocketful!" Thus was the Long-Wing Eaglerock born. It became one of the big three pre-depression sellers. But best of all it was mine-from the ground up. from May 1974 issue of Flight |