Rawdon Brothers Aircraft

Rawdon Brothers Aircraft Inc was a United States aircraft manufacturer between 1938 and 1978.

Rawdon Brothers Aircraft
TypeAircraft manufacturer
Founded1938
Defunct1978
HeadquartersWichita, Kansas
Key people
Herbert Rawdon and Gene Rawdon

Formation and operations

Herb Rawdon had been the chief designer of Travel Air, and later Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas. He left Beech and in 1938 established the firm, with his brother Gene Rawdon, with their factory located near the Beech aircraft plant. The firm continued in operation until 1978, when it became Spinks-Rawdon in Fort Worth, Texas.[1]

Aircraft
Rawdon T-1 single-seat crop-sprayer at North Perry airport, Florida, in March 1987

Rawdon R-1 was designed by Herb Rawdon in 1938 and a single example was built. It was a single-engine twin-seat side-by-side open cockpit low-wing training monoplane powered by a 75 h.p. Lycoming engine. It had a maximum speed of 110 mph and a cruising speed of 105 mph.[1] The R-1 was not accepted as a trainer by the U.S. Army Air Corps and it was modified as a crop spraying aircraft.

Rawdon T-1 was developed in 1951 from the R-1 and 35 examples were completed before the production line was closed in the 1960s.[2] It was a tandem-seat closed cockpit low-wing monoplane, powered by Lycoming engines of between 125 h.p and 150 h.p. The T-1 was built in five versions and was used for training, crop spraying, aerial advertising and other utility roles.[3]

References
Notes
  1. Aerofiles
  2. Green, 1965, p. 290
  3. Simpson, 2005, p. 248
Bibliography
  • Green, William (1965). The Aircraft of the World. Macdonald and Co. (publishers) Ltd.
  • Simpson, Rod (2005). The General Aviation Handbook. Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-222-5.
  • (data on Rawdon and its aircraft at Aerofiles)
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