The Aircruiser was commissioned in 1928, by Italian WW I ace, Caesare Sabelli, who wanted a plane that could fly non-stop from New York to Rome. Giuseppe Bellanca’s original design, the Model K , never made the flight, but the design survived. The distinctive “W” silhouette of the plane is derived from the aerodynamic lifting struts extending down from underneath the fuselage to stubby lower wings.
23 Bellanca Aircruisers were built in the early 1930s. Originally called the Airbus and designated the P-100, it could carry up to 14 passengers. In 1931, test pilot George Haldeman flew the P-100 a distance of 4400 miles in 35 hours. This was followed by the P-200 Airbus, with a larger, more reliable air-cooled engine. An amphibious version, the P-200-A, came with floats and operated as a ferry service in New York City, flying between Wall Street and the East River. Other versions included a P-200 Deluxe model, with custom interiors available and seating for 9, as well as the P-300 which was designed to carry 15 passengers. The final model, the Aircruiser, was the most efficient airplane of its day. With an air-cooled supercharged Wright Cyclone radial engine, rated at 715 hp. The Aircruiser could carry a 4,000 lb payload at a speed of 150 mph. In the Thirties, the competing Fokker and Ford Trimotors could not come close to this capacity, and they were both multi-engine airplanes.
Some Canadian mining companies used Aircruisers, known in Canada popularly as, “The Flying W,” both ferrying supplies and ore, for many years.
The last flying Aircruiser, CF-BTW, served into the 1970’s. It is now on display at the Blimp Hangar Museum NAS, in Tillamook, Oregon.
from April, 1935 Aero Digest:
• President and General Manager: Giuseppe M. Bellanca. Sales Manager: L. W. Ashton. Chief Engineer: N. F. Vanderlipp. Export representatives: Bellanca Aircraft of Canada, Ltd., Montreal, Canada. Carnasciali & Cia, Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. C. K. Turnbull, Buenos Aires, Argentina. M. Galatti, Athens, Greece. Faik Fikri, Ankara, Turkey. Philippine Aerial Taxi Co., Manila, P. I.
Two- or 15-place sesquiplane. Wright Cyclone engine, 715 h.p.
Available as cargo plane, land transport, or seaplane. (Specifications given for cargo plane; land transport and seaplane in brackets in that order.)
Span 65 ft. Length overall 43 ft. 4 in. Height overall 12 ft. Wing area 654 sq. ft. Chord 94 in.
Power loading 16.6 lbs. h.p. Wing loading 16.5 lbs./sq. ft.
Empty weight 5731 (5983, 6908) lbs. Useful load 6100 (4870, 4261) lbs. Payload 4925 (5983, 6908) lbs. Gross weight 11,831 (10,853, 11,169) lbs.
Fuel capacity 150 (200, 185) gal. Oil capacity 14 (16, 14) gal.
Maximum speed 165 (165, 160) m.p.h. Cruising speed 155 (155, 150) m.p.h. Landing speed 65 m.p.h. Service ceiling 20,000 (20,000, 16,000) ft. Rate of climb 700 (700, 750) ft. per min. Cruising range 710 (710, 600) miles.
Fuselage: fabric covered welded steel tubing; spruce fairing strips. Wing: fabric covered; solid spruce spars, routed; stainless steel ribs; auxiliary and stub wing chrome moly steel tubing. Tail group: welded chrome moly steel tubing, except stabilizer which has spruce spars and spot-welded stainless steel ribs; all fabric covered. Cantilever landing gear with 35 X 17 Goodyear airwheels and brakes, oleo shock absorbers, or rudder-equipped floats.
Standard equipment includes Hamilton Standard propeller, Exide battery, bonding and shielding.
Instruments: Sperry gyro-horizon, directional gyro; tachometer, oil pressure, oil temperature gauges, altimeter, compass, air speed, rate of climb, arid bank and turn indicators, clock, fuel level gauge.