|
Knoll Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Wichita, Kansas.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.pknoll.net/knoll_aircraft/aircraftco.htm )〕 ==Design and Development== The Knoll Aircraft Corporation received its state charter on October 10, 1928. Felix Knoll, formerly of The Rohrbach Metal Aeroplane Company (Germany) and later the Chief Engineer of the Heinkel Aircraft Company, immigrated to the United States from Germany for better opportunities. Within weeks of being in the country, Wichita business leaders recruited Felix to come to Wichita and start a company of his own. Engineering work, stress calculations, and drawings for the first model, the KN-1, were completed in Room 623 of the Broadview Hotel. Felix and Herbert Schwenke; another German immigrant from The Rohrbach Metal Aeroplane Company, worked on the plans together. George Siedhoff, who owned and built the Broadview Hotel where the KN-1 was designed, was selected to build a new 50,000 square foot factory on a 148-acre tract of land at the northeast corner of Kellogg and Webb Road. The building featured two stories, a mezzanine area, clear story windows, and adjacent runway. Assets such as machinery, tools, and equipment were purchased from the bankruptcy of Laird Whippoorwill Airplane Company. The company set up a temporary shop at 471 W 1st street in the former building of both the Travel Air Company and Laird Whippoorwill. By the end of December, 1928, the first airplane was ready to fly. Over five hundred spectators gathered around the East Airport to watch the KN-1 first flight. Amongst the crowd were Lloyd Stearman, Walter Beech, reporters, and motion picture cameramen. The December 30, 1928 first test flight was so successful that pilot Howard Jones chose to double the planned time and stayed in the air for thirty minutes. He took the airplane through loops, rolls, and power dives. The KN-2 and KN-3 models shared the common airframe of the KN-1, though they were upgraded with more powerful 300 and 425 horsepower engines. The KN-3 also had an open-place cockpit in back of the cabin, allowing the seating of one additional passenger inside. Art Goebel, a pilot famous for winning the 1928 Dole Air Race from San Diego to Hawaii, was to have a larger custom built KN-4 to race around the world. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Knoll Aircraft Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|