Help idendify a vintage aircraft?

Calling Curt!

Thank’s Janie!

I just checked the email again, It’s from a Jim Stout!:eek:

Pretty freaky!;) I must see if he’s a relly of Jack the knife!:rolleyes:

Ok I will give it a try, the dude may just pop a again, the dude’s could have a great old photo’s box collection between them both!:D

Someone’s sent me an email looking to contact Curt, of whick I have no clue how too!:(

I did a quick search on his name and “cwz” (referenced from his broken photo links) and came up with this:

http://demontech.brinkster.net/June05.pdf

I can’t guarantee it is relevant. There is an email address on it you could try. You might want to spend a bit more time than I did on Google.

This is an Interesting thread!

But really it’s an effort to see if Curt will re surface!:eek:

Someone’s sent me an email looking to contact Curt, of whick I have no clue how too!:(

He may hang at WIX or elsewhere and I will try and find him!;)

Ooooo Rooooo!:dev2:

Thank’s Curt, sound’s like a very interesting Grandfather mate!.

Sorry it took so long to get back, been a bit crook of late!.

O.k. must crash now, ” Gut Nacht ” all far and WIDE.

If it’s not to rude to ask mate , WHO was your grandfather Curt .

Not rude at all Stormbird. His name is Oscar H. Banker, an Armenian immigrant to the US. He is most remembered for inventing the first practical automatic transmission for cars and trucks. He was a very quiet inventor, and we are still learning about many of the things he worked on. He had about 450 patents during his career. Like I mentioned earlier, he worked on the Stout Skycar, but we don’t know exactly what parts or systems he worked on.

Curt Zimmerman

Taylor Aerocar

Here’s the Taylor Aerocar that was on display in the EAA Museum at Oshkosh in 2004 (I suppose it’s still there!).

His ” Before it’s time ” Peoplemover

What a guy 😮 , that Bill Stout! 😉

a few more

William.B.Stout

Well Curt 😉 ,

Your Grandfather hung out with some very important Historic Aviation people mate!.

I have come across Bill ” Jack the Knife ” Stout, many time’s in my book’s and on the Net,

I would like to think of him as a Nerdy American Hugo Junker’s inventor engineering type of sort’s.

Well he started out playing with Motorbike’s, Engine’s, Aeroengine’s(Lib) then plane’s, Test pilot,(roadable aircraft too!), car’s, and yes maybe even helicopter’s.

Now he hung out with George Spratt, Jimmy Johnson, Johnny fisher and Henry Ford and many other’s.

His first REAL plane :rolleyes: , with the help of Otto Kopper became the Ford Tri-motor.

He was BIG, in starting air travel in the state’s, with much better and more advanced type’s of design, because of his work.

But there was also the Cootie, Flivver , Air sedan and more.

Plus a weird people moving Mini-van in 1936, the Scarab, Rear engined Ford V8, thermo controled heater, flexable seating and electric door lock’s!.

I think the one you have Curt was developed in the end as the Convaircar!

Was followed on by R.J.Fulton, in 1946 with his Airphibian, and also the Qwinn Aircar, and the Taylor aerocar and more.

If it’s not to rude to ask mate 😮 , WHO was your grandfather Curt :confused: .

William.B.Stout, also has a book called ” So away I went “, which doe’s sound to be quiet interesting.

A few pic’s from around the Net! 🙂

Stout Skycar II

From the Aerofiles web site . . .

Sorry, I’ve been “offline” for awhile. Thank you to everyone, I very much appreciate all of your help!

I have been digging through piles of old family photos looking for clues, and found one. On the border of one of the photos was the hand written title “Stout Skycar”. The photos are from the Chicago area, and were probably taken around 1941-44. The Aerocar that Texastomcat linked to is very similar, and the Stout Skycar appears to pre-date it by just a few years. That would put the date at about the right point as well. The Aerocar in his link was dated 1949. Now I can start searching for the aircraft by name!

Here is a link to the clue photo:

http://user.mc.net/~cwz/aircraft06.jpg

My mother is one of the twin girls in the front seat of the aircraft. She celebrated her 70th birthday yesterday, so that helps to estimate the date as well. In this photo, it looks like the aircraft is still in the mock-up or construction stage of development.

The aircraft actually flew, and appeared to fly fairly well. I have home movie footage of it actually flying.

Original photos:

http://user.mc.net/~cwz/aircraft01.jpg
http://user.mc.net/~cwz/aircraft02.jpg
http://user.mc.net/~cwz/aircraft03.jpg
http://user.mc.net/~cwz/aircraft04.jpg
http://user.mc.net/~cwz/aircraft05.jpg

It does look a little like the Puget Pacific Wheelair III-A

http://www.aerofiles.com/wheelair.jpg

Obviously not the same aircraft but I wonder what the I and II looked like?

Did that a while back on a thread here somewhere TEX.

BIG improvement from the early model’s.

I don’t remember what the thread was called now, But it did have a flying Car.

I will see if I can find it.

http://www.aerocar.com/

Thought it may have been the Aerocar in an American Museum – whilst googling came across this – not historic but a bonkers way of treating your Lotus!

TT

Hi Curt: Do you know in which country the films were taken?

I agree Kurt.

That was only a very similiar Aircraft, that I came across first.

There are difference’s to your’s, apart from just the landing gear, slight diff in engine cowling, and plane shape.

I am still not convinced it’s the aircraft in question, so I will keep digging for a bit longer just yet.

Chow for now Kurt, SOUND’S like you had a very interesting grandfather mate!

It looks very similar to the one in your photo, but I think the mystery aircraft is older. The aircraft in your photo looks like a newer, more streamlined version of this. The mystery aircraft is quite possibly an experimental or prototype. My grandfather was a prolific inventor, and worked on a wide variety of projects. I doubt he designed or built the whole aircraft, but he probably designed some of the parts or systems in it. In the late ’40s and early ’50s he designed some helicopter parts.

Curt Zimmerman

. . . and a grossly enlarged (by me) copy of the photo on that site.

It looks like you’ve nailed it! Except for the 4-wheeled undercarriage.

Here’s another link with more illustrations for us who read French . . .

http://pdennez.free.fr/AVIONS/html/av001.html

Guys, the airplane looks like the Secan Courlis already mentioned above.

There was a short thread on this subject at the www.laahs.com website a while back.

There is no direct link I can post, but if you go to the above URL and then find the “forum” and go to page #6, it should be the 14th thread from the bottom of the page.

There are a couple of drawings as well as some photographs there, plus some data on the airplane’s use in South America.

Saludos,

Tulio