Aeronca C-2 - Seattle, WA - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Aeronca C-2. The Museum of Flight website contains a page devoted to this aircraft and it reads:

The Flying Bathtub
"Just the basics" was the name of the game with the Aeronca C-2. The pilot sat on a bare plywood seat with five instruments, a stick, and rudder pedals in front of him. If the pilot wanted a heater or brakes -- that cost extra. The little plane had odd, almost comical lines that earned it the nickname, "The Flying Bathtub." The C-2 wasn't fast, big, or powerful, but it was one of the first American airplanes to be affordable and economical and Aeronca sold 164 C-2s in 1930 and 1931, despite America's financial woes.

Roche Original
The first Aeronca C-2 wasn't called by that name at first. Created as a homebuilt by Jean Roche, a U.S. Army Air Service engineer at McCook (later Wright) Field in Dayton, Ohio, the Roche Original was built with the help of John Dohse and Harold Morehouse. In 1925, both plane and inexperienced pilot Dohse made their first flights. Soon after, Dohse and Morehouse left Dayton to pursue other interests and Roche was left to find a way to produce his little plane. In 1929, he sold his design to the Aeronautical Corporation of America ("Aeronca"). The Roche Original became the first of many Aeronca C-2s.

Little Engines
Powering the little plane was always a problem. First, Roche installed a borrowed Henderson motorcycle engine but it couldn't get the plane off the ground. Roche next turned to Harold Morehouse, who had designed a small engine to pump ballast air into a blimp. It was modified and installed for the Roche Original's first flights. When a crash destroyed that engine, another was fashioned by Roy Poole and Robert Galloway. When the C-2 went into production, its engines were cast elsewhere, assembled at Aeronca, and called Aeronca E-107s. The Museum's 1929 C-2 has an Aeronca E-113 36-horsepower engine that was used to power heavier Aeronca C-3s.

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Aeronca C-2 Tail Number: (S/N): 301-23; Registration No. N30RC Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Museum of Flight inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Not listed Access restrictions: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/02/2022 Ulven7470 visited it 10/30/2017 petendot visited it

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