Page 32 - Volume 14 Number 4

Pilots N Paws®
is an online meeting place for pilots and
other volunteers
who help to transport rescue animals by air. The mission of the site is to provide a user- friendly communication venue between those that rescue, shelter, and foster animals; and pilots and plane owners willing to assist with the transportation of these animals.
A general aviation transport
requires just one pilot volunteer
and is far more efficient and
dependable than time-consuming ground transportation for these animals who are often in danger of euthanization. Volunteer pilots retain complete authority of their planning and flights, and can give as much or as little time as they like. Flights are tax deductible 501c3.
SIMPLE AS 1-2-3
No bothersome paperwork required! If you love to fly, and you love animals, please join us now! It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s extremely rewarding. Joining is easy and takes just
a minute of your time.
1. Go to www.pilotsnpaws.org and register
2. Post your information and read other posts
®
3. Wait for contacts /make contact with others
®
Pilots N Paws
www.pilotsnpaws.org
.
30 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
APRIL 2020
Completed fuselages with engines and landing gear were moved to the final assembly area where wings were installed. Note the location of the propeller shaft in relation to the water radiator, and bungee cords wrapped around axles to absorb taxi, takeoff and landing loads. (Joan Laird Post Collection)
there were three separate buildings. Fabrication of the wood airframe would be housed at the Watkins Manufacturing Company, which had occupied the facility to construct agricultural equipment. Laird bought all of the woodworking machines from Watkins and leased
Ex-Army Air Service aviator Walter H. Beech posed for an informal photograph with a Laird Swallow. He went to work for Laird and Moellendick in 1921 and soon matured into an accomplished demonstration pilot, a skilled salesman and an effective factory manager. (Edward H. Phillips Collection)
adequate floor space for manufacturing his biplane. Final assembly of each ship would be accomplished next door in the Forum building before disassembly for transport to the airfield northeast of town. There, each airplane would be reassembled, rigged and tested on the ground and in flight before delivery to customers. Despite these inherent manufacturing limitations, by December 1919 the E.M. Laird Company Partnership was ready to build its first airplane.
Laird named his new design the Laird Wichita Tractor – a term meaning the engine was in front of, not behind, the pilot. There was nothing revolutionary nor evolutionary about the ship, except that its front cockpit could accommodate two people compared with only one for the aging Canucks. By standards of the era was a two-bay, wire-braced biplane of conventional wood and fabric construction with fixed landing gear and a tailskid (no brakes were fitted). It was larger than any of Laird’s previous airplanes with a wingspan of 36 feet, length of 23 feet and height of 8 feet, 8 inches. Maximum gross weight was a mere 1,700 pounds.
A Curtiss OX-5 eight-cylinder, 90-horsepower engine powered the Tractor. Laird cleverly integrated the water radiator into forward cowling to reduce drag and improve cooling airflow. Matty chose the OX-5 engine because thousands were available after the war at rock-bottom prices, and he wanted to keep the price of the new ship below $7,000. He finally settled on $6,500 – a staggering amount at a time when surplus trainers were still available for as little as $500-1,000. Despite its steep price tag, the Tractor represented a logical step forward in postwar design and Matty believed it was worth every penny. It was up to salesman Burke to convince potential buyers that the ship would make them money in air taxi and flight training operations