Welcome to the Culver Aircraft Forum

Brett,

I also wondered if this form 132 was a Culver document.  The fact that the identification number doesn’t appear to have been created by a typewriter, makes me think CAA.

The copy of form 132 was located by Christi Law of www.planefaxreports.com .  I’ve had good luck in using them to obtain really fast results at reasonable prices.  She’s the one who located the file for serial number 101.  The FAA deregistered aircraft file actually shows N20946 as a Dart model GK. 

She found this form 132 buried in the file for a Cherokee 140 which currently carries N number 41737.

The only thing that makes me think that #459 was actually produced is the fact that the document actually shows a serial number for the engine.  Otherwise I would think that this was just a placeholder for the production approval and that Culver never actually got around to completing the plane.  It's also stamped unassigned. 

Bill

Las Vegas

Quote

I'd like to know what the text is at the bottom of the vertical stabilizer on the pic of S/N 102.  The new factory shots appear to all be from Wichita.  The Kansas Aviation Museum has prints of most of those photos in their archives.

I've tried enhancing the image with Photoshop, but either the original photo wasn't sharp enough or the resolution was set too low when it was scanned.  Maybe NCIS or CSI could do it.  They sure seem to do impossible photo enhancements on TV.

As a follow-up on the text appearing on the vertical stab of serial number 102, I think the last part is Russell J Alley, the Culver west coast distributor.  While looking through the registration file, I noticed that another early owner was George S Wing of Hi-Shear Rivet Co.  Mr. Wing was also responsible for the Wing Derringer, the high performance 2-place twin.

I'd like to know what the text is at the bottom of the vertical stabilizer on the pic of S/N 102.  The new factory shots appear to all be from Wichita.  The Kansas Aviation Museum has prints of most of those photos in their archives.

I've tried enhancing the image with Photoshop, but either the original photo wasn't sharp enough or the resolution was set too low when it was scanned.  Maybe NCIS or CSI could do it.  They sure seem to do impossible photo enhancements on TV.

Here's a photo of a Langley twin from about the same time period as the Cadet.  Even the cowlings and wheel pants were made from wood.  Only two were built and one of those was based here in Louisville for a short time in about 1965.

I've never seen a PQ-14 with the cowling off, but my guess is that the mock-up is probably a PQ-14 from the firewall forward.  That would be the easiest way to produce such a detailed model during the mock-up stage. 

It's too bad that Culver didn't pursue this design theme for it's post-war models.  This plane looks better than anything on the market in 1946.

If they actually did provide four flying examples, there had to have been complete drawings. 

I've posted the FAA airworthiness and registration files for the prototype Cadet, serial number 101.  The files include the FAA accident report and pilot statement, for the crash into the culvert.  The files also show that the fuel supply in the prototype consisted of a pair of 10 gallon tanks in the wings.  I suppose that means it had an engine driven fuel pump.

Here's a link to a nice PQ-14A photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/52810288@N05/6030219800/