Culver V with square wing tips

[Bill Poynter]

I ran across this photo of a Culver V with squared off wingtips.  Does anyone know anything about this?

[Brett Lovett]

I ran across this photo of a Culver V with squared off wingtips.  Does anyone know anything about this?

Any chance that is a Model V-2?  The TCDS entry for the V-2 states "Same as Model V except for new wing outer panels, ailerons, flaps, wing fillets and tail fillets; revised wing main panel trailing edge, fuel tanks and flap and stabilizer control systems."

I can't find any photos I can verify as a V-2 and I'm not finding any currently registered.  Does anyone know how many V-2s were built?

[lockheed12]

I talked to Mark Trimble about the V-2; he has two "V"s one is a Superior. If I remember correctly there was only ever one built. I have some blue prints on this; it looked like a big improvement on the 'V-1'.

[Brett Lovett]

Digging around a bit, I found reference to a Culver V-2, N48S, Serial Number V2-514, deregistered 6/15/1971.    With V2-501 and up being eligible on the type certificate, this implies that at at least 14 V-2s were built.

I've seen Mark Trimble's Culver V / Superior Satellite, N80281 (a really beautiful airplane, and the only V I've seen in person).  Although it is listed as a "Superior, Culver V" on the aircraft registration, it shows as being manufactured in 1946 with a serial number of V-200, which would make it a Culver, not a Superior.  Mark's other V is N44652, Serial Number V-43, also registered as a "Superior, Culver V". 

From what I can find, Superior started building the Satellite (identical to the Culver V) in 1956 (likely starting with serial number 526).  The mis-identification of Culvers as "Superior" on the registration certificate, even though they were built by Culver prior to the existence of Superior is a rather common occurrence.  The highest number V that I can currently find registered is V-356 (N3137K), which is registered as a Culver V, not a Superior.  I cannot find that any aircraft built as a Superior Satellite are still registered.  I found a couple of references that state 6 total Superior Satellites were built.

In looking through the records for the Culver V, I'm also finding revoked registrations for V2-509 (N3144K) and V2-511 (N3146K) that were mis-registered as Vs instead of V-2s. 

[Brett Lovett]

Bill,  Any chance you can read the N number from that photo?  I can see there is one on the underside of the left wing, but I cannot read it in the scan.

[Brett Lovett]

I have some blue prints on this; it looked like a big improvement on the 'V-1'.

What specifically about the V-2 is a "big" improvement over the V-1?  Can you tell by the blue prints if the photo that Bill posted above is in fact a V-2?

[Bill Poynter]

I've tried enhancing the photo with PhotoShop.  The numbers are just too faint to recover anything useful.  If anyone has a better copy of the image, we could work on that.

[lockheed12]

Brett; I just found my box of V data, mostly from the Al Mooney collection. I will reread what i have on the V-2; somewhere are the changes proposed. Let me refresh my memory on the 2, it was long ago when i read up on all this. I remember a 3 view drawing of the V-2 in the box somewhere. My V is #98, the one on the Wikipedia page.

[Brett Lovett]

I believe the V-2, while being a modification of an Al Mooney design, is the only Culver model that was not conceived by Al Mooney or under his design management.  In other words, the V-2 is the only post-Mooney Culver.  I don't know who was in charge of design, or even who remained in engineering and design at Culver after Al Mooney departed.

I also find it interesting that Superior, obviously having acquired the rights to both the V and V-2 chose to build the V as the Superior Satellite rather than the V-2.  I also was wondering if it is possible, as in the case of Mark Trimble's V/Superior Satellite, if Superior may have converted/updated some of the V's manufactured by Culver into Superior Satellites in addition to manufacturing some of their own, or if perhaps they used an existing Culver V as their "prototype" for the V/Satellite.