Luscombe 8 Explained

Luscombe 8
Type:civilian
First Flight:December 17, 1937
Produced:1937 – c. 1940s
Number Built:5,867 (1960)[1]

The Luscombe 8 is a series of high-wing, side-by-side-seating monoplanes with conventional landing gear, designed in 1937 and built by Luscombe Aircraft.

Subsequent companies

After building 5,743[2] Model 8 airplanes, the original Luscombe Aircraft closed in 1949, with its assets purchased by Temco Aircraft.[3] Temco built about 50 Silvaires in Dallas, Texas, before selling the rights to the Silvaire Aircraft Corporation in 1955.

When Temco discontinued production, Otis Massey headed up a new corporation that purchased the Luscombe tooling, parts, and other assets. Massey had been a Luscombe dealer since the 1930s. His new venture opened in Fort Collins, Colorado as Silvaire Uranium and Aircraft Corp (later renamed Silvaire Aircraft Corp). From 1956 to 1961, this firm produced 80 aircraft. The make and model for all 80 was Silvaire 8F, with "Luscombe" shown in quotation marks in company literature.

The Colorado firm's first airplane, N9900C, serial number S-1, was built in 1956. This aircraft was constructed from spares or Material Review Board (MRB) parts that were serviceable but remained from Temco's prior production. The Temco parts supplied Silvaire Aircraft Corp. with enough inventory to complete approximately four aircraft. N9900C (equipped with wheel pants [4] and flaps[5]) first flew on September 10, 1956. According to the Swick, one other airplane, serial number S-5, was built in 1956. Six aircraft, S-2, S-3, S-4, S-6, and S-7, were built in 1957, with two of them, S-2 and S-3, being shipped to Buenos Aires, Argentina.[6]

After building eighty airplanes, the Silvaire Aircraft Company closed down. The last airplane was completed on [7] May 17, 1960.

Moody Larsen of Belleville, Michigan acquired the tooling, parts, and type certificate on December 6, 1963. In 1965 Larsen developed and acquired a supplemental type certificate to install 150hp Lycoming engines in existing Luscombe 8s. In 1968 Larsen sold his Luscombe intellectual interests to a Georgia group which incorporated as the Luscombe Aircraft Corporation. The tooling remained, exposed to the weather, in Michigan .[8]

The assets, including parts, tools, jigs, and the FAA-type certificate (A-694) of the legacy Luscombe companies, were acquired by Testrake Aviation in 2019. The company intended to restart production of the Luscombe 8.[9]

Variants

Model 8
  • Initial variant with a 500NaN0 Continental A-50 engine.
    Model 8A Luscombe Master
  • Model 8 with a higher power 650NaN0 Continental A-65 engine.
    UC-90A
  • One Model 8A adopted by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II (s/n 42-79549).
    Model 8B Luscombe Trainer
  • As Model 8A powered by a 650NaN0 Lycoming O-145 engine. One impressed by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II as UC-90 (s/n 42-79550).
    Model 8C Silvaire Deluxe
  • As Model 8A powered by a 750NaN0 Continental A-75 engine.
    Model 8D Silvaire Deluxe Trainer
  • As Model 8A with steerable tailwheel and other minor changes.
    Model 8E Silvaire Deluxe
  • An improved Model 8C with increased gross weight and powered by an 850NaN0 Continental C-85 engine.
    Model 8F
  • High-performance variant with a 900NaN0 Continental C-90 engine. Some 8Fs were built with manually operated wing flaps.
    Model T8F Luscombe Observer
  • A tandem two-seat variant of the 8F for observation duties.
    Model 8G
  • Was a proposed variant of the 8F with a tricycle landing gear, not built.
    Luscombe LSA-8
  • Model for the US light-sport aircraft category, produced by the Luscombe Silvaire Company of Riverside, California and introduced at Sun 'n Fun 2007. The LSA-8 is powered by a Continental O-200 engine of 1000NaN0. The design is a Federal Aviation Administration accepted special light-sport aircraft.[10] [11] [12] [13]
    Dair 100 testbed
  • One Luscombe 8A was equipped with a Dair 100 two-stroke diesel engine as a testbed aircraft.[14]

    Specifications (Silvaire 8-F)

    Sub-Model T8F has tandem seating but is generally similar in dimension, Sprayer version approved for Restricted category operations can have higher Gross Weight with operational limits.

    References

    Bibliography

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Jackson 2003, p. 705.
    2. Book: Swiick . John . Luscombe's Golden Age . 2005 . Wind Canyon Books . Brawley CA . 1-891118-51-X . 255 .
    3. Gunston 2005, p. 294.
    4. Book: Swick, John C.. 2005. Luscombe's Golden Age. 1st . Wind Canyon Books. Brawley, California. 1-891118-51-X.
    5. Book: Roberts . Russ . Unlearning to Fly: Navigating the Turbulence and Bliss of Growing Up in the Sky . 2021 . Holt & Grooms Co. Ltd. . Carson City, NV . 978-1-7356413-2-4, p56 .
    6. Book: Swick, John C.. 2005. Luscombe's Golden Age. 1st . Wind Canyon Books. Brawley, California. 1-891118-51-X.
    7. Book: Swick, John C.. 2005. Luscombe's Golden Age. 1st . Wind Canyon Books. Brawley, California. 1-891118-51-X.
    8. Book: Swick, John C.. 2005. Luscombe's Golden Age. 1st . Wind Canyon Books. Brawley, California. 1-891118-51-X.
    9. Web site: Luscombe Now . Luscombe Aircraft Corporation . 9 May 2023.
    10. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 64. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
    11. Web site: EAA's Listing of Special Light-Sport Aircraft. 1 June 2012. Experimental Aircraft Association. Experimental Aircraft Association. 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20140228070151/http://sportpilot.org/learn/slsa. 28 February 2014. dead.
    12. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16, page 67. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.
    13. Web site: SLSA Make/Model Directory. 6 March 2017. Federal Aviation Administration. Federal Aviation Administration. 26 September 2016.
    14. Web site: Various Pictures. 15 March 2018. Diesel Air . www.dair.co.uk.

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