General Aviation GA-43

what is it?

The General Aviation GA-43 was a single engine low-wing monoplane airliner produced in small numbers in the United States in the mid-1930s, also known as the Pilgrim 150, Fairchild 150, and sometimes but erroneously as the Clark GA-43 for the designer, Virginius E. Clark who was also responsible for the Clark Y airfoil section used. The prototype was developed and built by Fairchild's American Pilgrim division, but the program was taken over by General Aviation when the firm purchased American Pilgrim shortly before the prototype had flown. Although this first flight took place in 1932, manufacture did not commence until 1934, by which time General Motors had, in turn, gained a controlling interest in North American Aviation and merged it with General Aviation, which they already owned.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 engine · 16.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 338 km/htop speed
• size 3,969 kgmax take-off weight
• built 5made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 94 years ago, in 1932.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 16.2 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.

spec sheet

first flight

1932

number built

5

role

airliner

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Atlantic Aircraft

engines

1× 9-cylinder air-cooled Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial engine

length

13.3 m

wingspan

16.2 m

height

3.9 m

max take-off weight

3,969 kg

top speed

338 km/h

cruise speed

306 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,706 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.