Buhl -Verville CA-3 Airster

what is it?

The Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster (also known as the J4 Airster, after its engine), was a utility aircraft built in the United States in 1926, notable as the first aircraft to receive a type certificate in the United States, (A.T.C. No. 1) issued by the Aeronautics Branch of the United States Department of Commerce on March 29, 1927. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with equal-span unstaggered wings and accommodation for the pilot and passengers in tandem open cockpits.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 10.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 201 km/htop speed
• seats 2passengers
• size 1,359 kgmax take-off weight
• built 20made 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 100 years ago, in 1926.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 10.9 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1926

number built

20

role

utility aircraft

makers

Buhl Aircraft Company

engines

1× Wright J-5 Whirlwind

crew

1

passengers

2

length

7.5 m

wingspan

10.9 m

height

2.7 m

max take-off weight

1,359 kg

top speed

201 km/h

range

—

ceiling

4,877 m

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