| GA-43 | |
|---|---|
 General Aviation GA-43 HB-ITU in service with Swissair | |
| General information | |
| Type | Airliner |
| National origin | United States of America |
| Manufacturer | General Aviation |
| Designer | |
| Primary user | Swissair |
| Number built | 5 |
| History | |
| First flight | 22 May 1932 |
TheGeneral 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 thePilgrim 150,Fairchild 150, and sometimes but erroneously as theClark GA-43 for the designer,Virginius E. Clark who was also responsible for theClark Y airfoil section used.[1]
The prototype was developed and built byFairchild'sAmerican Pilgrim division, but the program was taken over byGeneral 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 timeGeneral Motors had, in turn, gained a controlling interest inNorth American Aviation and merged it withGeneral Aviation, which they already owned. The result of this was that the GA-43 became the first aircraft produced by North American.
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The GA-43 was a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction. The prototype had fixed tailwheel landing gear, but the main units of this were later changed to be made retractable, and three of the four production examples also had retractable mainwheels, while the fourth aircraft had twin floats instead. The oval-section fuselage contained a ten-seat passenger cabin, and the cockpit was located atop the fuselage under a separate canopy.
Colombia
Manchukuo
Spain
SwitzerlandData from American airplane specifications[2]
General characteristics
Performance
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