Pages

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Where is Jackie Cochran's Monocoupe?


From a message board called The Straight Dope
Jackie Cochran's Monocoup

In 1937, she [Jackie Cochran] had a Monocoupe custom-built to fly as her personal aircraft. This plane was very fast, although not enough to enter in the Bendix competition. It was also quite the handful to fly and eventually crashed, killing another pilot who was flying it at the time. At this point, the plane (or its wreckage anyway) seems to have been forgotten.

and
During our examination and test flight of the purchase aircraft, he mentioned his small collection of aircraft in a nearby hangar and offered to give us a tour. I followed him through a small door into the hangar, and when he turned on the lights, this is what I saw. You guessed it… back in the corner is Jackie Cochran’s custom-built 1937 Monocoupe. He acquired the remains several years ago, and has completely rebuilt it. He uses this machine as his “daily-driver” (so to speak).
A great deal of the parts are original, although a significant portion had to be built from new, due to crash damage. It is still certified as “experimental” and according to him it is capable of at least 250 knots (288 mph). For the pilots, the airspeed indicator has no limitation markings. No white or yellow arc, no redline. Whether this is a product of its age, or the experimental category, I don’t know.

Of course the author of this piece doesn't say who the guy is! All we know is he's in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

No comments: