AviaBellanca Aircraft
Encyclopedia
AviaBellanca Aircraft Corporation is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

 design and manufacturing company. Prior to 1983 it was known as the Bellanca Aircraft Company. The company was founded in 1927 by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca
Giuseppe Mario Bellanca
Giuseppe Mario Bellanca was an Italian-American airplane designer and builder who created the first enclosed cabin monoplane in the United States in 1922. This aircraft is now on display at the National Air & Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.-Biography:He was born on March 19, 1886 in...

.

The company

After Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, the designer and builder of Italy's first aircraft, came to the United States in 1911, he began to design aircraft for a number of firms including Maryland Pressed Steel Company
Maryland Pressed Steel Company
Maryland Pressed Steel Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of the Bellanca CD, and CE aircraft.The New York & Hagerstown Metal Stamping Co manufactured arms for the British and was reorganized into the Maryland Pressed Steel Company in 1914. In 1916, the Poole Engineering and Machine Co...

, Wright Aeronautical Corporation
Wright Aeronautical
Wright Aeronautical was an aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer located in New Jersey.-History:This American company evolved from the 1909-1916 Wright Company, which merged with the Glenn L. Martin Company in 1916 to form the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation. Glenn Martin resigned from...

 and Columbia Aircraft Company
Columbia Aircraft Corp
The Columbia Aircraft Corp was a United States aircraft manufacturer, which was active between 1927 and 1947.-Formation and operations:Columbia Aircraft was founded in December 1927 by Charles A. Levine as chairman and the aircraft designer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca as president. The initial name...

. Bellanca founded his own company, Bellanca Aircraft Corporation of America, in 1927, sited first in Richmond Hill, New York and moving in 1928 to New Castle (Wilmington), Delaware. In the 1920s and 1930s, Bellanca's aircraft of his own design were known for their efficient, low operating cost gaining fame for world record endurance and distance flights. Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...

's first choice for his New York to Paris flight was a Bellanca WB-2. The company's insistence on selecting the crew drove Lindbergh to Ryan
Ryan Aeronautical Company
The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California in 1934. Part of Teledyne after 1969, Northrop Grumman purchased Teledyne Ryan in 1999...

.

Bellanca remained President and Chairman of the Board from the corporation's inception on the last day of 1927 until he sold the company to L. Albert and Sons in 1954. From that time on, the Bellanca line was part of a succession of companies that maintained the lineage of the original aircraft produced by Bellanca.

Aircraft

First Flight - Model / Military number - Name
  • 1928 CH-200
    Bellanca CH-200
    |-References:* * -See also:...

     / - Pacemaker
  • 1929 CH-300
    Bellanca CH-300
    -References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Szurovy, Geza. Bushplanes. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7603-1478-0.* Taylor, Michael J.H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989, p. 149.-External links:* *...

     / - Pacemaker
  • 1929 Bellanca TES
    Bellanca TES
    The Bellanca TES was an experimental aircraft constructed by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca. Aircraft registration was NR855E....

     (Bellanca TES Tandem "Blue Streak", X/NR855E)
  • 1930 P / C-27 Aircruiser
    Bellanca Aircruiser
    The Bellanca Aircruiser and Airbus were high-wing, single engine aircraft built by Bellanca Aircraft Corporation of New Castle, Delaware. The aircraft was built as a "workhorse" intended for use as a passenger or cargo aircraft. It was available as land, sea or ski plane. The aircraft was powered...

  • 1934 Bellanca 28-70
    Bellanca 28-70
    -References:NotesBibliography* Taylor, Michael J.H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989.* Underwood, John. "A Racer for Ireland, Bombers for Spain." Air Classics Vol. 11, no. 10, October 1975.-External links:*...

  • 1937 Bellanca 28-90
    Bellanca 28-90
    |-References:NotesBibliography* Taylor, Michael J.H. Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 1989* Underwood, John. "A Racer for Ireland, Bombers for Spain." Air Classics Vol. 11, no. 10, October 1975.-External links:* *...

  • 1937 Bellanca 17-20 - 5 seat cabin monoplane, not built
  • 1945 Bellanca 14-13
    Bellanca 14-13
    |-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Davisson, Budd. "We Fly the Cardboard Constellation" Air Progress Vintage Buyer's Guide, 1989.* Mondey, David. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Aircraft. Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books Inc, 1978. ISBN 0-89009-771-2.* Palmer, Trisha, ed....

     Cruisair
  • 1949 Bellanca Cruisemaster
  • 1964 7ECA Citabria
    Citabria
    The Citabria is a light single-engine, two-seat, fixed conventional gear airplane which entered production in the United States in 1964. Designed for flight training, utility, and personal use, it is capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses from +5g to -2g...

     (by Champion
    Champion Aircraft (Wisconsin)
    Champion Aircraft Corporation was formed in 1954 by Robert Brown. Headquartered in Osceola, Wisconsin, it began production in 1954 of the 7EC design which it had purchased from Aeronca Aircraft Corporation. Through the 1950s and the 1960s Champion introduced variations on the 7-series design...

    , prior to Bellanca acquisition)
  • 1965 7GCAA Citabria
    Citabria
    The Citabria is a light single-engine, two-seat, fixed conventional gear airplane which entered production in the United States in 1964. Designed for flight training, utility, and personal use, it is capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses from +5g to -2g...

     (by Champion, prior to Bellanca acquisition)
  • 1965 7GCBC Citabria
    Citabria
    The Citabria is a light single-engine, two-seat, fixed conventional gear airplane which entered production in the United States in 1964. Designed for flight training, utility, and personal use, it is capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses from +5g to -2g...

     (by Champion, prior to Bellanca acquisition)
  • 1966 17-30
    Bellanca 17-30
    -External links:* * * * * *...

     / Viking
  • 1968 7KCAB Citabria
    Citabria
    The Citabria is a light single-engine, two-seat, fixed conventional gear airplane which entered production in the United States in 1964. Designed for flight training, utility, and personal use, it is capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses from +5g to -2g...

     (by Champion, prior to Bellanca acquisition)
  • 1970 8KCAB Decathlon
    8KCAB Decathlon
    |-References:Specific references:General references:*Type certificate data sheet no. A21CE. Revision 13. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration.-External links:* * -See also:...

     (by Champion, prior to Bellanca acquisition)
  • 1971 7ACA Champ
  • 1973 T-250 Aries
    Bellanca Aries
    -See also:...

  • 1974 8GCBC Scout
    8GCBC Scout
    |- References : *Airworthiness Directive 2000-25-02 R1. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration.*Service Letter 406. Revision A. American Champion Aircraft....

  • 1975 19-25 Skyrocket II
    Bellanca Skyrocket II
    |-References:* "Bellanca SkyRocket back on launch pad" Flight International April 12, 1996.* Wynbrandt, James. "AviaBellanca SkyRocket gets Orenda power" General Aviation News August 7, 1998.* * * -See also:...


History

1922: Roos-Bellanca Aircraft is formed in Omaha

1923: Roos-Bellanca merges with Wright Aeronautical to form Wright-Bellanca.

1927: Giuseppe Bellanca acquires the rights to the WB-2 Columbia and forms the Columbia Aircraft Division of Bellanca Aircraft.
1955: Bellanca Aircraft sold to Northern Aircraft (later named Downer then International Aircraft or Inter-Air) of Alexandria, Minnesota.

1967: Bellanca name resurfaces as Bellanca Sales, a subsidiary of Miller Flying Service of Inter-Air.

1970: Bellanca Sales acquires Champion Aircraft
Champion Aircraft (Wisconsin)
Champion Aircraft Corporation was formed in 1954 by Robert Brown. Headquartered in Osceola, Wisconsin, it began production in 1954 of the 7EC design which it had purchased from Aeronca Aircraft Corporation. Through the 1950s and the 1960s Champion introduced variations on the 7-series design...

 and changes name to Bellanca Aircraft

1978: Bellanca Aircraft becomes a subsidiary of Anderson Greenwood

1982: Bellanca Aircraft assets sold to Viking Aviation and Champion Aircraft.

2002: Viking assets acquired by Alexandria Aircraft LLC (consortium of Weber's Aero Repair and four Bellanca employees).

while...

1968: Giuseppe Bellanca and son August restart the original Bellanca company.

1983: This new company becomes AviaBellanca Aircraft
2010: August Bellanca died of chemotherapy complications.

External links




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