Aeronca C-3

Aeronca's highly important, but nearly forgotten, С-Series of aircraft were the brainchild of French born Jean Roche, an engineer employed by the Army at McCook Field near Dayton, Ohio in the 1920s. In 1924 Roche mated a glider design he had been working on for some time with a two-cylinder engine designed by a coworker and the result was an light airplane with very respectable performance. Lacking funds and time, Roche was unable to sell his plane.

At about this same time a group of investors had formed the Aeronautical Corporation of America (Aeronca is a contraction of this) in Cincinnati, just down the road from Dayton. They were looking for an airplane to manufacture and luckily were hooked up with Mr. Roche. In 1929 they struck a deal to manufacture the C-2 and in 1931, the C-3, a two-seat version.

The plane was very popular because of it's excellent handling characteristics and economical operating costs. Even during the years of the Great Depression flying and maintaining the aircraft of the period was an expensive proposition. At a time when flying many of the era's popular aircraft could cost as much as a dollar per minute, legend has it that the little Aeronca's could be flown for under a nickle per mile. This put aviation in reach of more people than ever before and made them very popular.

The next time you pass one of these "tubby" little Aeroncas at an air show or museum, be sure to tip your hat because we own them a lot.