Photograph:
Funk Model B85C 24-7706 (c/n 335) at Serpentine, WA in 2011 (David Eyre – WA Aviation)
Country of origin:
United States of America
Description:
Light sport monoplane
Power Plant:
One 63 kw (85 hp) Continental C85-12F four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 10.66 m (35 ft)
- Length: 6.12 m (20 ft 1 in)
- Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
- Wing area: 15.7 m² (169 sq ft)
- Max speed at sea level: 185 km/h (115 mph)
- Cruising speed: 161 km/h (100 mph)
- Stalling speed: 64 km/h (40 mph)
- Initial rate of climb: 247 m/min (810 ft/min)
- Service ceiling: 457 m (15,000 ft)
- Range: 587 km (365 miles)
- Fuel capacity: 76 litres (16.6 Imp gals)
- Take-off run at sea level: 152 m (500 ft)
- Empty weight: 404 kg (890 lb)
- Useful load: 218 kg (480 lb)
- Baggage capacity: 57 kg (125 lb)
- Loaded weight: 612 kg (1,350 lb)
History:
The Funk Aircraft Company was formed in 1941 by twin brothers, Joe and Howard Funk, in association with William and K Ray Jenson, taking over the assets of Akron Aircraft Incorporated which was set up at Akron in Ohio for the Funk brothers by local business men in 1937. They produced the Akron Model B which was a two-seat cabin monoplane which was introduced to the American market in 1939 with a Funk E four-cylinder engine which provided 47 kw (63 hp). This engine had been built by the Company using many parts taken from Ford automobiles in order to reduce costs. An early production example was bought for operation by the United States Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for testing. However, the engine had problems with cooling and lubrication and, once the new company commenced major production, in 1941, this unit was replaced by a 56 kw (75 hp) Lycoming GO-145 engine, the aircraft becoming known as the B-75L.
Subsequently, after the conclusion of World War II, a new model was introduced, this being the B-85C which differed only in having a 63 kw (85 hp) Continental C-85-12 engine. It also became available with a 63 kw (85 hp) Lycoming GO-145 engine.
Construction was mixed, with wings of wood with fabric covering, and a steel tube fuselage also covered with fabric. Records have indicated approximately 365 were completed at the Company’s facility at Coffeyville in Kansas, being shelved for a period during World War II, and resuming in 1946 with a new model, the B-86C, but production concluded in 1948 following a slump in the US economy.
An example of the Funk B (N7706), a 1946 model, was imported to Australia in 2008 by David McCandless and was fitted with a Rotec 2800 radial engine, making its first flight in Western Australia on 7 October 2008 and being registered with Recreational Aviation Australia (RAA) as 24-7706 (c/n 335).