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The Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster (also known as the J4 Airster, after its engine), was a utility aircraft built in the United States in 1926, notable as the first aircraft to receive a type certificate in the US,[2][3][4] (i.e. A.T.C. No. 1) issued by the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce on March 29, 1927.[5] It was a conventional single-bay biplane with equal-span unstaggered wings and accommodation for the pilot and passengers in tandem open cockpits. Marketed for a variety of roles including crop-dusting, aerial photography, and freight carriage, only a handful were built, some with water-cooled engines as the CW-3, and others with air-cooled engines as the CA-3 . One CA-3 placed second in the 1926 Ford National Reliability Air Tour.[6]

CA-3 Airster
Role	Utility aircraft Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Buhl
Designer	Alfred Verville, Etienne Dormoy
First flight	1926
Number built	20[1]

1926 Ford Air Tour, piloted by Louis Meister, and another (designated the CA-3A) placed third in the 1927 Air Derby, piloted by Nick Mamer. One CW-3 and one CA-3 each were evaluated by the United States Army as trainers, but neither were purchased.

Versions

CA

• CA-3 Airster (1926) aka J4 Airster or B-V Airster
  • 200 hp Wright J-4 (a.k.a. J-4 Whirlwind)
  • Folding wings
  • awarded the first ATC ever issued, March 1927 (ATC 1, 2-6)
  • one modified under ATC 2-6 as 2p with 220 hp Wright J-5 as a trainer for Army trials
• CA-3A Airster (1926)
  • 225 hp Wright J-5
  • 3 built
  • cost: $9,300
• CA-3B Airster (1926)
  • one built

CW

• CW-3 OX5 Airster (1925)[7]
  • 90hp Curtiss OX-5
  • useful load: 770 lbs
  • range: 475 miles
  • Folding wings
  • three built
• CW-3 Wright Trainer (1926)
  • 220 hp Wright J-5
  • useful load: 885 lbs
  • range: 450 miles
  • one built for unsuccessful military trainer trials

Specifications (CA-3A)

Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1928[8]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 2 pax, max useful load 885 lb (401 kg)
• Length: 24 ft 7.5 in (7.506 m)
• Wingspan: 35 ft 8 in (10.87 m)
• Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)
• Wing area: 303 sq ft (28.1 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,550 lb (703 kg)
• Gross weight: 2,995 lb (1,359 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 40 US gal (33.3 imp gal; 151.4 l) fuselage main tank and 22 US gal (18.3 imp gal; 83.3 l) centre-section gravity tank
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright J-5 Whirlwind 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 225 hp (168 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 125 mph (201 km/h, 109 kn)
• Range: 475 mi (764 km, 413 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,900 m)
• Rate of climb: 950 ft/min (4.8 m/s)
• Time to altitude: 7,250 ft (2,210 m) in 10 minutes

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Alexander Eaglerock
• American Eagle A-101
• Brunner-Winkle Bird
• Command-Aire 3C3
• Parks P-1
• Pitcairn Mailwing
• Spartan C3
• Stearman C2 and C3
• Swallow New Swallow
• Travel Air 2000 and 4000
• Waco 10

Related lists

• List of aircraft
• List of civil aircraft

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 216.
• http://www.aerofiles.com/_buhl.html
• Federal Aviation Administration history page
• "The Buhl-Verville Airster". Aero Digest. Vol. 8, no. 3. March 1926. pp. 130–131. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

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