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The Meckler-Allen airplane was an early biplane built by Allen Canton[1] and John J. Meckler in 1912,[2] for an attempt to make a transatlantic flight. At the time of its first flight it was the largest airplane in the world.[3]

Meckler-Allen Biplane "New York"
John Meckler and Allen Canton, 1910–1915
Role	Biplane Type of aircraft
National origin	United States
Designer	Allen Canton and John J. Meckler
Number built	1

History

In 1912, Allen Canton and John J. Meckler, two young Bronx electricians, built a 76-foot (23 m) span hydro-biplane. The financing for the construction came from profits of their company Mechelectric [4] which held forty-five patents for new electrical devices. The partners planned to make the first transatlantic flight to Europe.[5]

Christened the New York, it carried twenty-two tanks of gasoline and had five engines, was 104 feet (32 m) long, had a 76-foot (23 m) span and contained 2,400 square feet (220 m²) of canvas, with an estimated lifting capacity of 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) when only two of the five engines were running.[3]

Specifications (Meckler-Allen Biplane)

General characteristics

• Length: 104 ft (32 m)
• Wingspan: 76 ft (23 m)
• Powerplant: 4 × Flight engines , 125 hp (93 kW) each
• Powerplant: 1 × Ground engine , 65 hp (48 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed Meckler-Allen, 12 ft (3.7 m) diameter

Performance

• Maximum speed: 109 kn (125 mph, 201 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 65 kn (75 mph, 121 km/h)

References

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